Pundits have said the leaders of the next agricultural revolution – the digital revolution — will be big data-powered researchers, with a universe of information in hand to help make farming more efficient than ever. But no one said those researchers would be found in the labs, fields, and classrooms of some of Canada’s main… Read More
Category: Food
Divide and conquer. It’s one of the oldest, most prolific, and most well understood adages in history. Unfortunately, agriculture is a heavily segmented industry — tribal, in a sense — making it particularly vulnerable to this tactic. Attacks against certain aspects of farming and food — whether focused on animal welfare, environmental practices, or what… Read More
Safety is one of the key selling points that agriculture uses to promote food produced on Canadian farms. It’s often mentioned in the same breath as freshness, wholesomeness and nutrition, mirroring what consumers say they value (besides local). Farmers take many on-farm measures to keep food safe — using sound environmental practices, and federally approved plant and animal health… Read More
From apologies to gratitude, the Canadian Beef Industry Conference started off with a bang, in a panel featuring representatives from Sysco Canada, Tim Hortons and Earls Restaurants Ltd. You could have heard a pin drop as the mic was turned over to Mo Jessa, president of Earls, who immediately addressed the ‘humanely raised’ elephant in… Read More
A multi-year pulse research project at the Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi) aimed at producing healthier baked products and increasing the use of pulse flours was launched this morning in Winnipeg. Warburtons, the United Kingdom’s largest bakery brand, is the commercial partner and providing $680,000 in in-kind support and funding for the project. Saskatchewan Pulse… Read More
A guest editorial by Cam Dahl, president of Cereals Canada. Warren Buffet, once quipped “it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” This is something worth thinking about as we start to prepare for harvest. Canada has a strong reputation… Read More
Seven months ahead of schedule, McDonald’s USA today announced that it is only serving chicken not treated with antibiotics important to human medicine. The company originally announced its goal of sourcing chicken raised without such antibiotics in March of 2015. The idea was to make these changes by March 2017, but thanking the collaboration of suppliers and farmers,… Read More
It’s Food Day Canada, and who doesn’t love the excuse to celebrate the great food cultivated in this country? The annual celebration was started by Anita Stweart, food laureate at the University of Guelph. “For years, I’ve cajoled and coached people to cook like a Canadian, now it’s time to shop like a Canadian,” Stewart said… Read More
Canadian pulses are winning fans around the world. They’re also finding followers right here at home. Canadian chef, cookbook author, and television personality Vikram Vij is only too happy to tell you about his preference for using Saskatchewan-grown lentils and chickpeas in his restaurants. Many Canadians know Vij as one of the dragons on CBC’s Dragons’… Read More
In one of those rare, happy coincidences, Ontario has made booze available online and said it will increase broadband access in rural areas…on the same day. That day was Tuesday, and the news came in separate announcements less than one hour apart. Both announcements should be good news for rural Ontario, and not just for… Read More
Saskatchewan-based AGT Food & Ingredients and North Dakota-based JM Grain are two of the first companies to sign on to use a new ‘Made with Pulses’ food packaging label unveiled by the Global Pulse Confederation in Chicago on Monday. With the launch coinciding with the UN’s International Year of Pulses, the new seal and Pulse Brand… Read More
We can expect salad dressing to someday provide some of the same health benefits as fish, adding value to canola as a food ingredient and addressing marine sustainability concerns. Scientists with Dow AgroSciences say they’ve figured out a new way to produce canola oil rich in DHA and EPA — the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil associated with heart… Read More
Marketing has never really been about honesty. It has always been about selling dreams and fantasies of a life you want to lead. Whether it be smoother cigarettes, faster cars, more absorbent diapers or even healthier food. Connecting the consumer to this happiness involves confirming someone’s existing biases or promising them that their purchase leads to… Read More
If you listen to the radio in Canada at all, you’ve likely heard the same advertisement I’ve heard. It’s the man describing the 200 thousand kids that take part in the Timbits soccer program, with a child thinking 200 thousand children must be every kid in the world. Every time I the commercial, I wonder…how many… Read More
One of the top criticisms of advocacy efforts is that organizations tend to all work on the same goal, without pooling industry resources. But, could the idea of pooling resources go even beyond that, to include players from other industries as well? At the Learn. Create. Eat. workshop (held in conjunction with the Dietitians of Canada… Read More