I got to be a fashion photographer
This was a first. On Tuesday at Crop Week in Saskatoon I got to photograph nine beautiful young women. It was a nice change from my usual subjects: tractors, blighted wheat kernels and middle-aged balding men.At Saskatchewan Pulse Growers' meeting, Syngenta hosted the "Raising Pulses" fashion show. Rebecca Krip, marketing and communications specialist with Syngenta in Saskatoon, was the MC. The fashion show was a fun way to remind farmers where their pulse exports go, Krip says. Designers at Saskatoon's Academy of Fashion Design made dresses — with pulse crop decorations — to represent nine key markets for Saskatchewan pulses.
Designer Suzie Berdkan, a second-year student at the school, modeled her dress on the United Arab Emirates theme. She's second from the left in the top photo. I've included a close up of her dress design, which includes glued-on kidney beans, peas, lentils and chickpeas.
Kaitlyn Beek, in the hat, designed her outfit to represent Algeria. Jessica Moneo and Samantha Carnduff helped with the design.
While Krip introduced each model, she said which country the dress represented, what Canada exported to that country, and what the people of that country did with the pulses. Here's an overview with the model's name in brackets:
Algeria (Kaitlyn Beek) 96 per cent of Algeria’s lentil imports come from Canada. Popular Algerian pulse dishes include chickpea cakes, potato and chickpea salad and Harira — a lamb a chickpea stew.
China (Kayle Bodener) Since 2006 China has imported more than $207 million worth of Canadian pulses. 94 per cent of China’s dry pea imports come from Canada. Chinese use pulses in sweet bean soup, stir-fry’s and vegetable curries.
Columbia (Megan Burns) Since 2006 Columbia has imported more than $141 million worth of Canadian pulses including dry peas, lentils and chickpeas. Two of this country’s most popular pulse dishes are Frijoles (refried beans) and Lechona — pork stuffed with peas, onions and rice and cooked in a brick oven for 10 hours.
India (Paige Englot) In 2008 alone India spent over $422 million on Canadian pulses including dry peas, lentils and chickpeas. Indians use pulses in many vegetarian options including chickpea curry, garlic lentils and vegetable korma — a dish that includes vegetable, peas and lentils in a mildly-spicy cream sauce.
Spain (Samantha Carnduff) Since 2006 Spain has imported more than $157 million worth of Canadian pulses, using lentils in soup and pilaf — a healthy and popular dish made from lentils, rice and onions.
United Kingdom (Samantha Workman) Since 2006 the UK has imported nearly $150 million dollars worth of Canadian pulses, with much of this spent on dry beans and chickpeas. British pulse dishes include split pea soup and a popular breakfast, beans on toast.
United Arab Emirates (Suzie Berkdan) UAE is a growing market for Canadian pulses, which are used to make hummus — a chickpea and sesame sauce — and lentil soup.
United States (Jessica Moneo) The U.S. spent nearly $130 million on Canadian dry peas, chickpeas and dry beans over the past three years.
Canada (Dakota Ballantyne) Canada is the world's leading pulse exporter, accounting for 83 per cent of the world’s total exports. Each year Canada produces close to five million tonnes of pulses, mostly in Saskatchewan, and exports to over 150 countries. In 2008 sales from lentils, peas, mustard and canary seed added up to approximately $1.9 billion.
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Hi Jay! (I think we met you at Kananaskiss last summer, we had 2 blonde daughters ages 9 and 11 with us...)
Anyhow - thanks for covering this! Suzie is from our town, she was so excited to participate in this, and was so flattered by the interest from the media! Wish we had seen her dress in person, but Darryl wasn't at the show that day.
Now that she has shown her talent in sewing on embellishment, she needs to help out at her daughter's dance studio more - we need her talent!!!
Janice and Darryl Reynolds
Nokomis, SK