Potatoes are 20% more expensive in grocery stores than they were last year, and they could get even more expensive in 2020. Our craving for this food staple is likely to blame
Most of us love fries and chips. Other than ketogenic, most diets don’t discriminate against the mighty potato. It’s even in the new Canada’s Food Guide. Most dishes using potatoes are loved by Canadians, especially in winter, when colder weather encourages us to seek heartier meals. But North America is experiencing potato shortages and processors…
The “local food” movement is mostly about connecting producers of expensive niche products with middle- and upper-middle class patrons
Across Ontario, “local food” activists continue to promote the economic, social and environmental virtues of small local alternative farms, community gardens, backyard henhouses and older, less efficient and more expensive ways to produce food. In response, the Ontario government – directly or through organizations such as Foodland Ontario, the Greenbelt Fund and the Trillium Foundation…
The methodology used by non-profit Oceana for its report lacks scientific rigour
Oceana – an environmental NGO – is known for its splashy reports on fish and seafood fraud. Their cumulative assessment across several Canadian cities showed that 44 per cent of the fish samples assessed were falsely identified. After Halifax, Toronto, Victoria, Ottawa, and Vancouver, Montreal is the latest market Oceana has looked at, and results…
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…
If A&W is seen as a disrupter in food service, McDonald’s could become the exclamation mark in an era of protein plurality
When McDonald’s makes a move, everyone pays attention. That’s just the way things are in the food service industry. For months, rumours swirled around when McDonald’s would launch a plant-based product. We now know McDonald’s will enter the plant-based game by running a 12-week pilot in Ontario. This is a global first for McDonald’s. That’s…
The shared borders with France and Switzerland have clearly contributed to a multilingual society in this very northern and beautiful corner of Italy
Newly retired and eager to explore some new territory, I admit I knew nothing of the Italian Alps. We flew into Switzerland, and then drove south through the 11-plus km of the Mont Blanc Tunnel into northern Italy. We were with old friends who know the area well because they have a son who lives…
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…
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.…
The great protein war is heating up as several major restaurant chains embrace the plant-based movement while others firmly position themselves as guardians of the mighty meat-eater. It’s getting hard to keep track. A&W, Canada’s first Beyond Meat ambassador, started it all a little over 12 months ago with its surprisingly successful campaign. Since then,…
Most of us love fries and chips. Other than ketogenic, most diets don’t discriminate against the mighty potato. It’s even in the new Canada’s Food Guide. Most dishes using potatoes are loved by Canadians, especially in winter, when colder weather encourages us to seek heartier meals. But North America is experiencing potato shortages and processors…
