Evan Fraser says Canada needs to protect and build on its quality and sustainability brand to succeed in the future.

Canada brand needs building, protecting

If the federal government wants to build Canada’s food exports, it needs to lay the groundwork for a global brand

If Ottawa really wants to boost Canadian agri-food exports, the country needs to enhance its reputation as a supplier of sustainably produced safe food. That’s according to Evan Fraser, the Canada research chair in global food security at the University of Guelph. The Barton report of 2016 and followup work by various agri-food groups have

August is peak season for farmers’ markets and other forms of direct marketing in Manitoba. Customers visit farm stands and local markets to meet growers and entrepreneurs selling an increasingly diverse range of products.

Manitoba’s direct-marketing sector gaining strength and diversity

There’s still lots of potential to grow this sector, says Direct Farm Manitoba spokesman

Early August is the peak of summer and peak time for sales at farmers’ markets, farm stands and other ways Manitobans sell their farm-grown products direct to customers. More farm families see the potential to make sales and earn extra revenues this way and the growth in this sector is steady, says spokesman for Direct


jars of mustard

Passion for food behind successful mustard product company

Push doubts aside, find resources to help and go for it, young entrepreneur tells attendees at the 9th annual Take the Leap conference

A young Manitoban who started cooking up mustard recipes at home and three years later is selling it across Canada says a favourite quote helped muster her courage to start — and keep going. “It’s ‘anything is possible if you’ve got enough nerve,” says Carly Minish-Wytinck. The quote is from J.K. Rowling. “I mean, I

Stephen and Vicki Yanyk are third-generation farmers.

‘Farm fresh’ is Oakburn couple’s slogan

Steve’s Farm Fresh Pork offers a variety of products to area consumers

Encouraging strong roots for a better food and agriculture system for all, a young Oakburn couple operating a third-generation family farm, has diversified their operation by offering 100 per cent fresh pork from the farm gate. Steve’s Farm Fresh Pork, owned and operated by Stephen and Vicki Yanyk, offers a variety of products to Oakburn-area


New report describes ‘three-tiered’ food system operating in Canada

New report describes ‘three-tiered’ food system operating in Canada

A University of Guelph researcher takes a close look at Canada’s evolving alternative food market

Kelly Hodgins was selling garden produce at a B.C. farmers’ market in 2013 when she began noticing something was different about her customers. There were new faces arriving at the market. The province had introduced a new program making coupons available to lower-income families to shop B.C.’s well-established farmers’ markets. “It was kind of an

Female hands holding a vegetable

Food production for and by consumers

A strong consumer connection can let a 
small farm be a big economic success

Technology has significantly changed agriculture, reducing the amount of labour required to produce food. As a result there are larger farms with more acres and many more animals per farmer. This means a small percentage of farmers produce a large percentage of the total. However, this does not mean that big is the only way


Gialuca Brunori  

Farmers’ markets drive food sector innovation

They offer valuable insights into changing consumer tastes and preferences

While many view farmers’ markets as an enjoyable and quaint, albeit inefficient, place to buy food, few would characterize them as cutting edge. But small-scale farmers and farmers’ markets are an important source of innovation in the food system because they are a source of direct consumer feedback, Gialuca Brunori, a professor with the department

chickens

Which chicken, in what pot?

Supply management doesn’t fit well with speciality production and a proposed new quota program is a misstep

Over 50 farmers gathered at the St. Norbert Community Centre on November 1 to hear Wayne Hiltz, executive director of the Manitoba Chicken Producers, present the new Annual Specialty Quota Program announced in September. The new program is designed to serve niche markets in the province with fresh Manitoba-raised chicken year round. This is done


Hand going through the field

Developing a Canadian food advantage

Farmers and the industry need to actually demonstrate that their products are produced sustainably

What would you guess is the single most important ingredient in modern food production? Good seeds? Rainfall? Fertilizer? The surprising answer is that around the world, the scarcest and most precious resource for producing food is trust. Luckily, Canada has natural advantages that could allow the people of the world to view us as their

Cigi CEO JoAnne Buth says Canada has an opportunity to sell more wheat.

Government should do more to support agricultural science

Agriculture needs to respond to consumer demands for more information

The global production and demand for wheat are rising in a lockstep that leaves low carry-over stocks and an opportunity for Canadian farmers to cash in, says JoAnne Buth, CEO of the Canadian International Grains Institute. Wheat is second only to rice as a dietary staple and shows no signs of losing its consumer desirability,