Editorial: More of the same?

There’s a certain predictability to how the next round of agricultural policy discussions are unfolding. With the Growing Forward 2 suite of programs set to expire in March 2018, many expect that what follows will closely resemble what’s being replaced. That might not serve Canadian agriculture particularly well, however, since the sector is facing a

Food industry wants input on manufacturing study

Food processing is a big export sector

Food processor associations — and likely other agri-food industry groups — will respond to a call for ideas on the future of Canada’s manufacturing sector. The Commons industry committee has requested written submissions on ways to boost Canada’s small, medium and large manufacturing companies. The committee opened its examination of the topic in June, with


The CAPI report identifies consumer issues about food that include health, nutrition, food safety, sustainability, ethics, food security and reliability of supply.

The ultimate consumers’ choice award

Significant change is needed throughout the sector to secure Canada’s future global competitiveness

If farmers and food manufacturers want to be ranked world leaders, then they have to prove to Canadian consumers they deserve that status, says the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute. In the final report out of a process charting the industry’s future growth that began last fall, CAPI said the sector should consider setting a goal

Lawrence MacAulay

MacAulay has been given his list of marching orders

Healthy food, grain transportation, 
expanded trade and more basic research 
are among the items on his to-do list

For the first time, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made public the mandate letters traditionally issued to every minister, and Agriculture Minister Lawr­­ence MacAulay’s list includes a national food policy, improved grain transportation, climate change adaptation and more basic research. MacAulay is to develop “a food policy that promotes healthy living and safe food by putting


VIDEO: Agri-food brain trust gathers in Ottawa to ask tough questions

VIDEO: Agri-food brain trust gathers in Ottawa to ask tough questions

Manitoba Co-operator reporter Shannon VanRaes travelled to Ottawa for the 2015 Forum on Canada’s Agri-food Future. The event — hosted by The Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute — asked a provocative question: can and should Canada become the world’s most trusted food system? Industry stakeholders, policy makers and producers provided their answers as Canada’s role in the work

Leadership needed in agri-food policy

During the last year or so, the agri-food industry has been the subject of enough reports on its economic potential and scope for improvement to fill a respectable bookshelf. Whether from academics, researchers, think-tanks or politicians, the documents focus on virtually all the major issues. Now to keep these tomes from gathering dust. The latest


Plenty on the plate for food security groups

Residents of Winnipeg’s St. Vital neighbourhood are digesting the results of a newly released study that reflects what matters to them about food. The Winnipeg suburb is one of several sites in Manitoba to undergo community food assessments in recent months, an initiative to better understand where residents buy or access food, if they grow

Strategic plan sought to secure future of food and the farm

Late winter was historically the time of the “hunger moon.” The larder of winter food was low and people waited anxiously for the land to produce again. People could only dream of a time when they would not have to worry they had enough. In Canada “Food Freedom Day” a designation of Canadian Federation of


Time For An Agri-Food Plan

Canadians appear to agree it’s time to head down a new path in the agri-food sector, but how to set forth and who’ll take the lead remain key questions. In February the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) releasedCanada’s Agri-Food Destination: A New Strategic Approacha report, pointing out rough terrain ahead if, as a leading world

Let’s Feed Ourselves

Squeeze almost any official of almost any agbiz or farm group and the words “Feed the world” will cross their lips. The phrase is this century’s “Manifest Destiny,” a near-imperative, a cornerstone of our export-directed ag policy. But this ambition, according to the number-crunching crew in Daryll Ray’s ag shop at the University of Tennessee,