Earth Day

Earth Day is an opportunity for people to get crucial information about our planet and how we treat it, and it also puts the environment in the much-needed spotlight. I contributed to the activities taking place in Jake’s by presenting an informational poster about our eating habits, including the Slow Food Movement. Although it was difficult to get people to stop and read our poster, those who did seemed interested by the information we gave them. I myself was quite interested in several of the kiosks that were set up, but the one that was the most enthralling for me was the one about prison farming. It was presented by a representative of “Save Our Farms”, which is a campaign aimed at keeping Canada’s six prison farms open, despite the Prime Minister’s plans to shut them down. Prison farms have existed for 125 years now, and shutting them down, especially in such uncertain times, would definitely be a terrible loss to our nation. These institutions give prisoners the chance to rehabilitate themselves and to give back to the community, as well as learn several useful skills. Also, they create locally grown food. You can find more information about prison farms, and sign the online petition at http://www.saveourfarms.ca/index.html.