CHARLOTTETOWN, Prince Edward Island, September 16, 2009 – Twenty Prince Edward Island farms will open their doors to the public on Sunday, September 20, for the 8th annual Open Farm Day, a Maritime-wide agricultural awareness event that lets people learn more about local food production.

“Canadian farmers provide safe, top quality food for us at home and for many markets around the world,” said Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. “I encourage everyone to attend Open Farm Day as it will be a great opportunity for the whole family to learn about the hard work, innovation and dedication that goes into getting delicious food from the farm to our fork.”

“Open Farm Day is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the agriculture industry, find out how food is produced and meet the people who produce it,” said acting Agriculture Minister Wes Sheridan. “I encourage everyone to take in what promises to be a most interesting and enjoyable day.”

More than 100 farms in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are participating in this year’s Open Farm Day. The event is being supported by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Sobey’s Inc., and the Maritime provincial governments and agriculture awareness committees.

This year’s theme is “Connecting people and agriculture.”

“The Agriculture Awareness Committee is proud to invite the entire Island community to participate in the 8th annual Open Farm Day. This event presents a unique opportunity to meet our farmers and enjoy the great taste of P.E.I.’s fresh, local produce,” said Dave Thompson, Chairman of P.E.I. Agriculture Awareness Committee

The agriculture and food industry is the leading industry in Prince Edward Island. It accounts for roughly one in every four jobs in the province and annual farm cash receipts of approximately $390 million dollars.

With that economic impact in mind, the Government of Canada and the Province of Prince Edward Island this year launched Growing Forward, a $24.6-million, multi-year set of federal and provincial agricultural programs to help P.E.I. farmers become more profitable, innovative and competitive. Growing Forward includes additional demand-driven funding for business risk management programs to help protect farmers against production and market losses.

A list of Open Farm Day locations in Prince Edward Island is available at www.gov.pe.ca/go/peiopenfarmday.

For more information, media may contact:

Media Relations
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
613-773-7972
1-866-345-7972

Meagan Murdoch
Press Secretary
The Office of the Honourable Gerry Ritz
613-773-1059

Wayne MacKinnon
Communications
P.E.I. Department of Agriculture
Charlottetown
902 368-4888

David Smallman
P.E.I. Open Farm Day Coordinator
902 367-4799 or 902 388-0173