Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s Food Guide is getting revamped for the first time in 10 years — and there’s lots of speculation, especially on social media, about whether meat is being given a thumbs down. “It’s not as harsh as that, really,” said Joyce Parslow, director of consumer relations with Canada Beef. One of the guiding principles of […] Read more
Where’s the beef? New food guide puts focus on ‘proteins’
Meat is being ‘merged’ with plant-based sources of protein in the revamp of Canada’s Food Guide
In the quest for ever-more production, have we lost our way?
Farmers in the developing world are impoverished while producers here are taking on ever-higher levels of debt
Reading Time: 3 minutes I strongly believe that our focus in the future should be on the nutrient density of plants and biodiversity. Pushing our soils to produce more is terminal because there is burnout of the soil and the plant, along with financial harm to the farmer. Instead, we should look at soil health, seed health with nutrient […] Read more
Will agriculture and food processing finally take centre stage?
A new report says these two sectors are key to Canada’s future prosperity — and that recognition is a welcome development
Reading Time: 3 minutes A recent report from the Advisory Council on Economic Growth highlighted agriculture and food processing as keys to economic growth in Canada. The advisory council called on Ottawa to create a growth strategy for what it calls “agfood,” which it defines as everything from “field to fork.” Its report says that could generate another US$30 […] Read more
‘Start with your heart’ in order to win the trust of consumers
People want the facts on how their food is produced, but they want them from sources they know and trust, says expert
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s better to talk about the shared values that you have with a consumer than to start spouting facts. “We are not going to advertise our way to public trust,” Crystal Mackay of Guelph-based Farm and Food Care told an audience of ranchers, food executives and beef industry officials at the Global Conference on Sustainable […] Read more
Low dollar won’t necessarily make 2016 a banner year for local produce
Cash-strapped produce consumers may go for ‘most bang for their buck’ in beleaguered Albertan economy
Reading Time: 3 minutes Some might think the low Canadian dollar might make 2016 a good year for local produce growers. Not necessarily, say two experts in the field. “The talk I’ve heard is that high food costs will normalize farmers’ markets or direct-market sales. These might have cost a little bit more before. Our cost of production is […] Read more
Tech companies charting a new food trend
Amazon, Uber, and Google are hoping to make billions by becoming middlemen in the food business
Reading Time: 3 minutes Uber Eats is not a giant meal that you serve your teenager. It is a service to deliver food to urban dwellers in a hurry through the Uber system of loosely collected, non-taxi drivers. It is just one of the companies, along with Amazon and Google, that are in the food business. Google in food? […] Read more
Constant change is the only sure thing in the food business
The environment was once the big thing, but then came animal welfare, local, gluten free, additives, food safety and more
Reading Time: 4 minutes The ‘mobile global food table’ is a phrase I use to capture the constant shift in consumer trends and food demand. I picture it as a round table without edges that can be placed indoors or out. Sometimes there are chairs and sometimes there are chopsticks. Always there is change. I’ve taken notes over the […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
