Human health Archives - Page 17 of 35

High River beef plant workers to vote on Cargill offer

UFCW bargaining committee is recommending nay

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News November 22, 2021

Workers on the verge of striking at Cargill’s major beef cattle slaughter plant at High River, Alta. will vote this week on a new contract offer from the company. However, the union bargaining committee for the workers, represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 401, is recommending employees vote against the proposal.

Delivery vans from the Save-On-Foods grocery store chain wait for a police escort to cross through a landslide near Hope, B.C. on Nov. 18, 2021 to restock the local grocery store after rainstorms caused flooding and landslides in the region. (Photo: Reuters/Jesse Winter)

Weather

Panicked shoppers clear out flood-hit B.C.’s grocery stores

By GFM Network News, Nia Williams, Rod Nickel November 19, 2021

Reuters — Shoppers in British Columbia have emptied grocery shelves following catastrophic flooding, although the shortages are as much down to panic buying as disrupted supply chains, industry associations said on Thursday. Even as flood waters start to recede, some parts of the province are expected to face to temporary shortages of dairy supplies, with

Food banks are anyone’s CERB, outside a pandemic. It’s as simple as that.

Comment, Op/Ed

Comment: The hungry Canada we don’t see

There’s always going to be need, and the pandemic has increased it

By Sylvain Charlebois November 16, 2021

Hunger is cruelly invisible in our society. Even though it may surround us, we hardly see it. But it’s always there. With the latest Hunger Count published by Food Banks Canada, we now have a better idea of how the pandemic has affected Canada’s food insecurity landscape. The news isn’t great. According to an internal

Tim Hortons parent to buy Firehouse Subs as other brands drag

Chain's comparable year-to-date sales up 20 per cent against pre-pandemic levels

By GFM Network News, Praveen Paramasivam November 15, 2021

Reuters — Tim Hortons parent Restaurant Brands International said Monday it will buy sandwich chain Firehouse Subs for US$1 billion, at a time when its popular brands are struggling due to increased competition from rivals launching new menu items. Analysts have said fried chicken sandwich pioneer Popeyes, owned by RBI, has been hurt by McDonald’s

A scene from the show floor at Ag Days 2020.

News

Manitoba Ag Days to charge admission

The previously free show will now have a ticket cost to get in the door

By Alexis Stockford November 12, 2021

Anyone wanting to get into Manitoba Ag Days 2022 will have to pay for the privilege. Canada’s largest indoor farm show will be charging visitors admission for the first time, the organization confirmed on Twitter Nov. 11. Advance tickets are set at $15 per day, while visitors at the door can expect a $20 charge.

UFCW Local 401 board member and Cargill employee Joseph Kog (l) and Local 401 president Thomas Hesse with their strike notice on Nov. 10, 2021. (GoUnion.ca)

Beef cattle, Livestock

Cargill beef plant workers serve strike notice

Without a deal, High River workers will walk Dec. 6

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News November 11, 2021

Unionized workers at Cargill’s cattle slaughter and processing plant at High River, Alta. will start strike action next month unless a deal can be reached with the company, their union said Wednesday. A strike would begin at High River no sooner than Dec. 6 at 12:01 a.m. if a new collective bargaining agreement isn’t reached

Comment, Op/Ed, Other

Comment: The rise of the once-silent, once-hidden food worker

Workers have more political capital than they’ve ever had and they know it

By Sylvain Charlebois November 10, 2021

Workers across the food supply chain are expressing concerns about their livelihood. Recently, workers at the online grocery retailer Instacart went on strike for better conditions and higher wages. Instacart is a symbol of the new gig economy in food – you use a phone app to have someone else pick up your groceries and

File photo of a farmed mink. (Konstantin Sokolov/iStock/Getty Images)

Livestock

B.C. calling halt to mink farming

Live mink on farms to be banned in 2023

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News November 10, 2021

British Columbia’s remaining mink farmers are “devastated” by the province’s proposal to phase out their industry over risks related to COVID-19. The province announced Friday it’s starting the process toward a permanent ban on mink farming — beginning with a ban on mink breeding, followed by a ban on live mink on farms by April

File photo of containers at a seaport in Jakarta. (Leolintang/iStock/Getty Images)

Markets

APEC ministers call for curbs on farm, fuel, fishing subsidies

By David Lawder, GFM Network News, Praveen Menon November 10, 2021

Washington/Wellington | Reuters — Pacific Rim trade and foreign ministers on Tuesday pledged to sustain the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic while pursuing talks to curb subsidies for fisheries and agriculture at a forthcoming World Trade Organization meeting. The ministers from the 21 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries said in a communique issued after

Southwestern Alberta MP John Barlow, shown here at a parade in 2016, is again the federal Conservatives’ agriculture critic. (JohnBarlowMP.ca)

Conservatives’ Barlow to return as federal ag critic

NDP, Bloc incumbent critics to return

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News November 10, 2021

A former agriculture critic for the federal opposition Conservatives will again handle the file when the House of Commons resumes sitting in two weeks. Conservative leader Erin O’Toole on Tuesday named John Barlow, MP for the southwestern Alberta riding of Foothills, as shadow minister for agriculture, agri-food and food security. As ag critic, Barlow replaces

Daily Network News

B.C. ostriches culled, CFIA confirms

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hogs end week on high note

U.S. grains: Soybeans bounce as Chinese demand assessed, wheat drops

Human health