Category: Food

By Matt McIntosh, Farm & Food Care “Feeding the world” is a common slogan in agricultural circles being employed to illustrate everything from growing population challenges to the need for new technology. Unfortunately, it’s also a phrase that doesn’t really work, and not because people don’t care. While it’s true many Canadians are not overly concerned… Read More

It’s estimated that an average of 350 acres of arable land per day are gobbled up in Ontario alone. While urban sprawl may have less of an acres-per-day impact in less populous provinces, the permanent loss of farmland is and should be a major concern not just for farmers, but for urbanites, too. When’s the last… Read More

It took an election over the Oval Office, but it seems some of the Internet’s biggest companies are now saying, just maybe, they have a role to play in wrangling up false and fake news. Google and Facebook have both announced that they will cut off the advertising revenue for websites that produce fake news…. Read More

Through the years, Cuban farmers – or at least those whose families didn’t have their farm estates or agri-businesses seized when Fidel Castro came into power — have been living in a bubble. They’ve been loyal subjects to their political leader, the long-time dictator who died last week, almost six months after his 90th birthday…. Read More

For farmers and ranchers looking to “tell their story,” it doesn’t get much bigger than working with an advertising giant like McDonald’s. The fast-food company’s commercials and billboards are literally everywhere. Since launching the “Not Without Canadian Farmers” campaign in late 2015, McDonald’s Canada has focused part of its media spotlight on Canadian agriculture, aiming to explain… Read More

When that canola leaves your farm sometimes you don’t really think about its ultimate destination. Last spring, Jack in the Box invited some Cargill specialty oil growers to visit their head office in San Diego during the Canola Council Convention. Jay Whetter, Canola Digest editor, was able to tag along and write about the experience involving… Read More

The federal and Manitoba governments are committing $1.3 million to purchase equipment and conduct economic research looking at links between food, health, and potential savings in the public healthcare system. Manitoba Ag Minister Ralph Eichler and MP Dan Vandal on Thursday announced $1 million in federal/provincial funding to purchase a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imager… Read More

Canada is moving towards a national food policy, so says the marching orders handed down to federal agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay in mandate letters set out last fall. Prime Minister Trudeau has tasked MacAulay to “develop a food policy that promotes healthy living and safe food by putting more healthy, high-quality food, produced by Canadian ranchers… Read More

Live cattle cash prices have been in the 2016-version of free fall, and many producers have been challenged trying to understand why prices at the grocery stores have not followed suit. As demand concerns rise, speculation is that beef prices in Canada must eventually fall to increase sales at the meat counter. In this week’s… Read More

Ontario dairy co-op Gay Lea Foods and BC-based dairy ingredient supplier Vitalus Nutrition have announced a joint investment in dairy processing in Manitoba. The joint venture’s plans include upgrading an existing food processing plant in Winnipeg, which will increase drying capacity in Western Canada and expand butter production. “Gay Lea Foods is excited by the opportunities… Read More