Walker Seeds Ships To Korea News Release Saskatchewan Business Lands Major Food-Aid Contract

(Winnipeg, MB. August 16th, 2001) — Walker Seeds Ltd. of Tisdale, Saskatchewan has been awarded a contract by Canadian Foodgrains Bank to supply 10,000 tonnes of yellow peas for a food-aid shipment to North Korea this fall. "While pricing is always a consideration in tendering, we look beyond that to also consider the track record of the company. Walker Seeds, and their history in the pulse industry, fit the bill on all accounts," said Richard Phillips, director of resources with the Winnipeg-based aid agency.

"Our processing and shipping expertise, combined with overseas experience allowed us to be competitive in bidding on this contract," said Dave Walker, co-owner of Walker Seeds, who went on to say "We are pleased to be able to work with such a worthwhile organization like the Canadian Foodgrains Bank." The majority of the peas will be coming from Saskatchewan farmers, some as far away as Estevan. As the peas arrive they are cleaned and loaded bulk onto railcars for shipment to port position. The vessel is scheduled to load September 9th and 10th at Neptune terminals in Vancouver and should arrive in North Korea approximately twenty-one days later. There has been a chronic food shortage in North Korea for a number of years, due to the economic collapse following the end of the Soviet Union, their major trading partner. "The food will be used in nurseries, kindergartens, and to ensure pregnant and nursing mothers have sufficient protein," said Phillips. "Hungry children don’t know politics and food helps to breakdown political walls and build bridges between Canadians and the people of North Korea." The Canadian International Development Agency provided 4:1 matching project dollars. Canadian Foodgrains Bank is a Christian-based charitable organization that facilitates the collection and distribution of grain and other agricultural commodities to the worlds hungry in support of food programming activities carried out by its thirteen member agencies. Saskatchewan farmers donated just over 6,000 tonnes of grain to the Foodgrains Bank last year and since 1983, Canadian Foodgrains Bank members have provided over 800,000 tonnes of food assistance to hungry people in Africa, Asia, South and Central America and Europe.

Canadian Foodgrains Bank Box 767, 400-280 Smith Street Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 2L4 1-800-665-0377