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Ontario Farm Animal Council
Ontario Farm Animal Council

The Voice of Animal Agriculture
   
  OFAC at Work  
   
We are firmly convinced that if OFAC doesn’t speak up on current farming and food production practices, someone else will. OFAC has increased its involvement in a number of areas, including media relations and news media outreach, school education, public speaking and training. In 2006, OFAC displays and staff attended 37 events over more than 118 days. In total, we reached three million people – and 45,000 school children - with agriculture's message. Agriculture’s messages are definitely getting out to the public.

How does OFAC help its membership?

  • OFAC answers hundreds of requests for information every year on agriculture.
  • OFAC provides training programs to your directors and members on topics like media training, dealing with sensitive issues and being an effective agricultural ambassador, among others
  • Resources include information videos and brochures on numerous topics for both public and agriculture.
  • OFAC assists with media issues like writing press releases and letters to the editor, providing accurate animal-agriculture photographs for media to use when writing a story in a local publication and tips on how to respond to media interviews.
  • OFAC”s media centre on the increasingly popular www.farmissues.com website provides a one-stop shopping centre for reporters looking for facts and figures.
  • OFAC’s confidential Animal Care Helpline is an effective peer-helping-peer service which helps ensure farm animal care calls are dealt with quickly and professionally.
  • OFAC’s monitoring service and quarterly newsletter keeps its members informed on animal issues including government legislation, and public questions and concerns.
  • A variety of displays and resources are available for OFAC members to use at local events.


OFAC/AGCare's Urban Media Specialist, Wallace Pidgeon, runs a training workshop on agricultural media messaging (April 17, 2008)

A commemorative banquet on April 17 commemorated OFAC's activities over the last 20 years. In attendance at the event were about 300 industry supporters including most of OFAC's past chairmen. Shown here are, back row, from left, Mike Cooper, Jim Magee, Gordon Coukell, John Maaskant and Bruce Christie. In the front row is Ethel Johnstone, representing her late husband Jim Johnstone, the first chair of OFAC. Absent: Bob Dobson.

Leslie Ballentine receives the Friend of OFAC Award from Bruce Christie, OFAC's Past Chairman.

Dee Britney of the Wallenstein Feed Charitable Foundation speaks after receiving the corporate Friend of OFAC Award from OFAC Past Chair Bruce Christie.

Entertainer Mat Gauthier kept the audience in stitches with his series of musical impersonations.

Guelph Rotary Club Rural-Urban Committee member Gwen Paddock presents a class set of the Real Dirt on Farming booklets to science teacher Mr. Ken Bruce, from Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute.

Participants in the 2008 Faces of Farming calendar joined together at a special launch celebration on October 30 to unveil the newest calendar. They're shown here with OFAC Chairman John Maaskant. (October, 2007)

Terry Scott White (centre), photographer of the 2008 Faces of Farming calendar is shown here with calendar participants in front of a commemorative art exposition that profiles the photos and stories from the 2008 project. (October, 2007)

     
Copyright 2005 Ontario Farm Animal Council