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…
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…
A new state-of-the-art frozen potato processing plant officially opened Thursday in Lethbridge. It’s the largest private sector investment in the city’s history. “It is a great day for Lethbridge and for our employees, growers, suppliers and customers. Our new state-of-the-art plant is up and running and will allow us to continue to serve key export…
Prairie towns and villages are becoming relics of the past. Formerly bustling main streets are lined with boarded-up businesses, inhabited by aging retirees who carry the memories of a bygone era
What do you think is Canada’s riskiest business? Childhood on our family farm taught me the answer to that question. Despite years of heartbreaking disappointments, my father was a perfect example of the adage “hope springs eternal.” Each spring, he would sing happily on our tractor while seeding wheat, barley and oats. Then we hoped…
A deadly fungus is spreading all over the world, so we can expect to pay more for bananas. But our world-class scientists could help solve the problem
The world could run out of bananas. Reports this summer suggest that a banana-killing fungus, Fusarium TR4 or the Panama disease, has reached Latin America. And it could spread, affecting crops sold in the United States and Canada. After having been detected in the Middle East, Asia and Australia, many experts were expecting the highly-contagious…
We are at the dawn of a dramatic change in agricultural that’s drawing acute attention to the true cost of bringing food to our plates
Bean-less coffee could hit the market as early as next year. Our summer was marked by key announcements from major food chains that have decided to switch to plant-based alternatives. Meat – particularly beef – was the target of companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, who claimed their plant-based products were more ecologically sound.…
Agriculture’s gross domestic product in Canada could reach $51 billion by 2030, up from $32 billion today, but a report released on Wednesday by RBC says the right investments in people and technology need to be made. It said Canada must embrace a skills agenda and boost innovation to capitalize on the rising demand for…
A new plan is needed for supply management, focusing on farm and processing competitiveness and providing proper coverage across Canada
Dairy farmers can no longer say that supply management allows them to produce milk for Canadians without any subsidies. That all changed last week. But dairy farmers shouldn’t just be compensated, they also deserve a continuing strategy. And right now, there isn’t one. The federal Liberal government basically took the same approach the former Conservative…
Canadian Pacific Railway moved more Canadian grain and grain products during the 2018-2019 crop year than any year in its history. The Calgary-based company said the final tally for the crop year was 26.8 million metric tonnes of Canadian grain and grain products. The crop year, Aug. 1 to July 31, saw 2.8 per cent…