Science can get us closer to solutions to problems than throwing pies. As Canada (and the rest of the world) discovered last week after a pie throwing incident in Burlington, Ontario, one pie in the face simply leads to another. It doesn’t promote dialogue, it doesn’t advance the understanding of issues, it just alienates people.

In agriculture, at least, I’m seeing more evidence of science moving the public opinion needle, which is the topic of my Urban Cowboy column today in the Guelph Mercury.

The Mercury has two other agriculture and food stories today — one story about a University of Guelph professor’s efforts to help re-establish Haitian farming, and another story about a push for a national food policy driven by organic agriculture (pegged to the annual organic conference held on the weekend at the University of Guelph).

The photo below, from The National Post, depicts the counter pie in the face in St. John’s. The character on the right is a local mascot.