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September/October 2007 issue	In this issue Table of Contents Feature: Mackenzie Delta Feature: Porbeagle shark Feature: Leamington tomatoes Feature: Landscape architect The Inside Story Editor's Notebook Reverberations Explorer À la carte Mosaic

On a plateau high above the Tobique and Saint John rivers, a safe distance from other farms in New Brunswick's potato belt, the Bon Accord Elite Seed Potato Centre is where farmers go for first-class spuds. The centre's isolation, combined with harsh winters that provide protection from pests and pathogens, produces top-quality tubers that help drive the province's $1.3 billion industry.

Come September, its small fields are best harvested by hand. So the centre — along with many neighbouring farms — turns to a tradition known as the "potato break," in which about 1,000 elementary and high school students in the province leave their books to help bring in the harvest. For about two and a half weeks each fall, a handful of students join a crew of adult workers at the centre to fill aboriginal-crafted wicker baskets, just as their ancestors did a century ago.

"We are seeing more students out in the fields than ever before," says Paul Leahey of the Potato Harvest Labour Recruitment Hotline, a provincial government service started in response to labour shortages. "In fact, even in the areas that don't have a potato break, students work on the harvest after school."

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