File photo of ice cream cones. (Ahirao_photo/iStock/Getty Images)

Loblaw parent Weston sells cookie and cone business

'Ambient' bakery plants include Kitchener site

Reading Time: 2 minutes The parent company for Canadian grocery and retail giant Loblaw is stepping the rest of the way out of the baked goods business. George Weston Ltd. said Monday it has signed a deal to sell its Weston Foods “ambient” bakery business — which produces cookies and crackers, along with cones and wafers for ice cream […] Read more

(Firehouse Subs/BusinessWire)

Tim Hortons parent to buy Firehouse Subs as other brands drag

Chain's comparable year-to-date sales up 20 per cent against pre-pandemic levels

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Tim Hortons parent Restaurant Brands International said Monday it will buy sandwich chain Firehouse Subs for US$1 billion, at a time when its popular brands are struggling due to increased competition from rivals launching new menu items. Analysts have said fried chicken sandwich pioneer Popeyes, owned by RBI, has been hurt by McDonald’s […] Read more


File photo of a Chinese cornfield. (Baona/iStock/Getty Images)

China proposes new rules to ease GMO approvals

Leadership seeks 'turnaround' in seed sector

Reading Time: 2 minutes Beijing | Reuters — China is planning changes to its seed regulations that will make it easier to approve genetically modified crops, a move seen as a critical step toward commercializing GM corn. The ministry of agriculture and rural affairs published a draft document late on Friday proposing a series of amendments to several different […] Read more

A Western blot analysis, used to detect specific proteins in tissue samples, is used to confirm BSE in cattle. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Brazil plays down BSE risk in suspect cases in people

Reading Time: 2 minutes Sao Paulo/Rio de Janeiro | Reuters — Brazil’s agriculture ministry said that two cases reported on Thursday of a neurodegenerative disorder in patients in Rio de Janeiro state were not related to beef consumption, tamping down fears of possible BSE causing human illness. Federal biomedical institute Fiocruz, which is investigating the possibility of bovine spongiform […] Read more


UFCW Local 401 board member and Cargill employee Joseph Kog (l) and Local 401 president Thomas Hesse with their strike notice on Nov. 10, 2021. (GoUnion.ca)

Cargill beef plant workers serve strike notice

Without a deal, High River workers will walk Dec. 6

Reading Time: 3 minutes Unionized workers at Cargill’s cattle slaughter and processing plant at High River, Alta. will start strike action next month unless a deal can be reached with the company, their union said Wednesday. A strike would begin at High River no sooner than Dec. 6 at 12:01 a.m. if a new collective bargaining agreement isn’t reached […] Read more

File photo of containers at a seaport in Jakarta. (Leolintang/iStock/Getty Images)

APEC ministers call for curbs on farm, fuel, fishing subsidies

Reading Time: 3 minutes Washington/Wellington | Reuters — Pacific Rim trade and foreign ministers on Tuesday pledged to sustain the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic while pursuing talks to curb subsidies for fisheries and agriculture at a forthcoming World Trade Organization meeting. The ministers from the 21 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries said in a communique issued after […] Read more


A view near the Canadian end of the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor and Detroit and is considered one of North America’s busiest trade routes. (Steven_Kriemadis/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. border reopens to Canadian land travelers

Travel business sees 'tremendous pent-up demand'

Reading Time: 3 minutes Toronto | Reuters — A steady stream of Canadian visitors, particularly retirees headed to U.S. sun spots, crossed the U.S. border by car on Monday for the first time in 20 months as Washington lifted travel restrictions. Traffic was heavy at times at some U.S. border posts such as Bluewater Bridge, Michigan near Sarnia, Ont., […] Read more

“I’m demystifying our food,” says Tawnya Brant, Indigenous chef.

Finding hope in Indigenous food

Food sovereignty is emerging as a core value in today’s reconciliation efforts

Reading Time: 5 minutes Almost half of Indigenous households living on reserve and a quarter of those living off reserve struggle with food insecurity, compared with about eight per cent for all households across Canada.  The discovery earlier this year of the graves of 215 children buried at a former Indian residential school (and the thousands more that followed) […] Read more


The emotional and financial sides of farming are inseparable, Jared Gardner and Hilary Foote say. In fact, it can be a path to success.

Keep the money

Here’s a concept that’s making this Oregon farm community more profitable. Could it help you?

Reading Time: 10 minutes This is not a typical Country Guide story. It couldn’t be. Jared Gardner didn’t start out as a farmer. It’s just that every step of his life has moved him inexorably and sometimes surprisingly towards not only building up a livestock farm but also a regional food system that promises to put more money in […] Read more

Beef is on display at a Walmart in Beijing on Sept. 23, 2019. (File photo: Reuters/Tingshu Wang)

Beef cattle producers ‘encouraged’ by new CPTPP applicants

U.K., China, Taiwan seek memberships; no additional dairy, feather access on table

Reading Time: 3 minutes With their exports on an upswing, the organization for Canada’s beef cattle producers says it’s “encouraged to see other countries’ interest” in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade bloc. The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association on Oct. 18 noted the official applications to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) from the United Kingdom, China and […] Read more