Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 5, 2004, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press monday july 5, 2004 a3 study says teens a Happy lot Overall by Dennis Bueckert o Ottawa ? the kids Are All right. At least most of them seem to be says a study conducted for health Canada. Most of the teens interviewed last year for the study said they enjoy school get along with their parents like to meet new people and Don to often get depressed. Almost 60 per cent said they work part time outside school. But the Survey also shows Canadian youth like to take risks. Approximately a third have tried marijuana More than once and one in 10 has tried magic mushrooms. Usage of other drugs was Low four most enjoy school and get along with their parents per cent said they had tried ecstasy three per cent had tried crack cocaine or glue sniffing two per cent Crystal meth one per cent heroin. The study contradicts the image of surly adolescents locked in Universal War with the authority figures in their life. Overall Canadian teens perceive themselves having a Good relationship with their parents says the study con ducted by pc research of Ottawa. Most 82 per cent say they feel part of the school they attend and participate in extracurricular activities 70 per cent. But boys Are less Likely than girls to enjoy school 66 versus 77 per cent. More than two thirds of teens said their Parent or guardian takes a lot of interest in their school work. There were worrisome findings too. More than half 55 per cent said they have a hard time concentrating 51 per cent said they get bored easily and 63 per cent worry a lot about their future. Some of the results seem contradictory. A great majority of teens 79 per cent say they Are More Leader than Fol lower yet an almost equal percentage say i usually go along with my friends even if it does to feel quite the teens saw cigarettes As being More harmful than marijuana and Alco hol As being the least harmful. One in five drink alcohol regularly with rates somewhat higher in Quebec. Girls were More Likely than boys to consider it dangerous to body surf in a mosh pit and roller Blade on a half pipe without a helmet. When asked about different information sources 80 per cent said they believed what they were told in health classes 72 per cent mentioned teachers and 71 per cent the police. Parents were considered reliable by 69 per cent. Media sources were less trusted. Forty six per cent believed what they read about drugs in magazines or newspapers and 44 per cent believed to programs. Despite that scepticism teens spent a lot of time with the mass Media 63 per cent watched two or More hours of Tele vision daily and 13 per cent watched five or More hours daily. Ten per cent of respondents said they surfed the internet for five or More hours daily. About a third said they surfed for an hour a Day 17 per cent said they surfed two hours and 15 per cent said three or four hours. Seventy per cent of teens were living with both parents 19 per cent were Liv ing with just their Mother and five per cent with just their father. Rates of depression were higher in single Parent Homes 18 per cent versus 12 per cent. ? Canadian press w Winnipeg Beach ? when people talk about Weed eaters they usually mean those gadgets with monofilament whirring around at a 100 Miles an hour. Not Bob Piney and Betty Kehler who run organic Strawberry a pick operation Plum Ridge farm 75 Kilometres North of Winnipeg. Their Weed eaters have White downy Coats honk a lot and Are very tasty in fall when basted with a Honey and sesame seed coating and popped in the oven. They re geese. Bob and Betty keep 120 free Range Happy As larks honkers and their Strawberry patches Are so free of weeds you a think they a been Nap Almed. I read about a Strawberry grower using geese in an Issue of Mother Earth news Back in the 60s,? recalled Bob. So he gave it a try. It worked fabulously. Apparently there san alkaloid in the Straw Berry Leaf that geese simply hate. So set geese Loose in a Strawberry Patch and they eat everything but. Unleash the geese geese love dandelions thistles and quack grass explained Betty but dandelions Are a particular delicacy. The couple also grows raspberries Saskatoon and asparagus plants that have a similar alkaloid that geese hate. Plum Ridge farm is an anachronism a Humble 40-acre farm in a modern landscape where Many Grain farms Are 4,000 acres and More. Bob and Betty have been in the a pick business for Over 20 years and believe they Are the Only people where a a pick operation is their sole livelihood. Most a picks Are a sideline often for existing farms. The Back to the Landers have carved out an amazing Pioneer like existence. They tap and boil their own Maple syrup. They heat with Wood Plant ing and harvesting their own swedish Aspen for fuel for their Wood stove. They grind their own flour and Betty makes All the bread. They make their own Beer Strawberry wine and jams. They feast on Goose meat and Betty makes Down and Feather mitts socks vests and duvets. Basically we re leftover hippies said Bob who is even More of an anomaly. He grew up in Down town Winnipeg with a secret desire to be a Farmer. A High school dropout he supported himself As a Backhoe operator when he bought this farm West of Winnipeg Beach. Betty Kehler joined him in 1982. When you re farming with a City boy its always difficult quipped Betty who grew up on a farm near Altona. Their Home is also self built. It is an open Post and beam style House with a 27-foot High Cathedral ceiling and is built exclusively with local Materi als. The couple obtained rough Timber in the area and milled it themselves. They used Burr Oak Trees from a Neighbour who had slowed the Trees Down and turned them into Beautiful ? and hard As Rock ? Kitchen cabinets that Are a unique Shade of Wood Blond. Windows were purchased from the habitat for humanity a re store. Their panelling is made of gnarly Jack Pine of All things. You see the number of knots but they Are tight knots compared to Spruce and Don to fall out said Bob. The Home is attached to their original living quarters ? the 480-Square-foot Shack of a farm House where previous farm owners raised seven children. Unbelievable in to it said Betty. They re vacations Are hippie style too like regularly spending Winter months camping in Mexico. The couple is in their 50s. There a a Long list of chemicals used by some Strawberry growers including herbicide sinbad for weeds and fungicide Captan to control Leaf spot. Its never touched the land Here since Bob bought the farm in 1977. We think this is the Way to grow fruit said Betty. People pay a Premium for organic produce and at Plum Ridge farm strawberries go for $8 per four litre pail. Manitoban Crank est about wait for care by Alexandra Paul Manitoba is Home to some of the Crank est people in Canada when it comes to health care Waits a new statistics Canada report reveals. One in three people surveyed Here say that they wait too Long for medical tests such As mris cat scans and angiography even though the average wait ? three weeks ? was similar to that endured by canadians in other provinces who Don to grumble nearly As much As Manitoban. The tendency of Manitoban to com Plain baffled both the study a co author in Ottawa and officials the Winnipeg Region Al health authority. I Don to know Why but that a what people in Manitoba report said study co author Jean Marie berth elot from statistics Canada in Ottawa. In Prince Edward Island and Ontario roughly one in five people complained that a three week wait for tests was unacceptable. About one in three in Manitoba complained about the same three week wait. In Winnipeg the head of the Warha or. Brian Postl was caught off guard. Its a curious thing Postl said. Even though we have the same or better Waits people in Manitoba Are More anxious. Manitoban find the Waits unacceptable and other people their perception is worse than the reality. It makes me wonder if we be politicized the system so much that peo ple see the worst Postl said. The study entitled Access to health care services in Canada is the first to break Down canadians perceptions of health care by province. The results Are based on a Survey of 32,000 canadians in 2003. The Survey showed that 2.9 million canadians sought medical services from specialists in 2003 for a new illness or condition. Just Over 600,000, or about 21 per cent of canadians in general complained about waiting lists. The study looked at Waits for specialists for non emergency surgery and for medical tests. All the wait times were measured in median weeks. Median Means that half of those surveyed had to wait longer and half waited Shorter times. The study focused on mris cat scans and angiography All expensive computerized tests done in hospitals. The Overall median Waits in Canada Are the same As those in Manitoba four weeks to see a specialist 4.3 weeks for non Emer gent surgery and three weeks for tests. ;