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’f .1. “if: attempt to solve a problem in this way? Our rights may be A C W W MINI-CONFERENCE Mrs. R. I. Skene, FWIO representative "The future is to-morrow and that is in our hands" said Fayola Muchow. ACWW Vice-President for USA when she spoke to women from all of the western provinces and Ontario at the ACWW Mini-Conference held at the Inter- national Inn. Winnipeg. Nov. 12-14. After reminding her V'audience of the origins of ACWW, Mrs. Muchow went on to caution the 110 women attending the conference. that when one speaks of rights. one is also speaking of respon- ‘. sibilities. Men and women should be equal. but do men and . women have to be the same? Men tend to discuss financial statements â€" women talk of clothes. Women talk of meals and babies â€" men discuss events of the board room. When men haVe a problem they will talk it over in a bar. over » lunch or on a fishing trip. How often do we see women equal but the methods we employ to reach our goals will likely never be the same. Mrs, Muchow went on to describe some of the successful projects that have been undertaken by ACWW all over the world and congratulated Canada on its leadership and support in the work of ACWW. However. . she cautioned against what she termed the “Mexican Fia5co" where American branches assembled thousands of sewing kits for women in the villages of Mexico only to find that the Mexican government would not allow the kits to cross the border. The chairperson of the conference, Senator Martha Beilish. introduced Professor LB. Siemens, Associate Dean of Agriculture. University of Manitoba. when he presented his topic “The World Food Situation NOW_" The speaker asked that honor be paid to the word NOW in _ _' the title of his speech and used an excellent slide presenta- .' tion to emphasize his message that the world cannot go on consuming more than it can produce. The combined food deficit of the needy countries in 1975 was 37 million metric tonnes. which is equal to the entire western Canada grain production. By the end of the year 198]. we will need to produce somewhere in the region of 200 million if we are to have any hope of improving the situation. Production is still not keeping up with increased population Canada has al- most reached zero population growth. but in countries where a family's children are a family‘s asset. this is not the ‘case. The strongest co-relation is between population in- crease and the level of education of the mother. As the level of education of the mother rises. the population increase starts to drop off. However. Professor Siemens reminded his audience that food aid can be a double-edged sword. Cheap and free food has set back agricultural development in those countries which have received it. and although food aid used imaginatively can be productive. direct food help should be provided only in emergencies. India has achieved a great improvement. but in parts of Africa where a long drought has been experienced. the problem is very serious. The role of women in the poor countries must be reversed. Whereas, agriculture is almost entirely handled by women in these countries. only men attend all of the conferences (Seto etc.). Major causes of failure in the food situation are poverty and distribution, and people are poor because they are under-employed. All of the conference speakers were asking, each in his own way, that we define our priorities. We must separate needs from wants, whether at the local. national or international level. We cannot go on forever demanding more and more gourmet food. while part of the world starves. “Canada To-day: Economic Issues. Policies and Their Impact on Our Lifestyles" was the topic selected by Dr. .l.C. Gilson, Faculty of Agriculture. University of Man- itoba and President of the Agricultural Institute of Canada, when he told the delegates that, because they had just lived through an era of promises of plenty and equal opportunity. they had reached a point close to a "crisis of confidence". The women of rural Canada have a role to play in changing our national lifestyle. in order that we may cepe with higher energy costs and the disturbing rate of growth in our na tional consumption. Society is splintering and apathy is one of the major causes. either the apathy of. “i don't care" or the apathy of. “believing that the whole matter is beyond our control." Equal opportunity has not produced equal outcome. and is one of the major factors in so far as our national economic policies are concerned. The Mini-Conference was honored by the presence of Manitoba's newly appointed, first female Lieutenant, Governor. Pearl McGonigaI who had as her escort the first female Civilian Aide ever appointed in Manitoba. The new Lieutenant-Governor. a charming and informed lady. gave a brief address on the role of a Lieutenaanovernor. and expressed her views on volunteerism as it applies to women to-day. SOME OF THE DELEGATES ATTENDING THE MINI-CONFERENCE. Hazel Brirlou. operator. Manitoba Co- The banquet speaker. Marie Salway. a Homc Economist from Neepawa. Manitoba. gave an excellent talk on "Car- ing and Sharing“. She reminded her audience ofthe impor» tance of love in a family and expressed concern with the rising rate of teenage pregnancies. broken homes. neglected children and drug abuse. If we no longer feel that it is important to express love in a family by caring and sharing, then we must be prepared to be spectators as the family disintegrates. A panel. consisting of representatives from FWIC. Women of Uniform and the National Farm Union Women. chaired by Marion Fulton of ACWW discussed the topic. “Meeting our Responsibilities through ACWW." The 17