Sometimes I wonder whether we’re actually hard-wired to be instantly attracted to bad news and shocking revelations. I see negativity often dominating our 24-hour news cycle, leaving the less sensational but equally important good news to fall by the wayside.

More and more people are now writing and reporting about food, farming, science and the environment. These are current, interesting topics that affect all of us on daily basis, whether we consciously realize it or not. And yet fewer people than ever have much of an in-depth understanding of them, affecting both the way we cover and the way we interpret news. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Eggs are a Canadian breakfast staple. They’re also popular at other mealtimes and as ingredients in countless recipes. But do you ever wonder how eggs are made and where they come from?

I had the chance to find out first hand a couple of weeks ago during a visit to an egg farm north of Guelph, Ontario. Owner Len, who farms together with his wife Brenda, runs this typical Ontario egg farm of about 128,000 hens that produce approximately three million eggs per year. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Cows grazing on hillside pastures are a stereotypical – if often true – image of Switzerland. The Swiss are proud of their mountains and their pristine Alpine countryside. They’re also pretty serious about promoting homegrown food products.

One of the country’s leading supermarket chains, Co-op, sells a line of branded Swiss food products – milk, yogurts, meats, cheeses and more – that promotes sustainable mountain farming. [Read the rest of this entry...]

My brother called me a food nerd today. I guess he’s right when I consider what I was doing to make him call me that.

We are in Switzerland this week and today we were in a mountaintop restaurant above Zermatt, having lunch. As soon as my lunch arrived, the first thing I did was arrange the plate in front of me and then take a photograph of what was placed in front of me.

I didn’t think much of it, really; after all, it’s become almost second nature to me to take photos of food and food products wherever I am – in restaurants, at markets and in stores. [Read the rest of this entry...]

It’s been almost a week since I had the chance to visit an Ontario berry farm at the height of strawberry season…and since I’ve been travelling, it’s been hard to find time to get this blog post put together. But better late than never…and certainly before the end of strawberry season! [Read the rest of this entry...]

Most of us in agriculture have the same gripe. Whether we farm or whether we work for or with farmers, our common complaint is that agriculture is misunderstood.

The general public doesn’t “get” what we do because they don’t know. And we’re often a little amazed at how much people don’t know, especially about things that we take for granted. [Read the rest of this entry...]

I am absolutely in love with cheese. Maybe even more so than with chocolate, although that can be debatable depending on the day.

So it was a good day this past Saturday when I discovered a little piece of cheese heaven – Upper Canada Cheese Company.

The tiny artisan creamery is located in the village of Jordan Station in Niagara Region and their claim to fame is a line of spectacular cheeses made from the milk of Guernsey cows. [Read the rest of this entry...]