For the next two months Sunnybrook Farm Museum’s Cooperative Mercantile Store is the go-to place to learn Canada’s canola story thanks to a brand new national travelling exhibition.
Canola: A Story of Canadian Innovation, created by the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum, is the first national travelling exhibition to stop by Sunnybrook and the exhibit’s second stop in its five-year tour.
The exhibition will be at the Red Deer museum until July 2. An opening reception will be held May 11 from 3 to 5 p.m.
Simone Demers-Collins, education and marketing co-ordinator for Alberta Canola Producers, said the exhibition was launched at the Canola Council of Canada’s annual convention in March in Winnipeg. When it leaves Red Deer it will head to the Calgary Stampede.
The interactive exhibition, introduced in time to celebrate the Canola Council’s 50th year, explores the history and development of canola, its uses in food processing to transportation, and its potential future.
“We talk not only about what it means in terms of innovation, but what it means in terms of the Canadian economy, what it means in terms of health and what it means in terms of versatility for not only consumers but for the food industry as well as for chefs,” Demers-Collins said.
“Not everybody understands the extent to which it is being used whether it’s being used in printing inks which allow us to recycle papers, whether it’s being used in cosmetics, whether it’s used as a airplane de-icer.”
She said once the oil is removed, the canola meal left behind is a high protein animal feed on farms and for pets.
Ian Warwick, Sunnybrook executive director, said the canola displays take up the entire exhibition space in the Cooperative Mercantile Store.
“The store is filled with artifacts but we left the Credit Union side fairly open so we could jump on opportunities like this to do travelling exhibitions,” Warwick said.
“It’s quite amazing to be immersed in it. We’re really excited to have it here. It’s something modern for our old-fashioned museum.”
He said the exhibit is suitable for all ages and open to the public during regular museum hours.
The museum is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is by donation.
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com