Reading Time: 3 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian consumers should soon see higher prices and some empty shelves in supermarkets and other retail outlets because of disruptions stemming from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers, top trucking executives warned this week. The mandate, imposed by Ottawa to help curb the spread of the virus, has cost six […] Read more
Vaccine mandate to lead to inflation, empty shelves, trucking executives say
Parallel mandate for U.S. entry starts Saturday
Food writer’s focus on local gets consumer attention
Why do Canadians love to read what Globe & Mail food editor Lucy Waverman thinks about their food and who grows it? Because her love for food is so irresistible
Reading Time: 4 minutes As we talk, Lucy Waverman is listing ingredients she always keeps in her kitchen. “Olive oil and chilies — I always like to have dried chilies or some fresh birdseye or banana peppers — just a pinch of something a little spicy brings out flavour,” she says. Then there’s salmon. Butter. Salt. “Salt is one […] Read more
Scoular fires up flax processing near Regina
Plant to process flax for food- and feed-grade markets
Reading Time: 2 minutes U.S. grain handler Scoular’s Canadian arm has opened a new flax processing operation at its site just southeast of Regina, into what it describes as a record-strong flax market. Scoular Canada on Wednesday announced the opening of its “high-speed” flax line at Richardson, Sask., where it already processes and cleans lentils, peas and canary seed. […] Read more
Canada resists pressure to drop vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers
Reading Time: 3 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pushing ahead with a vaccine mandate for international truckers despite increasing pressure from critics who say it will exacerbate driver shortages and drive up the price of goods imported from the United States. Canada will require all truckers entering from the U.S. to show proof […] Read more
New China import rules bring headaches for food, beverage makers
Cooking oil, milled grains among foods moved to higher-risk categories
Reading Time: 3 minutes Beijing | Reuters — Makers of Irish whiskey, Belgian chocolate and European coffee brands are scrambling to comply with new Chinese food and beverage regulations, with many fearful their goods will be unable to enter the giant market as a Jan. 1 deadline looms. China’s customs authority published new food safety rules in April stipulating […] Read more
Panicked shoppers clear out flood-hit B.C.’s grocery stores
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Shoppers in British Columbia have emptied grocery shelves following catastrophic flooding, although the shortages are as much down to panic buying as disrupted supply chains, industry associations said on Thursday. Even as flood waters start to recede, some parts of the province are expected to face to temporary shortages of dairy supplies, with […] Read more
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
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
‘Containergeddon’ drives sugar, rice shippers back to bulk vessels
Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — Food traders are switching from containers back to dry bulk vessels to transport refined sugar and rice, hoping to avoid shipping delays caused by container shortages and port congestion the industry is calling “containergeddon,” according to traders. Container-based transportation has been hit by sky-high costs and delays amid booming shipping […] Read more
Mexico won’t limit GMO corn imports from U.S., ag minister says
Reading Time: < 1 minute Ankeny, Iowa | Reuters — Mexico’s agriculture minister said the country would not limit imports of genetically modified (GMO) corn from the United States during a meeting with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in Iowa on Wednesday. Mexico published an executive order late last year that sought to ban in three years the use of […] Read more