Food Strategy Off To A Promising Start – for Aug. 26, 2010

Buoyed by positive responses from agriculture ministers and the food industry, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture is plowing ahead with the development of its National Food Strategy. The idea for the strategy was first presented to the federal and provincial agriculture ministers during the 2009 CFA round table meeting, says Garnet Etsell, the organization’s first

Action Plan For Food Industry Could Help Farmers

An action plan to help the Canadian food industry expand its international presence could pay dividends for Canadian farmers as well, says Jean-Pierre Blackburn, minister of state for agriculture. “The food processing sector can help propel Canada’s economic recovery,” Blackburn told reporters after a meeting with 50 representatives of the food industry. “This is why


Feeding Our Habit

Despite the millions of starving people in the world in the autumn of 2007, a looming expansion in use, and successive low-yielding crops, the market was telling us not to grow food. Longtime readers of my prognostications will note that I predicted the biofuel market would make grain prices more volatile, but not necessarily higher.

New Soybean Could Cut Into High-Stability Canola Oil Markets

“The story of canola is it has always been able to keep one step ahead of soybeans.” – David Dzisiak High-oleic canola oil, most of it from Canada, has dominated the growing North American demand for healthier, non-trans fat, deep-frying oils, but American soybeans are fighting back. Last month the United States Department of Agriculture


In Brief… – for May. 20, 2010

Hometown upgrades: This year, 253 rural communities will share $450,000 in provincial Hometown Manitoba grants to launch a variety of outdoor renovation projects that will improve and enhance their local public areas and main streets, Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives Minister Stan Struthers says. The Hometown Manitoba program provides annual funding in three categories: Meeting

Grain Industry Worried By New Toxin Limits

Canada’s grain industry wants safer food, but it doubts pending regulations to restrict exposure to ochratoxin A (OTA), a suspected carcinogen in grains and other foods, will be effective. In the meantime, those regulations threaten to add costs throughout the pipeline from farmer to food processor. “There really needs to be a supply chain solution,”


A National Food Strategy Involves Farmers And Consumers

“Remember, they’re not looking for people to tell them they don’t pay enough for food.” – DAVID HERLE Farmers need to put aside their philosophical differences and reach out to consumers to ensure the long-term health of the sector. That message, under various names, was advanced by several speakers at the annual meeting of the

Producers Need To Participate In Their Organizations

A National Food Strategy is required to ensure that we have a vibrant contributing agriculture sector in Canada. As the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) celebrates its 75th anniversary, the future of Canadian agriculture is at a crossroads and the future of food in this country is uncharted. Currently, Canada has no comprehensive strategy for


New EU Farm Chief Seeks Middle Ground

The European Union’s top farm official said he would seek to combine market forces and support mechanisms for farmers in a debate on the bloc’s farm policy that is set to oppose countries like France and Britain. But European Agriculture Commiss ioner Dacian Ciolos said it was too early to discuss specific measures that may

Melamine Scandal Resurfaces In China

China has arrested three more people for dealing in milk and milk powder tainted with melamine, a compound used in plastics and fertilizer that caused a massive food safety scandal last year, the Xinhua news agency said. The tainted milk powder dates to mid-2008 but was sold to dairy firms and food companies in late