Deep-rooted problems within dairy industry finally being exposed
The Dairy Farmers of Canada should be commended for asking members to stop using palmitic acids in feed while launching a national investigation into the matter. For likely the very first time in its history, arguably the most powerful lobby group in the country opted to listen to Canadians. It’s not easy to admit publicly…
The Trudeau government is raiding our Covid-19 starved pockets to send $36 from each of us to rich dairy farmers
Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau chose a Saturday, hours before a long-awaited federal economic update, to offer more non-COVID-19-related compensation to Canada’s supply-managed farmers. Eighty-one per cent of dairy farmers are located in Quebec and Ontario. Compensation was expected but how it was done was a little strange. Few in the industry knew what…
Governments tend to forget about consumers when managing supply. Open trade to more cheese and challenge our farmers
Cheese heads – it’s what Canadians are called in many of the United States border regions. It’s because when many Canadians visit their American neighbours, they head straight to the nearest supermarket and buy cheese – and milk and eggs. Dairy and eggs are much more expensive in Canada than in the U.S., even when…
Don’t blame farmers for euthanizing animals and dumping milk. The entire food industry is to blame – and we get what we deserve
Millions of litres of milk are being thrown away, more than two million eggs are eliminated from the food chain, and pigs and chickens are being euthanized. There’s horror in the countryside. Throwing away good food when more than four million Canadians have lost their jobs is morally reprehensible. Farmers would be the first to…
The B.C. government is taking over control of supply chains for delivering essential goods and services in the province. We should all be concerned
Canadians have likely never heard more about supply chains than during the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussions about logistics and how food gets to restaurants, grocery stores and kitchens abound. Canadians aren’t just genuinely interested in supply chains, they’re also commending the people involved in making our food systems work, from farm to fork. That’s outstanding. But…
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…
From supply management to food strategy to rural Internet to food processing to export targets, the government got it all wrong
Most people expected an electoral budget from the federal government this week and that’s exactly what Canadians got. But for the agri-food sector, the budget was underwhelming at best and provided little hope for the near future. Let’s start with supply management. The Liberal government opted to do exactly what the previous Conservative government did…
After years of celebrating our agricultural know-how, the guide has gone urban – and is more than a little patronizing
Say goodbye to the four food groups. Almost 12 years after the launch of the previous version, the new Canada’s Food Guide celebrates food by displaying a plate filled with greens, fruits, plant proteins and grains. And if you look very carefully, you’ll see a cup of yogurt alongside a piece of beef that looks…
The economic damage of supply management to Canadian families is significant. But we failed to get rid of it in recent trade talks
The new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is a mixed bag for Canadians. The bright side is that it’s certainly better than having no trade agreement, and is more desirable than the massive uncertainty that comes with not knowing whether an agreement will be reached. On the down side, trade between Canada and the United States…
A clear vision and strategy for dairy’s future is imperative, with a forward-looking focus on domestic and foreign markets
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), or NAFTA 2.0, could be the watershed moment Canadian dairy farmers have been waiting for. The federal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has committed to compensating the dairy sector for either lost sales, higher per-unit costs or the loss in value of quotas. The government has been clear on…