Critical CWB Activity May Be Its Most Important

Another Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) director election is upon us and it seems a bit quiet so far. Considering the acrimonious position of the Conservative government on the CWB and its past meddling in its affairs, one almost expects some more political mischief from them sooner or later. On the other hand if they do

OECD Does Not See Food Crisis Repeat

The OECD does not expect a repeat of the 2007-08 food crisis because market fundamentals are different now and there is no shortage of grain, a senior OECD official told Reuters Oct. 15. “Fundamentals are not there that would make us fear a repeat of the kind of price spikes that we had in 2007


One-Issue Sermonizers Indeed!

In your Oct. 7 issue Ronald Doering asserts that the good people around us who champion local foods are “One-issue sermonizers.” Yes, promoters of local foods do tend to use food travel miles (usually 1,500 to 2,000 kms on

Letters – for Oct. 14, 2010

Eating local can be done While there may be some accurate points in Ronald L. Doering’s recent articleManitoba Co-operatorOct. 7 article regarding “locavores,” energy consumption of production, processing and preparing of certain foods and how it outweighs transportation of food, you cannot make the subject so “simplistic” that it applies to all food. For example,


Food Safety Review Slowly Getting Underway

The committee has been struck, but any revamp of food safety regulations is still a ways off. “We’re in early days,” said Anna Romano, executive director of the Food Safety Review Committee at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The group of government, agriculture and food industry officials has met once and agreed on six themes they

Blue Moon Saskatoon Welcomes Guests

Leslie and Dale Luhowy had a special treat to serve some recent visitors – freshly baked saskatoon pie made with berries from their very own orchard. The family’s saskatoon operation was a definite draw for folks participating in the province’s first Open Farm Day Sept. 19. But while they were there, visitors also learned about


Slow Cookers Help Busy People

When my husband and I were married, we received three slow cookers as wedding gifts. The gifts were much appreciated; however, we were fully stocked with the appliances already. My husband had a four-quart slow cooker and a one-quart slow cooker from his bachelor days. I brought a five-quart slow cooker into the marriage. With

Resilience Key To Survival

Modern industrial agriculture needs less efficiency and more resiliency if it’s going to feed billions more people in a world turned upside down by exploding energy prices and climate change. It sounds counterintuitive, but University of Waterloo Professor Thomas Homer-Dixon warns the current system is too “brittle” to withstand the challenges ahead. “I hate to


Organic Agriculture Is The Future

Does organic agriculture have a future? For some, such as well-known plant scientist E. Ann Clark, organic is the future. In a paper released earlier this year, the University of Guelph professor joined those who say that the end of cheap oil will mean the end of conventional agriculture as it’s currently practised. “(T)he future

Safety Of Imported Food Red Flagged By Audit

An internal audit that paints a damning picture of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s oversight of imported foods is yesterday’s news, according to the federal government. The audit, which covers the period from 2005 to early 2008, found that recalls of imported food are rising dramatically. The audit notes that Canada imports foods from more