The economic parallels from the COVID-19 epidemic are quickly changing from comparisons to the recent financial crisis in 2008-09 to the Great Depression. My parents and grandparents lived through the Depression and it did have many impacts on their everyday lives. The main symbol of the Depression-era mentality was the two enormous chest freezers in […] Read more
Tag Archives food security — page 11

Burnett on Markets: Global grain stocks offer false sense of food security
In event of production shortfall, 60 per cent of available stocks would never be available to market

Satellite data brings farming advice to remote areas of Zimbabwe
When roads are bad and extension agents few, technology can help get farmers the information they need
Thomson Reuters Foundation – Deep in rural western Zimbabwe, where paved roads are nonexistent, Japhet Ngwenya used to spend every season worrying that the people who advise him on how to protect his crops from dry spells and pest invasions would not be able to reach him. Ngwenya’s farm — in Ntabazinduna, 40 km north […] Read more

Maple Leaf lands ‘sustainability-linked’ credit
Canadian food processor Maple Leaf Foods is taking its recently-established sustainability cred to the bank. The Toronto food firm announced Wednesday it’s the first Canadian company to secure “sustainability-linked terms” for its credit facilities. Specifically, the company has picked up an unsecured committed revolving line of credit and two unsecured committed term facilities for a […] Read more

Opinion: Conversations around agri-food shows progress
Glacier FarmMedia – The not so easy task of figuring out the best policy to sustain Canada’s food systems on a domestic and international scale recently took a step forward in Ottawa. In gathering more than 200 people involved in every aspect of the agri-food industry — producers, processors, manufacturers, policy makers — Canada 2020’s […] Read more

Ontario introduces farm trespass act
The legislation aims to protect farmers from trespassers and damage they might cause
Updated Dec. 2 The Ontario government introduced a bill Dec. 2 aimed at discouraging people who would interfere with livestock production and transportation. The legislation, Security From Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act, 2019, will increase fines for trespassers, protect farmers from civil liability from people injured while trespassing, and limit the interaction protesters are […] Read more

Election 2019: Ag groups want the parties to pay attention
MarketsFarm — Two major national farm organizations want the political parties to pay more attention to agriculture as the federal election continues. However, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) and the National Farmers Union (NFU) have somewhat different takes as to what they see as paramount. “It’s really important that we uphold the quality of […] Read more

Food, farming not expected to be big election issues
Canadians don’t think that food and agriculture will be a significant issue in the current federal election. A survey conducted Sept. 9 and released Tuesday by Angus Reid Global with the support of Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab shows 31 per cent of Canadians believe food and agriculture will be a prime electoral issue during […] Read more

UN flags need to reduce meat consumption to curb land use impact on global warming
London/Geneva | Reuters — Global meat consumption must fall to curb global warming, reduce growing strains on land and water and improve food security, health and biodiversity, a United Nations report on the effects of climate change concluded. Although the report stopped short of explicitly advocating going meat-free, it called for big changes to farming […] Read more

Crop prices poised to stagnate: FAO
A new report says world oilseed demand isn’t expected to keep up with supply, which could result in lower prices
Glacier FarmMedia – For the last five years, or longer, plant-based protein has been the shining star of global agriculture. Global demand for plant-based protein has exploded, thanks to massive Chinese imports of soybeans and booming public consumption of veggie burgers and other forms of plant protein. However, protein’s star could fade over the next […] Read more

North Korea faces food crisis after poor harvest, UN says
Geneva | Reuters — Four in 10 North Koreans are chronically short of food and further cuts to already minimal rations are expected after the worst harvest in a decade, the United Nations said on Friday. Official rations are down to 300 grams (10.6 ounces) per person per day, the lowest ever for this time […] Read more