Farm & Food Care champion announced

Apr. 5, 2013 – Kim Cooper of Chatham-Kent, Ontario, has been named the 2013 recipient of the Farm & Food Care Champion Award.

The award was presented at Farm & Food Care’s annual meeting on earlier this month by Bruce Christie, a Farm & Food Care board member, and Minister Jeff Leal, Ontario Minister of Rural Affairs. Cooper was nominated for the award by the Chatham-Kent Agri Development Committee.

Cooper is the Agriculture Specialist Officer with Economic Development Services for the Municipality of Chatham Kent, and for the last 12 years, Cooper has written weekly “Food for Thought” columns in local newspapers, highlighting and explaining agricultural commodities, practices and innovations. He’s also an active promoter of agriculture through the use of social media channels like Twitter and through speaking engagements on radio programs and to local service clubs. He is also a member of the Lambton-Kent Agriculture in the Classroom program.

“Not from a farm background,” reads his nomination, “Cooper has embraced the industry and strives to inform the public about agriculture today through his own weekly columns, tweets and involvement with numerous volunteer committees. Kim is well respected throughout agriculture and is a truly caring person about the community that he lives in.”

Bruce Christie described Cooper as a worthy candidate for the award. Said Christie, “Cooper never turns down an opportunity to speak about agriculture. He’s a great ambassador for this industry.”