Growing Projects’ Harvests Now Complete For CFGB

All harvests for Growing Projects in support of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank are now in the bins, with the last of this year’s projects wrapping up Oct. 9 near Thornhill. This fall’s extended warm weather saw a flurry of activity earlier this month, with farmers finding time in the midst of their own harvests to

Policies Should Favour Land Users

Land purchases by foreign investors in poor countries and the growing use of biofuels are pressuring agricultural farmland and pushing 500 million small farmers towards hunger, a UN envoy said on Oct. 21. Olivier De Schutter, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, said the combination of environmental degradation, urbanization and large-scale land


Local Food Activists Urged To Seek Common Cause With Farmers

The modern warehouse-on- wheels food distribution system, with its just-in-time delivery from producers to processors, and finally to retailers, works just fine. But there is a dark side. Not only is it totally dependent on a smoothly functioning economy and uninterrupted supplies of fossil fuel for powering every link in the chain, it is also

McKenzie Seeds Shows Off Its New Location

The recession has actually helped Canada’s largest packet seed company and the local-food trend and food scares are also boosting business. “We have noticed that there has been an increased interest in gardening in the last couple of seasons, which may be attributed to the uncertain economy and contributing factors such as food safety,” said


Golden Carrots Lure Out Great Food Stories

If you need reminding that a whole lot of people care about their food, sit in on the Golden Carrots some time. This special ceremony is held each October at the Manitoba legislature, to kick off World Food Day and honour resourceful Manitobans who, in one way or another, are making the production, provision and

Wisinedaa!

Emphasizing healthy, mindful eating that emphasizes the wholesome goodness of food raised and grown in the region is what’s behind another initiative in Manitoba’s south-central region; the Wisinedaacookbook. Pronounced “wee sin en da” the title of this cookbook means “Let’s Eat” in Ojibway. It was put together by participants in cooking classes offered at the


New Document Required For Slaughter Horses

As of July 31,2010 the Canadi an Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) initiated new rules and regulations before a horse can be sent for slaughter. These new measures were in response to the European Commission’s directive for identification and traceability of horses intended for human consumption. All horses presented for slaughter at a federally inspected processing

Dow AgroSciences Touts Profit Potential Of Nexera Hybrids

Nexera canola varieties are a good deal for farmers and will only get better, according to Dow AgroSciences. Nexera canola is known for its highly stable oil, which has a long shelf life and therefore doesn’t have to be hydrogenated, a process which creates trans fats. But the knock has always been that Nexera varieties


Soybeans Fighting Canola To Get Markets Back

Soybeans are fighting back. Soybean oil is still the most consumed vegetable oil in North America, but it’s been losing ground to canola, which is regarded as the healthiest vegetable oil because it contains just seven per cent saturated fat. Part of canola’s gains have resulted from the development of high-stability, omega-9 oil. It has

France Sees Wide Support To Regulate Food Markets

France said Oct. 14 its proposals for tighter controls on commodity trading were being well received in many G20 countries, and it issued a joint statement with Brazil on measures to curb food price volatility. France, which takes over the presidency of the Group of 20 most important economies in November, has made fighting speculation