Real Farm Lives returns to answer Canadians’ questions about food production

Today I’m proud to announce that Real Farm Lives is back for season two. Real Farm Lives is a documentary web series about the realities of modern farming that we at CropLife Canada have produced. This year we’re releasing new episodes on realfarmlives.ca featuring new families from Alberta and Nova Scotia.

Knowing most Canadians are disconnected from farming, we launched Real Farm Lives in 2018 to bridge that gap. The first six episodes gave a glimpse into the daily lives of farm families, while helping viewers better understand the complexities of modern farming in the face of climate change, population growth and evolving consumption habits.

At the time, we wondered if the series – our biggest and boldest campaign to date – would draw criticism. But in fact, we saw that it fed Canadians’ increasing appetite for learning how their food is grown – and by whom. That’s why we’re so excited to be continuing the series.

Canada has some of the highest standards for health and safety when it comes to food. That means Canadians enjoy one of the safest and most abundant food supplies in the world, which includes food produced using plant science innovations.

However, with so few people connected to farming, the spread of misinformation about the safety of foods grown on today’s modern farms persists, especially online. For consumers, this can lead to confusion and anxiety around plant science innovations such as pesticides and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the role they play in our food system.

From weather and insects to weeds and diseases, Real Farm Lives explores the various challenges faced by farmers and describes how GMOs, crop protection products and other technologies help them manage some of these challenges.

The importance of plant science in helping farmers grow healthy, abundant crops simply cannot be overstated. Consider these facts from CropLife Canada’s Helping Canada Grow report:

• Without pesticides, Canadians would pay about 55% more for fresh fruits and vegetables, or roughly $4,400 more for groceries every year for an average family.
• Nearly 50% more farmland would be required to grow what we do today in Canada if not for pesticides and biotech crops. That’s more than the total area of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island combined.
• Reduced land use, less tillage and summer fallow and limiting equipment passes helps Canadian farmers reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 29 million tonnes each year.

Those are just a few reasons why we need plant science. Now I invite you to learn more by watching Real Farm Lives season two at realfarmlives.ca.

I encourage you to share these videos and help us celebrate positive stories about Canadian agriculture.


Pierre Petelle
President and CEO, CropLife Canada