Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is going into marketing. It wants you to buy Canadian. The federal government intends to spend $25 million over five years starting this summer to promote Canadian food products and instil pride in what our country can bring to our tables. This is a great idea. But promoting Canadian products may
Comment: Feds’ Buy Canadian food campaign could be a disaster
The feds want to spend $25 million to get you to buy Canadian. This is a great idea that could easily turn into a marketing disaster
Comment: No need for potato panic
It’s not the consumer who will pay the price for regional potato shortfalls
Most of us love fries and chips. Other than people on a ketogenic diet, most diets don’t discriminate against the mighty potato. It’s even in Canada’s newest food guide. Most dishes using potatoes are loved by Canadians, especially in the wintertime, when colder weather encourages us to seek out more hearty meals. But reports suggest
Comment: Behind Maple Leaf Foods’ bold call to become carbon neutral
The company is now listening to consumers, not just customers, in an effort to grow
Maple Leaf Foods is not just pretending to be environmentally friendly, it is trying to be a trailblazer. The company has just adopted science-based targets that will help it become the first major agri-food company in the world to be carbon neutral. It’s so un-Canadian to be first, to set a world standard, especially in
Comment: McDonald’s and the great protein betrayal
Many will feel abandoned by a company that long-championed livestock producers
When McDonald’s makes a move, everyone pays attention. That’s just the way things are in the food-service industry. For months, rumours were swirling around McDonald’s and when it would launch a plant-based product. We now know McDonald’s will enter the plant-based game by running a pilot in Ontario. The pilot project will last 12 weeks.
Comment: The Great Protein War of 2019
Some restaurant chains are offering non-meat burgers, while others double down on beef
The great “protein war” is heating up as several major restaurant chains are either embracing the plant-based movement while others firmly position themselves as guardians of the mighty meat eater. It’s getting confusing with all these announcements, hard to keep track. A&W, Canada’s first Beyond Meat ambassador, started it all a little over 12 months
Comment: The dark side of the Non-GMO Project
Critics say this effort has gone awry and is now firmly in the realm of ‘absence claim abuse’
Most consumers have seen the Non-GMO logos on bread and many other food products while shopping at the grocery store. Today in North America, the Non-GMO Project Verified logo is on over 50,000 food products that bring in more than US$30 billion in retail sales. The green leaves and the orange butterfly are literally everywhere
Opinion: In defence of ‘ultra-processed’ foods
There’s more than a whiff of classism, and even sexism, in smug criticism of this maligned food type
Ultra-processed foods, a term coined by a Brazilian pediatrician many years ago, have been targeted as a menace to society for quite some time. Few have dared to counter the argument and this massive movement has clearly influenced policies around the world. However, the socio-economic implications of discouraging consumers to interact with these products have
Comment: China clearly has Canada’s number on food safety
They’re using every tool they can to undermine Canada’s quality food brand, and we're losing the battle
Canada is losing the game of food safety optics against China. While Canada has demonstrated many times that its food safety record is outstanding, in fact, one of the best in the world, none of it matters now. Since Meng Wanzhou, the vice-president of Huawei, was arrested in Vancouver in December 2018, China has been
Comment: Hey vegans, time to grow up
Divisive and self-righteous tactics could easily backfire at a crucial moment
Vegan groups are using billboards these days in the Atlantic region to denounce dairy farming practices, and telling consumers that dairy is scary. Some of these ads show a picture of a young calf, saying that someone “took its mom, its milk, then its life.” All this is to encourage people to switch to a
Comment: Break out the guacamole
The U.S.-Mexico dispute could translate into both opportunities and perils for Canada
In an unprecedented move recently, and in a single tweet, President Trump opted to impose five per cent tariffs on all Mexican imports until the illegal immigration issue gets resolved. As the world has now realized, when the White House is willing to intertwine both foreign and trade policies, markets around the world tumbled. In
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