For Immediate Release

October 3, 2006

Winnipeg elementary school “farmers” turn profits into breakfast food

The 200 students at Marion School in Winnipeg’s Fort Garry have added a capital H

to the three R’s this fall.  That H stands for Harvest and on lucky Friday, October 13,

they’ll find out exactly how much breakfast their harvest will buy. 

Ellen Pruden of the Manitoba Canola Growers Association (MCGA) came up with the

plan to connect young people with their food through the Canola Learning Centre at

Kelburn Farm a few minutes south of the City of Winnipeg. 

“We were looking for a way to celebrate the Learning Centre’s 10th anniversary,”

Pruden says, “so we invited all the students at Marion School to adopt a crop, learn

a bit about farming and taking care of the land.” The students watched their adopted

crops grow over the summer at www.mcgacanola.org.

Kelburn Farm staff have now harvested all the students’ crops, tallied the yields and

given a market value to the harvest. Pruden says Manitoba Canola Growers will

present a cheque for that amount to Marion School’s Breakfast for Learning Program

on October 13.

“We plan to make this an annual experience for city kids,” Pruden says.  “Manitoba

Canola Growers and the staff at James Richardson International’s Kelburn Farm are

already planning for next year’s special harvest at the Canola Learning Centre.”

MCGA runs its Canola Learning Centres from May through August each year and

invites schools, day care centres and day camps to attend the free educational farm

tour.  Only one group will be chosen annually to participate in the fun and fund-raising

harvest Pruden says.

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For more information please contact,

Ellen Pruden                                                                 Leanne Campbell

Education and Promotion Coordinator              Canola Learning Centre Coordinator

Manitoba Canola Growers Association            Manitoba Canola Growers Association