Most of Canada’s transportation system, from Halifax to Vancouver, has been undercapitalized for years
After a harvest from hell across the country, farmers now have to deal with a new problem: the CN strike. Over 3,000 Canadian National Railway Co. employees out of about 24,000 in Canada and the United States are off the job. They’re asking for better working conditions and safety improvements. Perhaps it’s not the most…
The company is showing what environmental stewardship in agri-food should look like in the 21st century
Maple Leaf Foods isn’t just pretending to be environmentally friendly; it’s trying to be a trailblazer in the wild kingdom of proteins. The company has just adopted science-based targets that will help it become the first major agri-food company in the world to be carbon neutral. Clearly motivated by the federal carbon tax and our…
They remind us of how critical food diversity is to all of us. And they may be pointing the way to the future on our dinner tables
Veganism attracts plenty of criticism and some people even claim to hate vegans. But vegans’ contribution to public discourse on our relationship with proteins shouldn't be taken lightly. Nov. 1 is World Vegan Day and Canada is home to about 470,000 vegans, according to a recent Dalhousie University survey. (Even though some believe that number…
A Sobeys pilot project shows that we’ll soon enough be able to shop without talking to anyone and completely bypass lineups and cashiers
Grocery giant Sobeys has unveiled what it calls Canada's first smart shopping cart at a store in Ontario. It’s a great idea for people looking for assistance in shopping and to be on their way as soon as possible. The project is a partnership with New York-based retail technology company Capers. Essentially, the cart you…
The methodology used by non-profit Oceana for its report lacks scientific rigour
Oceana – an environmental NGO – is known for its splashy reports on fish and seafood fraud. Their cumulative assessment across several Canadian cities showed that 44 per cent of the fish samples assessed were falsely identified. After Halifax, Toronto, Victoria, Ottawa, and Vancouver, Montreal is the latest market Oceana has looked at, and results…
A new report shows women are much more adept at driving change and managing results in startups, yet they struggle to find funding
A recent report on agri-tech startup funding provided some compelling numbers but it barely received attention. And when it comes to what it reveals about gender discrepancies, it deserves attention. More and more venture capital is being invested in the sector, which is great news. But these funds apparently aren’t serving all demographics equally. Some…
The protein war isn’t about the amount of meat we should eat, but rather about how studies on nutrition should be interpreted. It's messy
For a few years, we’ve been force-fed the notion that red meat and processed meat products threaten our health. But the protein war between the livestock industry and plant-based supporters has taken an interesting twist. In 2015, the World Health Organization went as far as to say that processed meats were carcinogenic, adding them to…
If A&W is seen as a disrupter in food service, McDonald’s could become the exclamation mark in an era of protein plurality
When McDonald’s makes a move, everyone pays attention. That’s just the way things are in the food service industry. For months, rumours swirled around when McDonald’s would launch a plant-based product. We now know McDonald’s will enter the plant-based game by running a 12-week pilot in Ontario. This is a global first for McDonald’s. That’s…
Food costs are rising faster than inflation and healthy food may be getting out of the reach for many Canadians. But don’t expect to hear much about it over the next few weeks
By Sylvain Charlebois Atlantic Institute for Market Studies and Howard Ramos Dalhousie University One of the main issues shaping the current federal election campaign is affordability. It has repeatedly been a leading concern for Canadians in opinion polls and should help determine who wins. So it’s no surprise that every political party promises to focus…
Kosher certification goes beyond just food safety or dietary regimes. Its symbolic and religious virtues are critical to the currency of this category
Canada’s largest kosher meat packer has had its licences suspended, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). This could spell trouble for consumers of kosher meat products and particularly the Jewish community. Ryding-Regency Meat Packers, a Toronto-based company, has been in operation since 1983. The company, which also operates under other names, had its…