Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — U.S. regulators on Friday approved what would be the first commercialized biotech apple, rejecting efforts by the organic industry and other GMO critics to block the new fruit. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) approved two genetically engineered apple varieties designed to resist browning that have been […] Read more
U.S. approves first biotech apple that resists browning
Starbucks eyes coconuts as non-dairy, non-soy demand soars
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Starbucks Corp. said on Wednesday its 12,123 U.S. shops would begin offering coconut milk on Feb. 17, as it seeks to keep pace with soaring demand for non-dairy and non-soy milk alternatives. Starbucks began offering soy milk in 1997. Consumer tastes have since evolved, driving strong demand for other non-dairy alternatives made from […] Read more
New conditions placed on P.E.I. potato exports to U.S.
Reading Time: 2 minutes Potato wart’s appearance in another Prince Edward Island potato field in August has led to a new round of rules for the province’s potato exports to the U.S. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on Monday announced new requirements effective “immediately” for such exports, citing the detection of potato wart in 23 fields in the […] Read more
New chemistry launched as fruit mite control
Reading Time: < 1 minute The first member of the benzoylacetonitrile group of crop insecticides (Group 25) to come to market in North America will be a mite control for fruit crops. BASF Canada announced Tuesday it has picked up registration for Nealta, a 200-gram-per-litre suspension concentrate of cyflumetofen, billed as a control for all life stages of tetranychid mites […] Read more
Vegetable grower starts small to grow big
Is diversification the best way to get a start today? As Nathan Klassen is learning, even if the answer is yes, that doesn’t make it easy
Reading Time: 6 minutes Nathan Klassen might not have grown up on a farm, but for as long as he can remember, he’s wanted to be a farmer, so in 2011, in the midst of North America’s record-smashing run-up in the price of farmland, he made that dream come true. Klassen was 24 that year, and he bought his […] Read more
Canada’s West Coast ports offer little relief from U.S. delays
Reading Time: 3 minutes Vancouver | Reuters — Gridlock at U.S. West Coast ports that has forced McDonald’s to ration French fries at its Japanese restaurants and interrupted supplies to retailers such as Lululemon is unlikely to be alleviated by routing cargoes through Canada, whose Pacific ports face their own problems. Capacity is already limited at Canada’s largest port, […] Read more
FoodShare provides fresh vegetables, food security
Farm groups are getting on the inside with Toronto’s world-class food outreach program
Reading Time: 6 minutes When I fire off a last-minute email to confirm the details of my scheduled visit, I mention that I have never before seen a food bank. Debbie Field, executive director of FoodShare, politely responds, “We are not a food bank,” she tells me. “We’re a community food hub.” Food bank, food hub. But the next day, […] Read more
USDA clears GMO potato with lower cancer risk
Reading Time: 2 minutes CORRECTED, Nov. 10, 2014 — Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday approved the first genetically modified potato for commercial planting in the United States in more than a decade, a move likely to draw the ire of groups opposed to artificial manipulation of foods. The so-called Innate potato, developed by the […] Read more
Cutrale-Safra wins takeover battle for fruit producer Chiquita
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sao Paulo | Reuters — Chiquita Brands International agreed on Monday to a US$682 million takeover by Brazilian juice maker Grupo Cutrale and investment firm Safra Group, with the U.S.-based banana producer going private early next year at the latest. The acquisition is a victory for Brazilian-Lebanese financier Joseph Safra and orange juice baron Jose […] Read more
Ukraine appeals to WTO over Russian ban on fruit, vegetable imports
Reading Time: < 1 minute Kiev | Reuters –– Ukraine has complained to the World Trade Organization (WTO) about a decision by Russia to ban imports of fruit and vegetables from the country, the agriculture ministry said Thursday. The ban, which came into force Wednesday, was the latest trade barrier erected by Russia in a trade and sanctions war linked […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
