Canadian society in favour | Provincial group not opposed
The Canadian Cancer Society has a clear position when it comes to cosmetic pesticides: it wants a ban on the use and sale of pesticides for lawns, gardens, parks and other green spaces. However, the organization’s Manitoba chapter isn’t part of a provincial coalition supporting a proposed ban on cosmetic pesticides in Manitoba. “Although the […] Read moreNews
Manitoba chapter won’t join cosmetic pesticide ban
World hunger number often ‘bogus’
Some say calculation based on politics | Others argue it is based on reality and serves a purpose
MONTREAL — The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization made a dramatic announcement this autumn about the extent of hunger in the world. It said the number of chronically malnourished people in the world is actually 13 percent lower than it had announced after the 2008 financial meltdown and commodity price spike. Instead of one […] Read moreA different kind of medicine
Doctor turns distiller | LB Distillers Inc. opens its doors bottling a variety of Prairie grains
Cary Bowman had an epiphany during a flight to Europe while reading an article on the surging U.S. micro-distillery movement. He wanted to be on the leading edge of a similar trend in his home province of Saskatchewan. “Being from the Prairies and having this rich resource of grains and fruit and beautiful water, it’s […] Read moreExperts split on food’s role in fueling revolution
MONTREAL — A remarkable photograph from Polish anti-Communist demonstrations three decades ago showed a striking dockworker with a sign: “Hungry workers eat their leaders.” Some analysts have attributed Middle East uprisings last year to wide-spread anger over high food prices. And famously during the Russian Revolution in 1917, the triumphant Bolsheviks made bread for hungry […] Read more
World urged to adopt grain reserve
MONTREAL — A quarter century after the last attempt at an international grain reserve was ditched, a senior Canadian Foodgrains Bank official says it is time for governments to reconsider the idea. Paul Hagerman, public policy director for the Winnipeg-based Canadian Foodgrains Bank, told a McGill University conference on global security Oct. 17 that food […] Read more
Independent hog producer in danger of extinction: farmer
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Alta. — Unless the Canadian processing industry steps up to pay producers more for hogs, independent pork producers will cease to exist in Western Canada in a few years, says a hog farmer from Manitoba. Speaking at a Keystone Agricultural Producers meeting in Portage la Prairie yesterday, George Matheson of Stonewall, Man., […] Read more
XL, JBS plan seen as relief
A $100 million option | Producers, feeders hopeful the Brooks, Alta., plant will reopen soon
Many cattle producers are expressing relief at an agreement between international cattle processing giant JBS USA and the beleaguered Alberta-based XL Foods Inc. The Oct. 17 agreement saw JBS immediately take over management of the XL Foods packing plant at Brooks, Alta., which has been closed since Sept. 27 after E. coli was discovered in […] Read more
Leasing pastures an option, says Sask. ag minister
Patrons of former federal pastures in Saskatchewan will be able to lease the land if buying it isn’t feasible, says agriculture minister Lyle Stewart. Initially, the province said it intended to sell the 60 pastures it is inheriting from Ottawa by 2018. But when the first 10 to be transferred were announced Oct. 19, Stewart […] Read more
Should Gerry Ritz resign?
Opposition says yes NDP ag critic says new person needed to restore public trust in food safety
The Conservative majority in the House of Commons votes this week to endorse the actions of agriculture minister Gerry Ritz in his handling of the XL Foods tainted beef recall. The Oct. 23 vote, followed by a vote to send government food safety legislation S-11 to the Commons agriculture committee, was expected to split on […] Read moreUnions call for public inquiry to restore consumer confidence in beef supply chain
BROOKS, Alta. — Alberta’s labour movement wants a public inquiry into what went wrong at XL Foods’ beef plant in Brooks. It was closed after E. coli contamination was found in meat processed more than a month ago. “Confidence in the Alberta beef brand has been shaken, confidence in our industry has been shaken, our […] Read more
