Newsroom
2007
Support a Prairie spaghetti farmer on World Pasta Day, CWB urges Canadians
October 24, 2007
Winnipeg – It’s a true spaghetti western! Farmers in Western Canada produce much of the world’s durum wheat, used to make quality pasta around the globe. The CWB is urging all Canadians to celebrate the 12th annual World Pasta Day on Wednesday, October 25 by making pasta a part of their daily diet.
“The durum I grow on my farm is in high demand because pasta is such a delicious, healthy and convenient food choice,” said Ken Ritter, a farmer from Kindersley, Saskatchewan who chairs the CWB’s board of directors.
Pasta is often associated with Italy, but the best pasta in the world is produced from Prairie-grown Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD), which is milled into semolina flour as the main pasta ingredient.
Prairie farmers seed between four and five million acres of durum each year, making it Canada’s fourth-largest grain crop behind spring wheat, canola and barley. The CWB is the world’s largest exporter of durum, holding 50 to 60 per cent of the world’s market share in any given year. In 2006-07, exports reached a record 4.4 million tonnes.
“High-quality pasta products start with high-quality durum,” Ritter said. “Our customers around the globe know they can rely on western Canadian durum for premium quality and consistency.”
The World Pasta Congress created World Pasta Day in Rome in 1995 to raise awareness that pasta is a truly global food – consumed on four continents – that is healthy and abundant in variety.
The CWB has launched a new pasta page on its consumer Web site, www.prairiewheat.ca, featuring pasta recipes from Prairie farm kitchens, interesting facts about pasta and durum wheat and a downloadable version of the CWB’s 70th anniversary pasta cookbook.
The World Pasta Congress will take place this year in Mexico City. To mark World Pasta Day, the Congress is unveiling a brochure entitled “Pasta for All – for Health, for Taste, for Convenience.” This brochure is available for downloading from their Web site: www.internationalpasta.org.
To view a short video of the spaghetti harvest, check out www.prairiewheat.ca. Then read about an old spaghetti spoof that celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, at news.bbc.co.uk . Enjoy!
Controlled by western Canadian farmers, the CWB is the largest wheat and barley marketer in the world. As one of Canada's biggest exporters, the Winnipeg-based organization sells to over 70 countries and returns all sales revenue, less marketing costs, to Prairie farmers.
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For more information, please contact:
Michelina Violi,
CWB Communications Coordinator
(204) 984-0190
Cell: (204) 479-2451
michelina_violi@cwb.ca