Cuba reports food output up 8.7 per cent in 2011

Cuba’s non-sugar agricultural production increased 8.7 per cent in 2011, the government said this week, an indication reforms aimed at reversing a farm crisis and cutting food imports may be kicking in. Produce output was up 11.5 per cent and livestock and related products six per cent, according to the report issued by the National



The economics of animal welfare

Back in the early 1990s, when University of Manitoba animal scientist Laurie Connor first oversaw local research into hoop-housing systems for hogs, animal welfare wasn’t really even on the public radar. The key questions of the day were whether keeping pigs outdoors through a Prairie winter compromised production efficiency. Connor told a seminar last week

China trip boosts food industry

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s trade mission to China seems to have opened doors for major Canadian agri-food exporters. Now they’ll have to translate those agreements into orders. The beef, pork, pulse and canola sectors all received special attention during the visit and the Canadian Wheat Board got to remind everyone it isn’t going out of


Butter vs. margarine

Butter and margarine — are they good or bad? The relative healthfulness of butter versus margarine has been an ongoing controversy. It has started many debates by nutrition scientists in laboratories and consumers in grocery stores. Butter has a long history dating to ancient times. Rationed during the Second World War, butter was such a

Farmers head to school for Canadian Agricultural Literacy Week

It’s often said farmers speak their own language, but schoolkids in nine provinces might soon understand it a little better thanks to Canadian Agricultural Literacy Week. Hundreds of farmers will be going back to school Feb. 26 to March 3 to talk to children and read from selected books telling stories about food and farming


Stall-free pork coming to McDonald’s menu

Amove by fast-food giant McDonald’s to have its U.S. pork suppliers phase out sow gestation stalls has drawn praise from animal rights groups, but questions remain about the impact it will have on Canadian producers. “This is huge. That a major corporation has made this move is really very significant,” said Winnipeg Humane Society CEO

EU approves Morocco agriculture trade deal

European Union lawmakers approved a new trade deal with Morocco Feb. 16 that will significantly extend duty-free sales of agricultural, food and fisheries products between the North African kingdom and the 27-nation bloc. The EU’s agriculture chief, Dacian Ciolos, described the deal as both economically and politically significant. “It is a balanced agreement, which opens



Without January rains, one of two heifers will be sold

Co-operator editor Laura Rance is travelling on a media food study tour with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Updates are being posted on the Co-operator website at www.manitobacooperator.ca. The highway southwest of Addis Ababa to Wolayto-Soddo is wide and smooth, but there is no such thing in Ethiopia as setting the cruise control and just cruising,