Reading Time: 3 minutes In a bad year, the Great White Combine does a good chunk of the harvesting in Hailstorm Alley — a little pocket of central Alberta that sees more than its fair share of hail. And there have been more bad years than good in John Mills’ farming career. “I’ve been back on the farm for […] Read more
Farm family weathers Mother Nature’s worst through diversification
Bowden farm has branched out from grain, cattle, and seed potatoes into agri-tourism and community-supported agriculture
Schoepp: What’s a more important sector: oil or agriculture?
Take a comprehensive look at the facts and the answer is obvious
Reading Time: 4 minutes As we drove through the blueberry fields and cranberry bogs in southern B.C., I thought of economic generators. What, I wondered, was a bigger sustainable economic generator to our nation: oil or agriculture? An environmental scan of an industry must include the long-term effects on people and the planet. The structures that we employ for […] Read more
Open Farm Days: This is how you connect with consumers
Yes, there were questions about GMOs and hormones in meat, but the farm visitors were just ‘amazed’ by what they saw and learned
Reading Time: 4 minutes As farm leaders, Humphrey Banack and Kent Erickson are well aware that consumers are increasingly critical about how their food is produced. So they were expecting tough questions when they put up the ‘Come On In’ sign for this year’s edition of Alberta Open Farm Days. But that’s not what happened. “They were amazed at […] Read more
Cereal crop producers urged to take care
Reading Time: < 1 minute A new campaign is urging cereal producers to be vigilant about grain safety. Cereals Canada launched the Keep it Clean — Cereals campaign because of growing scrutiny of grain, said Cam Dahl, the organization’s president. “Canadian farmers consistently deliver high-quality safe food to consumers around the world,” said Dahl. There are a few steps that […] Read more
Get the scoop on agri-food with ‘Food News’
Reading Time: < 1 minute Food News is a monthly newsletter that provides Alberta’s agri-food industry with current events and programs to support its growth and help with diversification, competitiveness, and market readiness. It includes information on topics such as current events and workshops; training courses; export missions; missions to trade shows; industry support programs; regulatory updates from Health Canada […] Read more
An unsettling discovery via a cool summer treat
Who would have guessed that propylene glycol is a permitted ingredient in a food product?
Reading Time: 4 minutes Long warm days call for cool refreshing treats such as ice cream. One afternoon I was enjoying a milky bar — ignoring the calories and savouring the apparent goodness — when I glanced at the ingredients on the box. Sugar, fat, cholesterol in mind-numbing percentages were accepted — with a good dose of guilt. What […] Read more
NOT WORKING: Alberta’s food processing industry needs a big fix
If the province wants a vibrant food industry, it will ‘have to do things differently,’ says expert
Reading Time: 3 minutes Alberta’s food-processing industry faces a grim future without a “disruptive intervention,” says an agri-food industry veteran. “Current approaches toward innovation and growth — particularly in the food industry here in Alberta — are not working,” said Jerry Bouma of Toma & Bouma Management Consultants. “If we seek success and want to grow this industry, we’re […] Read more
The secret of success can be found in a simple breakfast spread
The man behind Nutella shows how simple ideas can be very powerful
Reading Time: 3 minutes I was first introduced to Nutella while travelling in Europe as a young woman — the thought of chocolate for breakfast was just too good to be true! Today, the sweet treat remains a frequent visitor to our home, disappearing in the early hours shortly after waking. The man behind the mysterious blend of hazelnuts […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
