Ontario Grain Farmer March 2023

www.GoodinEveryGrain.ca Good in Every Grain 34 ONTARIO STUDENTS DISCOVERED THE ONTARIO FARMERETTES FOR REMEMBRANCE DAY GOOD IN EVERY GRAIN teamed up to bring stories and memories of local history to Ontario classrooms this past Remembrance Day. Inspired by the book Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz: Memories ofOntario Farmerettes we invited author Bonnie Sitter along with coauthor and Farmerette, Shirleyan English and Farmerettes, Isobel Gibson and Beryl Beckett, to share the stories and memories of their time serving on the home front war efforts during World War II. Farmerettes were young women from across Ontario who signed up to work on Ontario farms, to plant, take care of and harvest Ontario's produce and grain crops to feed Canadians and the allied troops overseas. The Ontario Farmerettes is a unique and often untold part of our local history that directly relates to the home front war efforts and Ontario agriculture. We were fortunate to have three Farmerettes that served their country in World War II join us to share their experiences and answer students' questions about life and farming during the 1940s and 1950s. Students were curious about what type of work the young women did, what life was like at a Farmerette camp, and why they wanted to be a Farmerette. Good in Every Grain hosted six sessions between November 9 and November 11, moderated by grain farmer and Grain Farmers of Ontario District 13 delegate, Jenn Doelman from Renfrew County, for students in kindergarten to grade 12. The sessions reached more than 200 classes and 3,700 students from across Ontario. We even had classes join us from Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. The Good in Every Grain team worked hard to ensure these sessions were accompanied by curriculum-based, interactive activities created in-house. Educators were able to bring their classroom to our virtual sessions and continue the conversation ofRemembrance Day, female farmers and local food in their classroom with free activities and resources provided by Good in Every Grain. Activities included making custom postage stamps commemorating the Farmerettes and the hard work those women did to serve their country and grow our food. For more information on the Farmerettes and the Remembrance Day activities Good in Every Grain created for Ontario classrooms, please visit www.goodineverygrain.ca/2021/11/02/ remembering-ontario-farmerettes/ or by scanning this code:

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