And the worst is yet to come
Shoplifting has been on the rise in Canadian supermarkets in recent months. And that ultimately costs us all. Concrete data on theft in grocery stores is difficult to get since incidents are typically underreported. Managers tend to take matters into their own hands. But with the increasing number of reports of theft, and security guards…
Involving billionaires in the food aid business may lead to a paradigm shift in helping the less fortunate
A recent Twitter conversation between United Nations World Food Program (WFP) executive director David Beasley and one of the world’s richest people, Elon Musk, turned a lot of heads. Beasley invited Musk to give two per cent of his wealth to help WFP save 42 million people from almost certain starvation and death in the…
Number of food bank visits up by more than 20 per cent in the last two years
Hunger is cruelly invisible in our society. Even though it may surround us, we hardly see it. But it’s always there. With the latest Hunger Count published by Food Banks Canada, we have a better idea of how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected Canada’s food insecurity landscape. The news isn’t great. According to an internal…
More than 35.5M tonnes of food is thrown out yearly in Canada and rescuing food is getting more attention
Many people claim the term’ food waste’ should never be used and there’s some truth to that. Food is precious and is always of value to someone, somewhere. Associating food with the term ‘waste’ can only imply that food can become worthless. We can compost it, use it to produce biofuels and, of course, repurpose…
Edmonton-base G2V Optics working on LED technology that has the potential to improve food security around the world
Sunlight, water and nutrients – in varying degrees depending on the plant – are the foundation of all plant life. But if you want to see them really grow, one University of Alberta graduate says threaten them with a little shade. Michael Taschuk, founder of G2V Optics, explained that plants growing in a field are always competing…
Food manufacturing lacks investment, suffers from thin margins, faces additional grocers’ fees and must deal with aging facilities
By Sylvain Charlebois and Amy Hill Dalhousie University Canadian food and beverage manufacturing plays a key role in supporting farmers and the rest of the food supply chain. The second largest manufacturing sector, food and beverage, contributed $26.5 billion to Canadian gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020. Just 10 manufacturing sectors – including food manufacturing…
Because of rising housing prices
The two necessities in life are food and shelter. It looks like both are getting much more expensive. For a few years, the cost of food has been the most important food affordability barrier. Not anymore. The cost of housing is now seen by Canadians as the most significant barrier. A recent poll conducted by…
Industry poised for rapid growth
A fast-growing Edmonton startup company that’s a new player in the cellular agriculture sector recently received US$2.2 million from three U.S. venture capital firms and a number of private investors. Future Fields, which was incorporated in 2018, was founded by two University of Alberta graduates and a former U of A employee. All but two…
Couche-Tard has a reputation of generating value by polishing hidden gems in companies like Carrefour
We heard this week that Alimentation Couche-Tard is looking at acquiring European-based Carrefour, the seventh largest food retailer in the world. Buying a grocery chain would be a significant departure from what Couche-Tard is known for. A non-binding, friendly offer of $25 billion was sent to Carrefour. Couche-Tard is all about the convenience store economy.…
No thought as to how it could put many Canadian families in a state of food insecurity by 2030
COVID-19 has had an impact on Canada’s food industry but, over time, resilience will prevail. However, the federal government’s pre-holiday announcement that it will increase the carbon tax to $170 per tonne by 2030 will have a long-term impact on consumers. Climate change is a real and significant problem. We need to act quickly, and…