Analyzing the Smithfield deal

The Chinese meat products firm Shuanghui International has announced its acquisition of Smithfield Foods, which controls 26 per cent of U.S. pork-processing capacity and 15 per cent of U.S. pork production. The value of the transaction is estimated by Smithfield to be US$7.1 billion. A number of questions began to run through our heads. Good



University of Manitoba food scientist Rick Holley was the principal investigator in a recently completed study on the effectiveness of low-dose electron-beam treatment to eliminating harmful bacteria in beef trim used to make ground beef. Holley also oversaw a panel of taste testers to see if the treatment changed the colour, aroma, texture, juiciness or flavour of the meat.  photo: lorraine stevenson

CCA hopeful resubmitted irradiation petition will succeed

The debate over whether to permit irradiation of beef products begins again

The waiting has begun all over again for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) as it renews efforts to persuade Health Canada to approve irradiation for beef. The CCA submitted paperwork in early May asking the federal agency to restart the approval process for beef irradiation in Canada, repeating a similar request in a 1998 petition.

With big U.S. pork buy and diet shift, China now asks: ‘Where’s the Beef?’

With more money in their pockets, millions of Chinese are seeking a richer diet and switching to beef, driving imports to record levels and sending local meat firms abroad to scout for potential acquisition targets among beef farmers and processors. The need to feed the world’s most populous nation has seen Chinese firms gobble up


Sarah Jaibes is a Zimbabwean farmer practising conservation agriculture. 
Photo: Shannon VanRaes

Conservation agriculture will play a key role in feeding future populations

Conference told that by employing permaculture, cover crops, strategic rotation and reduced tillage, small landowners can generate surpluses and contribute to food security

Sarah Jaibes isn’t a soil scientist, or an international development expert, but she knows a lot about how to make small farms work and what it will take to feed nine billion people by 2050. The Zimbabwean farmer became involved in conservation agriculture in 2009, after rising inflation made it difficult to live on her

Owner of seized horses faces charges

The owner of seven horses seized by provincial officials earlier this month has been charged under the Animal Care Act for failing to provide food, water, and medical care. “It’s not completely my fault,” said Nancy Martens, 19. “I tried as hard as I could to get these horses out of there and provide them


photo: istock

CFIA beefs up food safety rules and sets minimum traceability standards

Food companies and farms selling products in other provinces or internationally will need detailed preventive control plans

Traceability will gain a more prominent place on the menu, and food companies will be required to develop preventive control plans under a new regulatory plan proposed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The proposals, which follow the passage of the Safe Food for Canadians Act last fall, still have to be put into the

Please, let’s not win again

Traceability is a fact of life for almost every other commodity that consumers buy; yet somehow we have not embraced traceability’s potential in the world of food. I cannot buy an iPhone that does not have complete traceability back to its basic components; yet what we put into our bodies is rarely traceable to source.


Do food aid and economic self-interest mix?

The recent decision to merge the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) into the new Department of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Development isn’t the first time Canada’s aid program has been profoundly changed. Five years ago, another major change occurred when Ottawa fully untied Canadian food aid. Then, as now, it was a matter of

Beekeeping, goat milking and soap making are high-demand skills for modern homesteaders

Beekeeping, goat milking and soap making are high-demand skills for modern homesteaders

They may be packing up mini-vans and trucks, not covered wagons, but a new wave of homesteaders is striking out in search of a nearly lost way of life

Turn down the narrow lane leading to Nourished Roots Farm on most days and you’ll find nothing more than a quiet stretch of gravel. But earlier this month, the Interlake farm just south of Fraserwood hosted 350 people seeking to escape the consumer trappings of modern life during Manitoba’s first-ever DIY Homesteader Festival. “I’m going