Wheat is one of the world’s staple crops. And Ukraine and Russia are critical exporters
For American academic Scott Reynolds Nelson, the timing was fortuitous. His Oceans of Grain came to market coincident with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And as Nelson’s thesis revolves around the critical role wheat has played in history, the invasion’s implications for supply disruption add to the book’s topicality. For sure, Nelson may egg the pudding.…
More than 100 million people will soon experience either famine or hunger
Food supply chain hangovers due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have resulted in questions about the global nature of our food systems. Some suggest we need to deglobalize and refocus our energy on making most economies around the world food sovereign, including Canada’s. Given what the world is…
The pandemic was just a dress rehearsal for what’s about to happen
United States President Joe Biden was the first G7 leader to admit publicly that many parts of the world will soon experience food shortages and even famine. The world will be short of many commodities. Regions like the Middle East and northeastern Africa already have dangerously low food inventories. The world will soon discover that…
Government shouldn't compensate Canadian companies hurt by sanctions, including agri-food
With war comes economic sanctions. Instead of sending troops to fight the old-fashioned way, wars are fought with money, and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia is no exception. The United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, the European Union, Turkey and a few more have sanctioned Russia in one way or another. Canada has…
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…