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14 Monday, June 25, 2018 • Last Mountain Times
MINISTERIAL MESSAGES
Questions and more questions
Who am I? Why was I created?
What am I doing here? What is
the purpose of my life? Where
does happiness truly come from?
These are some of the questions
everyone ask themselves. As I
was thinking, Easter came to
mind. Easter season ended at the
end of May with the celebration
of Pentecost when the apostles
received the Holy Spirit to help
them spread the Gospel. As I
reflected back on Easter, I noticed
something. Easter, like Christmas,
rather than being a time to
reflect on what Jesus the incarnated
Son of God means, has
become secularized and commercialized.
Because I am a sports fan I
noticed that this year there were
games on Good Friday, the day of
Jesus’ death and Easter Sunday,
the day of his resurrection.
Don’t these days mean anything
anymore? Instead of the culture
allowing us to contemplate
what the death and resurrection
of Jesus means in our lives, the
culture promotes secularism and
commercialism. Stores barely
close during this holiday. The
easter bunny and easter eggs are
given more attention then Christ
himself. It seems that the main
reason for the holiday is no longer
to worship and learn about our
faith. Christianity is not the
only religion affected by affluent
countries’ consumerism and secularism.
It seems the economic
machine must continue to roll at
all cost, at the cost of religious
worship/ceremonies be it Christian,
Islam, Indigenous or others.
My question is for whom? Is it for
the one percent who control the
wealth? We were not created by
and for them but rather by God
who we are to get to know, to love
and to serve.
The more we get away from
God the more we fall prey to
worldly things, not that they
are bad, but there is a danger of
losing all balance in our lives.
Sometimes we just have to stop
and reflect on our lives. Am I just
a busy body caught in the culture
of the day or is there a reason for
me being here?
I hope I gave some people
something to think about.
-Deacon Norbert Gaudet, Raymore
RC Sacred Heart Church
Bug on
Recently I was on one of the more notable social
media sites and there was a post that was drawing
a lot of attention, most of it citing disgust. The post
was about baking bread containing flour made from
ground cockroaches. Most people were quite reactive
to the post showing little interest in even being
willing to try the bread based on curiosity.
In North America the idea of consuming insects
as part of our regular diets is admittedly foreign.
The reason is probably as simple as the fact we
have not needed to munch insects because there is
an abundance of what we see as better choices. We
have solidly placed insects into the ‘icky’ and ‘eeww’
compartment of our brains.
It is however rather ironic to think that so many
of us enjoy shrimp, and are willing to pay rather
high prices for lobster, which are both essentially
‘sea insects’ that scurry around the ocean floor
foraging for food among whatever happens to have
passed through a fish as it swam by overhead. In
terms of ‘eeww’ people might want to follow some
free-range chickens one day and see just what they
are willing to peck at to find food. And let us not
forget that many cheeses are enjoyed with mold as
part of the taste experience.
So, adding insects to our diets wouldn’t be much
of a stretch, once we get past the internal barriers
we have created for no good reason except we have
at some point been taught bugs are not to be eaten.
It turns out, however, that a large number of
insects are quite edible, from
certain types of scorpions, and
cockroaches through to flies,
bees and mealworms.
Now you would certainly
want to be knowledgeable
regarding source and preparation
of any bugs, although that
is good advice for anything we
eat, but the take away here is
that insects could be a source of
food moving forward.
AG NOTES
CALVIN DANIELS
We know two things are part of our current reality:
our world population is growing, and the arable
land base to grow food upon is shrinking. If those
two things continue, one day current farming will
not be able to feed the world.
Enter bugs, stage right.
Many insects have surprisingly high nutritional
value, the aforementioned cockroach flours being
a good source of added protein. The flour made of
cockroaches developed by two scientists from the
Federal University of Rio Grande in Brazil contains
40 per cent more protein than normal wheat flour.
In terms of feeding the world that may become
significant, especially since insects can often be
raised on foodstuffs not directly in competition
with humans, and they require less room and produce
less waste than traditional livestock.
So it may not be that long before a legitimate farm
option will be raising cockroaches, mealworms and
crickets to help feed the world.
- Calvin Daniels
Disclaimer: opinions expressed are those of the writer.
CONTINUED from PAGE 14
tunately, it’s easy to imagine a “New Canadian Poverty Line”
(CPL) that would combine the advantages of both, while
avoiding their major limitations.
Like LIM, this line would be anchored at half the median
(family size-adjusted) income. But this median income would
be averaged over the past few years to provide more stability.
And like MBM, it would be differentiated by the same 50 geographic
regions. However, instead of the complex and highly
arbitrary basket of expenditures underlying MBM, only
shelter costs (rents on two- and three-bedroom apartments)
would be used to reflect geographic variations.
While not perfect, CPL would be a sufficient start for the
government’s poverty-reduction strategy. It’s meaningful,
it’s practical for Statistics Canada to measure and it would
provide a solid basis for monitoring progress toward the fundamental
objective of reducing poverty.
-Michael Wolfson is an expert adviser with EvidenceNetwork.
ca and a member of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and
Ethics at the University of Ottawa. www.troymedia.com
Disclaimer: opinions expressed are those of the writer
Crop
Report
June 12 to 18, 2018
Across the province, seventy-five
per cent of the pulse crops
and fall and spring cereals are
at their normal stages of development,
while 70 per cent of the
oilseeds are at their normal stages
of development for this time of
year, according to Saskatchewan
Agriculture’s weekly Crop Report.
Many areas reported rain
showers this week, with large
amounts recorded in the
west-central region. The Rosthern
area received 54 mm of rain,
the Kindersley and Moosomin
areas 30 mm, the Biggar area 35
mm and the Frobisher area 20
mm. Many areas in the southwestern
and west-central regions
remain very dry, including Gull
Lake, Shaunavon, Outlook and
Dinsmore, which have received
less than 25 mm of rain since
April 1.
Provincially, topsoil moisture
conditions on cropland are rated
as four per cent surplus, 67 per
cent adequate, 24 per cent short
and five per cent very short. Hay
land and pasture topsoil moisture
is rated as 61 per cent adequate,
28 per cent short and 11 per cent
very short. Topsoil moisture is
in shortest supply in the southwest.
Crops, hay and pasture in
these areas are affected by the
dry conditions. In the parts of the
south that received rain over the
last few weeks, annual crop conditions
have improved; however,
hay yield is expected to be lower
than average and pastures are expected
to have reduced carrying
capacity going into the summer
months.
Less wind allowed producers
to do some in-crop weed control,
which had been interrupted in
previous weeks due to strong
winds. The majority of crop
damage this week was due to lack
of moisture. Cutworms are still
causing damage in some areas.
-Sask Agriculture