Farmscape for August 18, 2011   (Episode 3647)

The Farm Animal Council of Saskatchewan says, with the public increasingly disconnected from the farm, it's critical for those involved in agriculture to be involved in telling the story of what goes into producing the food we eat.

The Farm Animal Council of Saskatchewan's 2011 "We Care" billboard campaign kicked off in mid-May and billboards will remain on display across the province until November.

With 35 billboards and one superboard located around Regina, Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, North Battleford, Glaslyn and Herbert this is the largest campaign of its sort in Canada.

Farm Animal Council of Saskatchewan executive director Adele Buettner says, as the public becomes increasing interested in issues related to how the food they buy is raised, it becomes more important for those who produce that food to be involved in keeping that information available.

Clip-Adele Buettner-Farm Animal Council of Saskatchewan:
We've had very good reaction both from people who live within our province and travelers.

We've had a number of calls into our office complimenting the billboards and also asking form more information.

Because this is an annual billboard campaign, we see a steady increase in the recognition of the efforts that we make across the province.

Today consumers are more interested with knowing how their food is raised, how it's produced or how it's grown.

They are making more informed consumer decisions when they're buying their product and we're the people that produce the food and ensure that it meets consumers high standards so it's important to keep that information available.

Buettner says, with such a small percentage of the population involved in agriculture, it's up to those who produce the food to keep that messaging out there to make sure those who have questions have accurate current information available.

For more on the "We Care" billboard campaign she invites the public to visit the Farm Animal Council of Saskatchewan web site at www.facs.sk.ca.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork Council