Home Economist Dorothy Long - Canadian Food Focus

Home Economist Dorothy Long’s Canadian Food Story

Home Economist Dorothy Long is a prairie farm girl at heart. Growing up on a farm in rural Saskatchewan has fueled her passion to promote all the wonderful foods we grow and raise in Canada. She loves to tell the stories of these foods through recipes and thinks there is no better way to create understanding than to invite people to visit a farm to meet the farmers and to see things first hand. So, each summer for the past 22 years she has organized tours for dietitians, chefs and food media to visit farms in Saskatchewan.

We are happy to welcome her on board as one of our #CdnFoodFocus contributors. Check out the next few posts to learn more about Dorothy and her #CDNFoodStory. Watch for more posts from Dorothy in the future. You can also follow her on Instagram @dorothyglong

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Home Economist Dorothy Long is a prairie farm girl at heart. Growing up on a farm in rural Saskatchewan has fueled her passion to promote all the wonderful foods we grow and raise in Canada. She loves to tell the stories of these foods through recipes and thinks there is no better way to create understanding than to invite people to visit a farm to meet the farmers and to see things first hand. So, each summer for the past 22 years she has organized tours for dietitians, chefs and food media to visit farms in Saskatchewan. We are happy to welcome her on board as one of our #CdnFoodFocus contributors. Check out the next few posts to learn more about Dorothy and her #CDNFoodStory. Watch for more posts from Dorothy in the future. You can also follow her on Instagram @dorothyglong ⁣ #EverythingGrows

A post shared by Canadian Food Focus (@cdnfoodfocus) on Apr 23, 2019 at 10:00am PDT

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“My passion for promoting Canadian food was born on our family farm in Saskatchewan where I grew up. Although I probably spent most of my childhood summers playing with cousins/neighborhood kids and riding my horse. I also collected eggs, picked rocks, gardened, cooked, canned and took meals to the field, drove grain truck and many other chores. We grew peas, wheat, barley, oats and canola. We also at various times, depending on markets, had a pig barn and beef cattle, as well as a small flock of chickens for eggs. It was a wonderful way to grow up. My grandparents lived in the same yard, cousins across the road and lots of neighbours that are like family. We were always doing something together. Through this experience I saw first-hand how hard farmers worked to produce food and how much pride and care they took in their occupation. It made me want to work hard to tell the world about the great products that we grow and raise in Canada. 1/My dad was born in 1939 and has seen a lot of changes in farming in that time. Here he is with my grandfather using a horse to pull a tiller that my grandpa made. 2/ In the 1940’s they purchased a used Fordson tractor that my Grandpa called Old Henry. Can you imagine what a leap in technology that must have been? 3/ My Dad in the early 1980s with his new John Deer tractor and a cultivator. This was before the days of zero till farming when the soil was tilled to help manage weeds which also meant that the soil was exposed and could easily blow away on a windy day. 4/ My dad loves to fix up old tractors and here he is in his shop with his latest project – a 550 Cockshutt. 5/An aerial view of our family farm in the late 70’s. 6/In 1995, my husband and I moved back to the farm and started a commercial greenhouse growing vegetables and flowers. We ran it for 15 years before selling it to a neighbour. We miss it, so this summer we are putting up a small hoop greenhouse so we can extend our growing season! 📷: #CdnFoodFocus contributor @dorothyglong 🌱🌱🌱

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“I like to say I came from a long line of determined women. Both sides of my family came from England to Canada in the late 1800s/early 1900s and ended up in Saskatchewan as farmers and ranchers. My Granny Ogram was a nurse and midwife and helped deliver many babies. Stories of my Granny Mann, a proper English lady still resonate through our family today. With the abundance of food, we have today, it is hard to image how much time they spent and how hard they worked to ensure their family had enough to eat through Saskatchewan’s cold winters. I remember and honor them through family recipes like boiled raisin cookies, spice cake, preserves and mincemeat tarts. Making those recipes, baking chocolate chip cookies for my brothers and helping prepare meals with my Mom was the start of my food journey. 1/My Mom standing next to my Granny Mann’s stove which is now housed in the Fort Pitt Museum. She fondly remembers wash day and slow cooked rice pudding that bubbled away all day as they heated water to wash their clothing. 2/Mom, my daughter Kate and I making my Granny Mann’s mincemeat. It is our family tradition to have each family member stir it three times each for good luck. 3/A meal in the field during harvest. Mom, Dad, my husband Pete and our kids Kate and Josh.” 📷: #CdnFoodFocus contributor @dorothyglong Follow her profile for more #CdnFoodStories 🌱🌱🌱

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“My original career plan was to be a home economics teacher. In high school two wonderful Home Ec teachers: Mrs. Eagle & Mrs. Brown encouraged me in that direction so off to the University of Saskatchewan I went. Upon graduating there were not many Home Ec teaching jobs and so after substitute teaching I join a firm of Home Economists working with farm groups to promote pulse crops, canola oil, wild boar… I learned so much from my partners: Linda Braun, Betty Burwell, Liz Delahey & Leslie Sanders. Today, I have my own food marketing company that creates recipes, photos, websites, social media, farm tours, food demos and events. When you work with people that you share a passion and common goal with – they become so much more than work mates. They say that people who love food are always the best people. It is so true, and I have made so many friends through this shared passion. 1/Catching up with fellow Home Economist Linda Braun, Betty Burwell and Leslie Sanders. 2/Most days I work from home and Angela and Julie join me to help develop recipes, social media content, plan events… I snuck this photo when they were trying to decide which dishes to use for a photo shoot. 3/ Home Economist & farmer Joan Heath and I worked together to create a canola related farm tour which we affectionately called Canola Camp. It ran for 21 years and boasts over 250 alumni! 4/I have been lucky to work with many talented women especially Leah Mann who has been my partner on many, many projects. We joke that we share a brain and often only have to exchange a glance to know what the other is thinking. 5/ I was also lucky to work with my friend – Dietitian Linda Gilmour during the International Year of the Pulse. We did over 25 events that year to promote eating pulse crops. 6/ Recently, I joined the Farm & Food Care SK team to organize farm tours and the Canadian Food Focus website and social media. I so enjoying working with Clinton, Adele, Penny, Tanya and Christina who share my passion for food and farming! 📷: @dorothyglong

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“I believe that a tried and true recipe partnered with a yummy looking photo not only inspires people and shows them how to prepare foods successfully but also can be a roadmap to improved health and well-being. Canada’s new food guide agrees and encourages us to cook more at home and to enjoy foods with family and friends. Great advice. Our busy lifestyles sometime make this hard but one of my goals is to helped farm groups develop and disseminate practical recipes and information to encourage people to try healthy Canadian products like canola oil, flaxseed, pulses, oats, mustard, pork, beef… Here are a few of the recipes that we have worked on either as the developer and photographer or working with other recipe developers and photographers. That is the other great about working with food – it is a such a collaborative process. 1/We developed and did photography for this yummy Honey Soy Pork Chop for SaskPork. Recipe: https://www.saskpork.com/pork-recipes/2018/4/12/honey-soy-pork-chops?rq=honey%20Soy 2/Dark Chocolate Banana Flax Muffins developed by @sweetsugarbean and photo by us. Recipe: https://healthyflax.org/recipes/dark-chocolate-banana-flax-muffins for HealthyFlax. 3/One of my first project was co-authoring the Discover the Pulse Potential cookbook.” 📷: #CdnFoodFocus contributor @dorothyglong Follow her profile for more #CdnFoodStories 🌱🌱🌱

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“Food fear and misinformation drive me crazy. To combat this misinformation, one of my food heroes, the great culinary activist Anita Stewart encouraged me to start hosting farm tours so that chefs, food writers, dietitians… could experience farms first hand, ask questions and meet a farmer. It is hard not to feel good about our food supply when you talk to a farmer and see how much thought and care they take in what they do. Their passion is evident. 1/Anita and I at a Farm & Food Care SK tour in 2017. We first met through an organization she founded called Cuisine Canada which celebrate Canadian food and is responsible for formulating and defining our Canadian food identity. Today she continues to champion the Canadian culinary scene through @FoodDayCanada which she started in 2003 to support the beef industry. Join the party this August 3rd, 2019 @fooddaycanada #cooklikeacanadian 2 /Photos from farm tours over the years. Farmers sharing their passion and knowledge. 📷: #CdnFoodFocus contributor @dorothyglong Follow her profile for more #CdnFoodStories 🌱🌱🌱

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