How Agriculture in the City teaches Winnipeggers about where their food comes from

A long-running celebration of Manitoba farming returned to The Forks this weekend, educating Winnipeggers about where their food comes from in a fun and interactive way.

Agriculture in the City is a free, one-day event that teaches people about the food they eat and how it's produced. Attendees learned about careers in agriculture and were able to speak with food producers from across the province. 

Egg farmer Sandra Dyck said she loves talking about her job, "Any opportunity we have to interact with the public and share our passion of farming and where their food comes from, and the processes we have in producing that food," she said.

Dyck said she was getting lots of questions about eggs. "The common one is 'is there a difference between a brown and a white egg' … there isn’t. Nutritionally they are exactly the same, it's just basically colourful packaging."

Organizing committee member Richard Lavergne said knowing where your food comes from is just as important now as it was when they started Agriculture in the City nearly 20 years ago.

"One of the reasons we started it was so that people in urban areas could understand how important agriculture was to them in everyday stuff, when you go to a restaurant, when you buy food," said Lavergne. "One of our goals was to make sure that people understood where their food comes from, who grows it."

The event ran all day Saturday and featured various exhibitor booths, games and hands-on activities, food samples, and a photo booth.

Dyck said it's a unique event. "I think it's great at events like this where all the commodity groups are here together," she said. "And it's rare in that you can come and ask any question you have about your food."

There are more than 35-thousand Manitobans working in the agriculture and agri-food industry.