Tyler Whale spoke to the attendees of the recent Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers conference.

Canadian agriculture needs technology to innovate

Next innovators will need to look beyond yield and to what consumers are demanding

Will the next Canadian agricultural technological revolution focus on yield or taste? According to Tyler Whale, president of Ontario Agri-Food Technologies, an organization focused on technological development in food and agriculture, Canada’s farm and food sector must consider more than yield, stress tolerance, and other production factors to stay competitive and relevant to market demands. […] Read more

Agriculture economists see the Canadian dollar have significant effect on farm prospects in 2019.

The good, the bad, and the uncertain

Agriculture takes a cautious but optimistic economic step into 2019

The last few years have been good for business, generally speaking, but as some notable headwinds gain strength, Canadian farmers may want to approach the coming year with caution. Uncertainties regarding trade and economic health south of the border, as well as upward pressure from input costs and interest rates, make it difficult to predict […] Read more

The Avoidable Crisis of Food Waste study.

Researchers zero in on farm level food waste

It’s harder to track and even harder to fix than waste higher in the value chain

A first-of-its-kind Canadian study has found that there’s more food loss at the production level than previously thought. The “Avoidable Crisis of Food Waste” study found that 24 per cent of food volume wasted is lost at the production level. A further 34 per cent of the food wasted is lost at the processing level. […] Read more


Agriculture leaders, experts, government officials, farmers and academics recently gathered in Gatineau, Que., for a two-day conference to talk about public trust.

Public trust in agriculture declines

A yearly study found that trust declined for the first time in several years

Consumers are taking a dimmer view of the Canadian food system, according to an organization set up to improve the perceptions of Canada’s food industry. The Canadian Centre for Food Integrity found in a large-scale study of adult Canadians, that 36 per cent of consumers felt the food system was headed in the right direction, […] Read more


Woman shopping for tomatoes

Food policy consultations reveal challenges of creating national direction

The next steps, not yet known, will be important to the success of the program, says CFA president

The public is more concerned with conserving environmental health and ensuring access to affordable food, versus growing more of it, according to public consultations on Canada’s Food Policy. The results of a long public consultation process were released recently and show the challenges that the federal government will have in creating A Food Policy for Canada, […] Read more

The film traces a chef-inspired meal’s ingredients back to their origins to explore how food is produced.

Film delves into urban-rural perspectives on food production

University student Dylan Sher spent time researching the origins of an entree served up in a popular Toronto restaurant

“My opinion is that the farmers don’t actually know the fight they’re in. They just know they’re in a fight.” That’s how soon-to-graduate University of Guelph ag business student Dylan Sher describes his goal in spending the past year writing and helping create the feature-length documentary film “Before the Plate,” which celebrated its premiere screening […] Read more

Tyson Innovation Lab launched its new brand, iYappah! with these protein snacks made from food trimmings that in the past were discarded.

Opinion: What’s for dinner? Re-imagining leftovers

Now we can all help the world’s second largest meat processor fight food waste

Sometimes deciding what to feed the family after a long, arduous day juggling daycare, jobs and traffic seems overwhelmingly complicated. If the May 31 news release from the U.S.-based Tyson Innovation Lab is any indication, deciding what we’re going to put into our mouths next is about to get more cluttered with new products, new […] Read more


Asking the right questions: AMI guide designed to assist farm and food entrepreneurs

Asking the right questions: AMI guide designed to assist farm and food entrepreneurs

Farmers trying to grow a direct-sale food business from the farmers’ market or roadside stand to a retail level face an imposing regulatory system. Navigating this system without help can levy artificial limits on the market potential of unique farm-sourced products. There are resources to help manage these regulatory growing pains, however. Ontario’s Agri-Food Management […] Read more