Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Parliamentary Ag Secretary Jean-Claude Poissant, at right, visited the Carrefour Alimentaire Centre-Sud in Montreal on June 17, 2019 to formally launch the federal Food Policy for Canada. (Photo courtesy Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)

Federal food policy aims to lift local and Canadian-grown products

Federal programs to boost the profile of domestic and locally grown foods at home while reducing food waste, food insecurity and deceptive food marketing are all up for funding under the government’s new Food Policy for Canada. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Parliamentary Ag Secretary Jean-Claude Poissant announced the new policy Monday in Montreal, following […] Read more



The grocery department at a Northern store in Waskaganish, on James Bay in northern Quebec. (Northmart.ca via YouTube)

Ag minister announces launch of Canadian food policy

Canada has its first food policy, an initiative to increase access to safe, nutritious and culturally diverse food, and to cut food waste. Marie-Claude Bibeau, minister of agriculture and agri-food and parliamentary secretary, Jean-Claude Poissant made the announcement Monday in Montreal. β€œThe Food Policy for Canada is our road map for a healthier and more […] Read more

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Senior P.E.I. ag official to fill deputy minister post

The post of top bureaucrat in Prince Edward Island’s agriculture department now has its third occupant in as many months. Premier Dennis King on June 7 named Brian Matheson, previously director of policy and agriculture resources at the agriculture and land department, as its acting deputy minister, replacing Laurie Loane. Loane, who’d been named deputy […] Read more


Vanilla farmer Jao Nasaina holds a spear and a handmade gun as he patrols at his plantation, to guard the crop against thieves, in Ambavala, near Andapa in the Sava region of Madagascar on July 14, 2018. (Photo: Reuters/Clarel Faniry Rasoanaivo)

Spice maker seeks path to make vanilla milkshakes cheaper

Chicago/Antananarivo, Madagascar | Reuters — A kilo of vanilla beans costs more than a kilo of silver. Cultivated painstakingly over years from an orchid plant, vanilla is the second most expensive spice in the world, after saffron. In less than five years, the wholesale price has risen nearly 500 per cent, partly because of growing […] Read more

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Parmalat’s play for Kraft cheeses clears regulators

Dairy giant Parmalat’s proposed $1.62 billion deal for Kraft Heinz’s “natural” cheese business in Canada has cleared federal antitrust regulators. The federal Competition Bureau on Thursday said it issued a “no action letter” to the two companies and would put up a position statement detailing its reasons in the “coming days.” The deal is expected […] Read more


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Mexico, Canada plow ahead on trade pact ratification despite Trump threats

Mexico City/Ottawa | Reuters — Mexico and Canada said on Friday they would proceed with plans to ratify a new continental trade pact despite a new threat from U.S. President Donald Trump that critics say could undermine chances of the treaty coming into force. Trump, whose administration has made passing the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) free […] Read more

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Mandatory Saskatchewan farm trucker training planned

The training exemption offered in Saskatchewan for semi truck drivers in agriculture operations is now set to be phased out within two years, the province said Wednesday. The provincial government in late 2018 announced it will require a minimum of 121.5 hours of training before a driver can obtain a Class 1 commercial driver’s licence, […] Read more