Normally, when I go grocery shopping, I approach the whole experience a bit like a military mission – with focus, list in hand and plan in mind to get in and out as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Several weeks ago, I was a bit less rushed than usual at the supermarket, so I had a bit of time to slow down and observe what was going on around me. What I noticed intrigued me and stuck in my mind over the next few visits. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Industrial Uses and Opportunities for Canadian Soybeans, a new brochure highlighting industrial market opportunities for Canadian soybeans, is now available. The goal of the 16-page resource, produced by Soy 20/20, is to generate awareness of the many new soy-based products and applications being developed, as well as those already commercially available. [Read the rest of this entry...]

In a society where less than two percent of the population farms, there’s a real knowledge gap when it comes to food. It exists on many levels – nutrition and preparation come to mind – but especially on the production and origins end.

So it’s no surprise that one of the main missions of many in agriculture today is to talk to people about how food is produced and where it comes from. This is all relatively simple and straightforward when we are talking about fruits, vegetables and field crops. It’s not even that complicated with milk and eggs. But meat is another story. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Believe it or not – it’s possible to live in a house built from soy. And you can see one for yourself if you head down to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto.
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When I came across a website that mentioned it would let me grow my own wheat online and follow it through right to my dinner plate, I have to admit I was intrigued.

I went to www.howwheatworks.com and signed myself up so I could get started. Faced with several different wheat types I could plant, I chose durum as I am totally addicted to pasta – and the majority of our pasta contains this particular kind of wheat.
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They’re young, they’re smart and they’re passionate. And this past Saturday afternoon, they were strutting their stuff as finalists in the Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture competition at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto.
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Here’s a great blog post about modern agriculture and bridging the gap between farmers and consumers.

It’s written by Australian journalist Pip Courtney of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (the Aussie equivalent of the CBC here in Canada), whom I had the opportunity to meet while attending the International Federation of Agriculture Journalists (IFAJ) congress in Texas earlier this year.
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