RED DEER -- As harvest season wraps up for another year, some central Albertan farmers have an extra reason to celebrate.
A team of people lead by Mikaela Lemay helped tend to a 40-acre lot of barley in Trochu by donating their time, experience and equipment. This barley is then being sold, with the profits going toward Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
"We use those funds to support programs around the world, to buy food for people in crisis, to support agriculture development programs and to provide nutritional support to young mothers and children facing malnutrition," said Canadian Foodgrains Bank Executive Director Jim Cornelius.
"We are so fortunate in Canada to have all of the opportunities we are afforded. To have food and know where it comes from. So I think about the importance of giving back," said Lemay.
Lemay's team was called the "Young Guns," as it was made up of mostly younger farmers.
"It's just been really great to have a bit of a younger approach to things. Our parents and lots of elders in the community have certainly helped a lot, " said Lemay.
"Most of our growing projects are organized by older farmers, this was young farmers getting together," said Cornelius. "We're delighted to see that happening because they're the future of farming in Canada."
The land was a portion of the 254 acres across Alberta and Saskatchewan donated by Viterra to aid in the efforts to end world hunger.
"Our motto is to feed the world, and when you talk about feed the world and what the Canadian Foodgrains Bank is doing, it's just a great partnership for us to work with," said Viterra's Manager of Grain Marketing Terence Koshman.
"Land is often one of the big constraints to starting a growing project, finding access to land. By them making land available it allows local farmers to actually create a project to start growing crops for the Foodgrain Bank," said Cornelius.
Last year, around $7 million was raised across Canada thanks to grow projects like the one in Trochu.
