Text by Lindsay Grummett Celebrity chef Anna Olson’s love of baking began with her grandmother, a woman she describes as having a passion for baking to share with others. Olson picked up this passion and made into a successful profession. After studying culinary arts at Johnson & Wales University in Colorado, she moved back to Canada to work as a …

AFTER TRAVELLING IN SPACE WITH ITS HONIBE LINE OF FOODS, ISLAND ABBEY FOODS IS HOPING TO HIT SIMILAR HEIGHTS WITH PURAGAVE, ITS NEWEST INNOVATION. The PEI-based specialty food and natural health product producer, has created a novel patented pure dried platform technology to solidify blue agave nectar. This new platform technology maintains the natural flavour, colour and other elements of …

CREATIVITY AND ADVANCEMENTS IN CROP ROTATION SYSTEMS IN HIS NO-TILL FARMING OPERATION EARNED TOM BARRIE THE 2013 INNOVATIVE FARMER OF THE YEAR AWARD. The Bowmanville, Ont., native and his team was presented the award at the Innovative Farmers Association of Ontario Conference in February by BASF Canada and the Innovative Farmers Association of Ontario as a grower who promotes innovation …

THE COST OF COMPLYING WITH THE CANADIAN FOOD INSPECTION AGENCY’S (CFIA) REGULATIONS IS $657 MILLION EACH YEAR FOR CANADA’S FARMERS AND THE AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY. A Canadian Federation of Business report based on a survey of its agri-business members provides a review of how the CFIA interacts with farmers, as well as its impact on the agriculture sector. The report highlighted …

THE INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE (IFPRI) SAYS AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGIES COULD INCREASE GLOBAL CROP YIELDS AS MUCH AS 67 PER CENT AND CUT FOOD PRICES IN HALF BY 2050. Security in a World of Natural Resource Scarcity: The Role of Agricultural Technologies, a new report by the IFPRI pinpoints the agricultural technologies and practices that can significantly reduce food prices …

CANADA COULD MOVE FROM BEING ONE OF THE TOP 20 NET FOOD EXPORTING COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD TO BEING ONE OF THE TOP FIVE WITHIN THE NEXT FEW YEARS, WHILE ADDRESSING THE LEGITIMATE NEEDS OF CANADIANS FOR SAFE, HEALTHY AND AFFORDABLE FOOD ACCORDING TO THE CONFERENCE BOARD OF CANADA. The organization’s Canadian Food Strategy, unveiled at the third Canadian Food …

THE CANADIAN AGRI-FOOD SECTOR RECEIVED A BOOST WITH NEWS OF THE CANADA-KOREA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (CKFTA). The deal, which has yet to be fully ratified, but once in force will result in the elimination of 86.8 per cent of agricultural tariff lines. Some tariffs will take more than a dozen years to be fully phased out. This duty-free access will …

WHILE TRADITIONAL FLAVOUR PROFILES STAND OUT ON THE MENU, RECENT TECHNOMIC RESEARCH ALSO SHOWS THAT CANADIAN CONSUMERS ARE ON THE HUNT FOR FLAVOUR INNOVATION. An overwhelming majority of consumers (73 per cent) say that if they try and like a menu item with a new or innovative flavour, they’re very likely to make a return visit to that restaurant for …

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, PAT PIMM, IS LOOKING FOR MARKETS AT HOME AND ABROAD TO GROW B.C.’S AGRI-FOOD SHARE TO $14 BILLION Text by Nicolas Heffernan Talking to Pat Pimm, it’s easy to hear the enthusiasm B.C.’s Minister of Agriculture has for his position. There’s a lot of optimism in B.C. with Pimm’s administration hoping to take B.C.’s agri-food sector to …

RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS BETWEEN ACADEMICS, INDUSTRY AND GOVERNMENT IS CHANGING THE DAIRY INDUSTRY Text by Lindsay Grummett Scattered across the Canadian countryside from Vancouver Island to Logy Bay, Nfld., are nearly 13,000 dairy cattle farms that are home to just over 960,000 dairy cows. A typical dairy farm in Canada is a family-owned operation with a herd of about 77 Holstein …