A health economist did a cost of illness study examining savings across Canada if people with hypertension adopted a flax-based treatment.

Flax, pulses could reduce health care costs: researcher

Canada’s health care costs keep rising, but better health could reduce that trend

Diets supplemented with flaxseed and pulses can reduce risk of certain diseases and thus curtail Canada’s health care spending. That was the message presented to attendees of the Manitoba Sustainable Protein Research Symposium in Winnipeg June 21. The speaker was Luc Clair, a health economist and principal investigator with the Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research

Most importantly is not the issue of whether bread should be classed as ultra-processed, it’s the levels of salt that could be more of a problem.

Comment: In defence of bread

Store-bought bread might be considered ultra-processed, but that doesn’t mean it’s all bad

Today’s sliced bread often contains so many more ingredients than what our ancestors ate that it is now considered an ultra-processed food. This doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad for us. There are many definitions of what makes a food ‘ultra-processed.’ The most common is the Nova classification, developed by researchers at the University of Sao


Studying the benefits of grass-fed livestock

Studying the benefits of grass-fed livestock

It’s unlikely that University of Toronto researcher Richard Bazinet will include on his resumé the fact that he had a whole room of farmers holding their noses. But it was actually an effective demonstration of good taste, not smell. Bazinet passed around jelly beans and asked people to plug their noses as they placed one

VIDEO: Small chefs, big ideas

VIDEO: Small chefs, big ideas

Education heats up as kids get into the the kitchen

Grade 2 students from West St. Paul School take part in Super Chef Academy in Winnipeg, where they learned how to make healthy food from fresh ingredients. The academy was hosted by Nüton — a team of registered dietitians from Dairy Farmers of Manitoba who provide nutrition education resources and training for Manitoba educators — with nearly 200

Erin Gobeil (l) with her son, Kal-El and Nikki Dean (r) have volunteered to help run the Good Food Box pilot project.

Closing the gap between producer and consumer

Brandon’s Good Food Box project aims to be a venue for local residents to access locally grown produce

A group of Brandon residents has stepped up to close the gap between food producers and people who struggle with food insecurity. A food assessment conducted earlier this year for the city of Brandon addressed a number of issues within the city’s food system. Following the assessment, a number of local residents stepped forward to


People putting food in a donation box

New book ‘The Stop,’ about empowerment, transformation of food banks

Recipe Swap: Oatmeal Risotto with Cherry Tomatoes and Basil, and Parsnip, Sage, Rosemary 
in no-time Risotto

As we head toward Christmas, many of us give generously to charitable causes. Food banks are one of them and they definitely need our help. Goodness knows what would happen if we suddenly closed our wallets on them. Over 60,000 Manitobans turned to one in the month of March, according to the Hunger Count 2014

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

Harvest Moon expands food initiative

Harvest Moon expands food initiative

Local buying clubs take the burden of direct marketing off the shoulders of small farm operators

The six-year-old initiative connects consumers and farmers through buying clubs and pickup sites. Customers place and pay for the orders online and later pickup their order at a site set up by the buying club in that area. Last year, there were four sites in Winnipeg and one in Starbuck. But organizers are now adding



Canadian dairy industry is a source of pride

Iam proud of Canada’s national agriculture policy for dairy — supply management. Like many rural initiatives of the past, it has deep co-operative roots that have nurtured the development of a viable, modern dairy sector in every region of Canada. It provides the degree of discipline and organization necessary for dairy farmers in the organized