Eyes on the fries: Alberta snatches potato crown from P.E.I.
CBC
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Prince Edward Island no longer produces more potatoes than any other Canadian province.
Yes, you read that correctly. We're No. 2.
Alberta, the Prairie province known for its thick cuts of red meat, is now the potato king of Canada. But just by a skin.
According to the most recent report by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Alberta produced 21.8 per cent of Canadian potatoes in 2022 — just 0.2 per cent more than P.E.I. Manitoba is also hot on our heels at 21.3 per cent.
And while our Irish ancestors may find themselves in a stew, potato farmers on P.E.I. are not exactly demanding a recount.
It's fine, they say. All good.
In fact, the P.E.I. Potato Board says the Island is pretty much maxed out in terms of potato production. If anything, P.E.I. is eroding and shrinking. We could use the help supplying the world with spuds.
The North American frozen French fry industry in particular is still going up in demand. So places like Alberta are starting to fill that need. Have at 'er.
That's not to say some farmers don't think about what an oversupply of potatoes could mean, even south of the border.
"That's always a fear," Keisha Rose Topic, a sixth generation potato farmer with R.A. Rose and Sons in eastern P.E.I.
"Especially this year, it was actually Idaho that planted 55,000 extra acres that created a glut in potatoes in Idaho, which they could then bring into Canada for cheaper than we wanted to sell ours out of P.E.I. for."
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.