A to Z Challenge: C is for Canola

In case you missed it, I'm taking part in the 10th anniversary of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, the annual event where hundreds of bloggers write 26 blogs—one for each letter of the alphabet—and post them each day of the month, except Sundays. I’m blogging about: THINGS THAT GROW IN ALBERTA. Leave a comment on my blog, Facebook page, or Twitter for a chance to WIN a set of the Superman Duffy books.


Missed a post? Click here start back at the letter "A."

C is for Canola (obviously)

You probably think I’m bias because my grandpa is a canola farmer, but I’m actually telling you the truth when I say that CANOLA is my favourite crop. First off, the colour is amazing—just think about all of those beautiful fields as you drive across the province in July and early August. (I know, it's early spring so there's nothing blooming yet, but soon!)

Canola plants produce those bright yellow flowers that turn into seed-filled pods. The seeds are crushed into oil that is then primarily used for cooking. You probably have a container or two of it in your pantry. (You can even add canola oil to your smoothies—for real!)

And did you know that canola is the country’s only Canadian-made crop? Because all the research that changed rapeseed into canola was done in Canada, Canadian scientists were permitted to give the new plant a new name.  It was decided to combine Can (for Canada) and ola (for low acid oil). It makes sense then, that Canada is one of the world’s largest producer, and the largest exporter of canola around the world—and a good chunk of that is grown in Alberta on farms like my grandpa’s.

If you’ve read any of the Chase “Superman” Duffy books, you know that the canola industry is also very innovative. Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk took 250,000 canola seeds into space to see if anti-gravity would affect their rate of growth.

That was the inspiration behind IT’S A BLAST!, the third book in the Chase “Superman” Duffy series of educational graphic novels. And in GOTTA JET!, Chase (that’s me!) meets Kevin Therres, a race car driver who built the first ever Jet Engine Funny Car that runs on 100% canola biodiesel. Cool, right? (Actually, it’s HOT, and extremely FAST!)

Wait—you haven’t read either of those books? You know what to do. If you don't, scroll up to the top of this post to learn how you can WIN the entire set.

Gotta jet! Tomorrow, we look at the letter "D."

~ Chase Superman Duffy