The Canadian organic production industry received confirmation today that the federal government will provide financial support for updating organic standards. Today in Guelph federal agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay annouced the Government of Canada's commitment to provide the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) the "necessary funds to cover costs associated with the 2020 Canadian Organic Standards... Read More
Category: Food
Eight farmers, 10 ingredients, one plate — that's the premise behind Before the Plate, a coming documentary looking to connect everyday people in a transparent, open-barn-door way with the food they eat. Before the Plate follows John Horne, head chef of the downtown Toronto restaurant Canoe, on a journey sourcing 10 ingredients featured at his... Read More
Interested in growing camelina for Three Farmers? Get ready to intercrop. Three Farmers, a Saskatchewan-based snack food company, is offering, for the first time, production contracts for camelina, an oilseed crop. A stipulation of the contract is that camelina be grown in tandem with either pea or lentil. Likely the first-of-its-kind stipulation in a crop... Read More
The Liberal government's minimum wage hike will cost Ontario fruit and vegetable growers $297 million over the next two years. The impact on the industry was calculated by professional consultants and presented to all levels of the provincial government, but Premier Kathleen Wynne, Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) and senior bureaucrats chose not to listen,... Read More
In an era where "offensive" seems to have an ever-widening set of definitions, a group of police officers found themselves under the defensive wing of journalist and television personality Piers Morgan. How it all started Members of the North Wales Rural Crime Team wanted to support local farmers after the country's National Farmers Union hosted... Read More
According to the dictionary, a sin tax is "a tax on items considered undesirable or harmful, such as alcohol or tobacco." There is mounting pressure from activist groups to add animal proteins to that list of so-called "sinful" items. They argue meat creates added healthcare costs and negative impacts on the environment. It might sound... Read More
With all of the hype around synthetic meat and plant based burgers, it appears consumers still have a taste and desire for regular old meat. In the 2017 wrap-up show on RealAg Radio, Kelvin Heppner described "plant-based meat" as one of the most overused terms of 2017 and consumers are not buying the Silicon Valley... Read More
When Loblaw Co. and parent company George Weston admitted late Tuesday that it engaged in a bread price-fixing scheme, consumers and experts that follow the industry closely were all blown away. "Shocked and disappointed" is how Dalhousie University's Sylvain Charlebois describes his reaction to Loblaw's admission that they have been fixing the price of bread.... Read More
Loblaw Companies and parent company George Weston Limited have admitted to participating in "industry-wide" price-fixing of bread for 14 years, dating from 2001 to March of 2015. "Under the arrangement, the participants regularly increased prices on a coordinated basis. The participants included Loblaw and the Weston Bakeries division of George Weston as well as other... Read More
Plant-based "meat" is gaining a new level of mainstream presence, as McDonald's is planning to debut a vegan burger in Europe next week. The McVegan will be added to the menu in Sweden and Finland on December 28th, after testing in a limited number of Finnish restaurants this fall. Produced by Anamma, a subsidiary of... Read More