The Liberal government has decided to adjust course on its messaging, as evidenced by the trotting out of grocers during the first week of this Parliament sitting. At issue: food cost inflation and what to do about it. One of the potential targets is retail grocery store companies themselves, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said… Read More
Category: Food
Where once stood a brewery that turned barley into beer in Lethbridge, Alta., now stands a plant that turns peas into protein. The plant — PIP-International — has shifted its focus to the plant proteins sector of agriculture as it continues to grow. Christine Lewington, chief executive officer of PIP-International, joined RealAg Radio Host Shaun… Read More
No matter how you slice it, Ontario’s Ford government took liberties with the rules when it decided to re-draw the boundaries of Toronto’s Greenbelt. (You can read the auditor general’s report about how many liberties, here). A staunch supporter of farmland preservation, Peggy Brekveld, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, says that there’s no doubt… Read More
It’s been 10 years since Farm & Food Care Ontario hosted its first Breakfast on the Farm. Over the past decade, an estimated 30,000 people have attended the events at farms across Ontario with many visiting a farm for the first time to learn about where their food comes from and how it’s produced. On… Read More
Pick a cut, any cut, and The Gateway will tell you how best to prepare it. Curious about learning a new style of cuisine? The Gateway can help with that, too. So says Joyce Parslow, with Canada Beef, who joined Shaun Haney for a discussion on Canada Beef’s updates to its online resource for recipes,… Read More
When we talk about agriculture and food system sustainability, there are a lot of questions that seem to repeatedly come up, including who needs to collaborate, and who’s going to pay for the real-world implementation of sustainability measures. Sustainability and food security are intrinsically linked — you can’t have a secure food system if you’re… Read More
The Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food has published its report on the cost of food in Canada. The report, titled “Grocery affordability: Examining rising food costs in Canada,” lists 13 recommendations, including calling for a grocery code of conduct, adding a possible “windfall tax” on grocery chains, and ways to address food waste. John… Read More
Most Canadians have noticed a serious run-up in grocery bills in the last 18 months. Inflation has hit consumers at checkout lines, even at the most discount of discount stores. Which begs the question, how do you save money on food? This week, the RealAg team had its regular Tuesday meeting where we kick off… Read More
Fourteen of Ontario’s agriculture organizations are collectively asking the provincial government to pause forward momentum of the proposed Bill 97 and the Proposed Provincial Planning Statement. “We stand in strong opposition to the 3 lot severances per farm parcel proposed in prime agricultural areas as well as other measures that weaken local farmland protection. We… Read More
Tucked into the Ontario Progressive Conservatives’ Bill 97 is a proposed change to severance allowances of farmland that the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) says could make siting of livestock farms much more difficulty. What’s more, the bill carves out increased power for Ministerial Zoning Orders in the name of housing; however, Peggy Brekveld, president… Read More
The University of Guelph’s Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics (FARE) within the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) has announced a $1-million research chair. The Arrell Family Chair in Behavioural and Experimental Economics will support students and seed projects and enable the hiring of a lab manager for a growing research lab. The new chair will… Read More
Earlier this week, the House of Commons unanimously passed at third reading Senator Rob Black’s bill that seeks to establish a Food Day in Canada, thus ensuring it will become law. Twenty years after it was established, Food Day Canada officially becomes enshrined in legislation with Bill S-227, an act to establish Food Day in… Read More
Misinformation is nothing new. Humans have been stretching the truth since the beginning of time, but the growing amount of misinformation generated today and the speed at which it moves is one of the defining issues of our time, says academic and author Dr. Timothy Caulfield. As a member of the University of Alberta’s Faculty… Read More
Merit Functional Foods has entered receivership while owing approximately $95 million to its two main creditors — Export Development Canada (EDC) and Farm Credit Canada (FCC), according to court documents. A judge on Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench appointed PwC as the receiver for the Winnipeg-based plant protein processing company on March 1. According to… Read More
Update: Merit Functional Foods was placed in receivership on March 1. Read more here. Creditors for Merit Functional Foods are asking the Court of King’s Bench in Manitoba to appoint a receiver for the plant protein processing company. Export Development Canada and Farm Credit Canada have filed an application for the appointment of a receiver,… Read More