The business of food retailing is undergoing significant changes. There is significant consolidation happening, new entrants like Whole Foods, the growth of WalMart and all of this is happening while the consumer market is not growing overall. Just like farming technology is allowing food retailers to lower costs and gain more insight into its operations… Read More
Category: Food
If you’re still wondering if local food is a fad, and whether you should build a local food component into your crop and livestock production, take heed of the latest consumer food price outlook from the University of Guelph. The outlook, produced annually by a team led by Prof. Sylvain Charlebois, shows consumer interest in… Read More
This morning at the Ontario Federation of Agriculture Annual General Meeting in Toronto, the Premier and Provincial Ag Minister, Kathleen Wynne, talked to the delegates about the state of agriculture in the province. Wynne talked about job growth, the opportunity for young people and more. When the meeting was handed off to the question and… Read More
The Lancet Infectious Diseases published an editorial entitled Antibiotic resistance—the need for global solutions to mark Antibiotic Awareness Week (which is this week, FYI). The article is as long as the situation is complicated. With twenty-six contributors and nearly 400 references, it looks to address the concerns around antibiotic resistance, factors that cause resistance, and recommended strategies… Read More
I feel for the good people of Leamington as they struggle to prepare for life without Heinz. The company, which has been a huge part of their lives and their community for more than a century, will close next June. Some say they could see the end coming when Heinz was sold to Americans a… Read More
There are a couple things, as someone who writes in the public domain, I don’t ever really want to meddle in. Religion is likely at the top of that list, and I want to make it very clear that this column is not about religion at all. It’s about misinformation that just so happens this… Read More
A major buyer of Ontario-grown processing tomatoes announced yesterday that it will close by next spring. While the news wasn’t entirely unexpected, the confirmation that the Leamington-based H.J. Hienz tomato processing facility would close within a few months has devastated an industry and a community. The plant, which Heinz says is the second largest of… Read More
The first-of-its-kind Local Food Act has passed third reading and will become Ontario law. Third time’s a charm for Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey, who has had a similar bill fail two times, once because of an election and the second time because of prorogation. Included in the bill are several points, but the focus is… Read More