Climate change knows no borders and neither should science. And when it comes to plant science, Canada is a force to be reckoned with
Every year, the United Nations promotes something that it believes warrants attention and it has declared 2020 the International Year of Plant Health. Celebrating plant health and bringing more awareness to the issue is well worth pursuing. Plants represent about 80 per cent of everything we eat. And animals raised on farms, of course, eat…
Far too many products in Canada’s stores give us lots of calories but little nutrition. And we have dangerously abandoned cooking and meal-time routines
In the 1960s, the biggest supermarkets only carried 10,000 items or fewer. Big supermarkets today offer almost 40,000 products. To be sure, among those extra items are more kinds of fresh fruits, vegetables and non-food items. But not 30,000. The vast majority of the additional food items are a huge range of ready-to-eat products from…
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…
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…
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…
Suggesting that food products with the Non-GMO Project label are safer and more nutritious is simply misleading and rests on scrawny scientific evidence
Most consumers have seen Non-GMO logos on bread and other food products at the grocery store. But the verification program now faces criticism. The Non-GMO Project verified logo is now on over 50,000 food products in North America that bring in more than $30 billion in retail sales. The green leaves and orange butterfly logo first…
But a great deal of work must be done to turn the vision into a reality that serves all Canadians
For the first time, we have a national food policy. That’s good news. The vision is that all people in Canada have access to sufficient safe, nutritious and culturally diverse food. And that Canada’s food system is resilient and innovative, sustains our environment and supports our economy. It’s easy to support such a vision and…
China has played Canada in impressive fashion over the last six months and the meat ban is a masterful stroke
Canada is losing the food safety optics game against China. While Canada has demonstrated many times that its food safety record is outstanding – in fact, one of the best in the world – none of it matters now. Since Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, was arrested in Vancouver in December 2018 on…
The goals are noble, but the budget is small and the policy is painfully short on detail and strategy
After more than two years of work and hearing from almost 45,000 Canadians, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada released its first food policy this week. A total of $134 million will be spent to support this five-year plan that centres around food security, health, environment, and the sustainable growth of the agriculture and food sector. These…
Every year, the United Nations promotes something that it believes warrants attention and it has declared 2020 the International Year of Plant Health. Celebrating plant health and bringing more awareness to the issue is well worth pursuing. Plants represent about 80 per cent of everything we eat. And animals raised on farms, of course, eat…
