Reading Time: 3 minutes Geneva | Reuters — The World Trade Organization’s 164 members approved a series of trade agreements early on Friday that included commitments on fish and pledges on health and food security after more than five gruelling days of negotiations. The deals were ground out over five days of bargaining at a conference of more than […] Read more
WTO strikes global trade deals deep into overtime
Deals reached on food security, health and fishing; formerly defiant India joins consensus
Beef sector calls for Health Canada label exception
The Canadian Cattlemen's Association wants ground beef exempted from proposed rules
Reading Time: 2 minutes The cattle sector is less than pleased by a Health Canada proposal that would put a ‘high saturated fat’ label on retail ground beef. The proposal is part of a suite of changes proposed for Canada’s Food and Drug Regulations. As well as adding a front-of-packaging (FOP) label requirement for foods deemed by Health Canada […] Read more
Fertilizer maker Yara says world faces extreme food supply shock
Sanctions cut global fertilizer supply 15 per cent, company says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Davos, Switzerland | Reuters — Norwegian fertilizer giant Yara says donors urgently need to close the U.N.’s $10 billion food programme funding gap to avoid a catastrophe as sanctions on Russian fertilizers and Ukraine’s grain export problems have created an extreme global shock. “The world has realized that food can be a weapon and it […] Read more
Wastewater regulation eased for Nova Scotia on-farm processing
Reading Time: < 1 minute Nova Scotia has introduced regulatory changes that allow on-farm processing operations to better manage wastewater on their smaller scale. The changes, which took effect May 11, come at the request of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture (NSFA) — which has said that owners of small farm-level processing facilities shouldn’t be treated the same as […] Read more
Worsening global food security needs Ukraine, Russia production, UN chief says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Abuja | Reuters — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday the problem of global food security could not be solved without restoring Ukrainian agricultural production and Russian food and fertilizer output to the world market. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February has added to volatility in financial markets, sending commodity prices higher and affecting logistics, […] Read more
Farming behind the lines: Ukraine’s farmers sow amidst wreckage
Despite their best efforts, however, famine looms as war rages
Reading Time: 5 minutes In early April, Ukrainian soldiers expelled the Russian invaders from the northern regions of Ukraine: Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions. The wounded enemy left, leaving behind burned-out war machines and the unburied corpses of his soldiers. However, the invaders managed to do a lot of damage. Many of you are probably aware of the atrocities […] Read more
Changes to TFW program to expand worker availability
Workplace LMIAs now valid for 18 months
Reading Time: 3 minutes The federal government is boosting the availability of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) to ag and other understaffed sectors under a list of policy changes announced Monday. Employment and Workforce Development Minister Carla Qualtrough announced what’s called the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program Workforce Solutions Road Map, which the government said “marks the next step in […] Read more
Food, farming, forestry must be transformed to curb global warming, UN says
Earlier draft of panel report called for reduced intake of meat
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Protecting forests, changing diets, and altering farming methods could contribute around a quarter of the greenhouse gas cuts needed to avert the worst impacts of climate change, according to the United Nations’ climate panel. But the changes are unlikely to happen unless governments act to spur them along, the report from the Intergovernmental […] Read more
A new way to build a farm
It’s called 'agritecture' and it’s quickly gaining attention. What if you could grow a crop in the concrete used to make buildings?
Reading Time: 5 minutes It seems like something you should be reading in a cheap sci-fi novel, not in a magazine for farmers, but this is how urbanites might grow their own food in future if one Mexican company has its way. Today, if you want to grow food in a city, you grow it beside or in between […] Read more
Healthy eating for older adults
Food choices are important as you age. Fortunately, says Dr. Alison Duncan, there are loads of great options
Reading Time: 5 minutes We’re living longer, and we are also learning how to live those extra years better. If we want them to be good years, it makes sense to pay attention to what we’re eating as we age. “Diet is a major determinant of health,” says Dr. Alison Duncan, a professor in human health and nutritional sciences […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
