Loose lips sink ships. Todd Heroux is hoping they will also help solve a crime that cost him nearly $60,000. Heroux, who farms near Wakaw, Sask., is looking for the thieves who stole 5,000 bushels of Nexera canola last summer from his family’s farm at the north end of Wakaw Lake. A neighbour who lives […] Read more
Farm Living
Take steps to secure grain, warns canola theft victim
Genome sequencing could make chocolate better
LINDELL BEACH, B.C. – For farmers who grow cacao trees and for producers of fine chocolate, their enterprises stand to benefit from the recent sequencing of the cacao tree genome, according to an international team led by Clair Lanaud of CIRAD in France, with Mark Guiltinan of the Pennsylvania State University and scientists from 18 […] Read more
Sodium: hidden health assault
A request to pass the salt may become passé if a five year goal to reduce sodium in the Canadian diet succeeds. It is estimated the average Canadian consumes 3,400 milligrams of sodium per day but a national working group of health care professionals and food manufacturers hope to reduce that to 2,300 mg by […] Read more
Tasty ways to express your love
It’s Valentine’s season again. Do you feel surrounded by pink hearts, chocolates and red cinnamon candies and pressured to present a gift to the sweetheart in your life? You do not have to spend money to show appreciation toward others. A homemade treat, a personal visit or a phone call can mean as much as […] Read more
Election promises are not considered binding contracts
Q:How can you can sue for breach of contract when someone doesn’t keep his word. What about when our politicians make all kinds of promises to get elected and then don’t keep any of them? Why can’t I sue for that? A:On the face of it, a politician’s promise has all the hallmarks of a […] Read more
Alberta farm couple takes skills to Africa
An Alberta farmer has written a book about teaching African farmers how to become more self-sufficient. Greetings from Zambia – letters home from an overseas volunteer is a collection of e-mail newsletters Marianne Stamm sent back to friends and family over the six years she has been travelling to Africa with her husband, Robert. She […] Read more
Caregivers must take time off
Q:I have been looking after my mother since my father died 26 years ago. I am getting tired of it. My mom is really selfish. She expects me to be there at a moment’s notice, she never says thank you and she complains about everything and everybody. To make matters worse, no one else in […] Read more
Consumers find safety issues
Food can sometimes be hazardous to your health, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s website. The latest voluntary recall was issued in January, warning consumers about peanuts in chocolate chip cookies produced and sold in British Columbia. Food allergies affect as many as six percent of young children and three to four percent of […] Read more
Food labelling regulations stalled
Last-minute industry opposition from Canadian brewers may spell disaster for allergy and celiac groups counting on long-awaited food labelling regulations from Health Canada. Gwen Smith, editor ofAllergic Living magazine, said since the vast majority of labels would affect food, not alcohol, she wonders why the brewers waited “until the 11th hour” to voice opposition when […] Read more
Federal government won’t withdraw Product of Canada ingredient rules
Junior agriculture minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn has spent a year looking for a compromise solution to the policy mess created when the government imposed new Product of Canada ingredient rules. Last week he conceded defeat. In 2008, against the advice of the House of Commons agriculture committee and the food industry, the government announced that any […] Read more
