Zero tolerance has taken on whole new meaning
The StarPhoenix — Kevin Hursh
12/23/2009

As we gather for family meals during the holidays, there will be lots of discussions about food and food safety. Unfortunately, misconceptions and misplaced priorities have become commonplace.

With advances in science, it's seemingly possible to find traces of anything, anywhere. This is a public relations problem for agriculture and a real barrier to agricultural trade.

Zero tolerance has taken on a whole new meaning. As detection limits drop ever lower, zero isn't where it used to be.

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Climate action: Canada's farms part of solution
Rhe StarPhoenix — Sylvain Charlebois
12/17/2009

All eyes are focused on the climate change summit in Copenhagen -- an event billed by many as the conference that must change the world.

If that is the case, then agriculture and food security should rise to a higher place on the agenda. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations thinks so. It has been lamenting for some years that agriculture is largely exempted from the climate financing equation now being discussed.

The FAO's brief to the summit says farming practices that capture carbon and store it in the soil "offer some of the most promising options for early and cost-effective action on climate change in developing countries, while contributing to food security."

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The goal: Feed everyone, everywhere
AGCanada.com — Daniel Winters
12/10/2009

To feed nine billion people by 2050, world agriculture will have to pull out all the stops.

Achieving the goal of both feeding the world and protecting the environment will require abandoning “romantic” notions of peasant farming, and embracing “all responsible science” in order to make food production more efficient in the face of declining resources, according to former New Zealand prime minister James Bolger, who now chairs the advisory group to the World Agricultural Forum.

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Potential European trade deal would benefit ag sector
The StarPhoenix — Kevin Hursh
12/2/2009

Multilateral trade talks through the World Trade Organization (WTO) appear to be going nowhere, but unbeknownst to most people, progress has so far exceeded expectations on a bilateral deal between Canada and the European Union.

The Doha Round of the WTO started in 2001 shortly after the 9-11 disaster. The WTO has been in the news every now and then during the years, but progress has been limited and now seems to be stalled. There isn't enough political will among the more than 150 member nations to move the process along.

With the failure of the WTO, more countries, including Canada, have been negotiating bilateral deals. A deal with the EU would be huge.

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Agribusiness exactly what Africa needs
Nanaimo News Bulletin — Robert Wager
12/2/2009

This week’s Food Matters column left me scratching my head.

Marjorie Stewart begins with the news Bill Gates was helping the poor in Africa. Everyone is in favour of that, aren’t they? Apparently not if it includes anything to do with genetically modified crops.

Stewart wants readers to believe it is bad that Monsanto is donating $5 million dollars to Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

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Hungry for answers to the global food shortage
thestar.com — David Olive
11/15/2009

Every six seconds a child on this planet dies of hunger.

We've had industrial revolutions in the west and more recently in China and South Asia; budding revolutions in "superjumbo" aircraft and plug-in electric cars; and Seinfeld episodes that can be downloaded onto cellphones worldwide.

Yet we remain trapped in some previous century in that most basic of necessities; keeping the world population fed. Remarkably, the facts today point to yet another global food shortage just a few years after the food crisis of 2007-08, which ended only when the Great Recession curbed a debilitating upward spiral in prices of basic staples like rice, corn and wheat worldwide. As the world economy recovers, the prospect of another global food crisis looms large.

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Flax situation underscores science vs. philosophy conflict
The StarPhoenix — Kevin Hursh
11/4/2009

Science has become a double-edged sword for agriculture. Science should be making the food supply safer, but in many cases it's simply a justification for fear mongering and trade barriers.

As well, the consuming public is often making poor assessments of what's a legitimate risk and what is simply hype.

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Suzuki contributing to GM crop misinformation campaign
Morden Times — Robert Wager
10/21/2009

Once again David Suzuki is trying to mislead the public about GM crops (October 2 Morden Times).

He states "Scientists may share consensus about issues like human-caused global warming, but they don’t have the same level of certainty about the effects of genetically modified organisms on environmental and human health!"

This is simply false.

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Genetically modified flax sent to Europe puts industry in limbo
Winnipeg Free Press — Laura Rance
10/6/2009

It was the 1951 novel The Day of the Triffids by science-fiction writer John Wyndham that introduced the world to a fictional plant species with a penchant for venomous attacks on humans.
According to Wikipedia, the story's protagonist is Bill Masen, "an Englishman who has made his living working with 'triffids,' plants capable of aggressive and seemingly intelligent behaviour: They are able to move about on their three 'legs,' appear to communicate with each other and possess a deadly whip-like poisonous sting that enables them to kill and feed on the rotting carcasses of their victims."

The plants were featured in a BBC radio dramatization of the book in 1957, a film version in 1962 and then a sequel film called Night of the Triffids in 2001.

Here we are in 2009, and triffids have surfaced again -- except this time in a real-life sequel, which, for lack of a better title, we'll call Return of the Triffid.

As with most real-life scenarios, this triffid is much more benign than its fictional counterpart. It was the curious choice of name for a variety of flax developed by the University of Saskatchewan's Crop Development Centre in the late 1990s that was genetically modified to withstand herbicide residues. And the protagonists in this story -- western Canadian flax growers -- are hardly movie stars. In fact, they'd much prefer being left out of the international spotlight. Nevertheless, the apparent resurfacing of CDC Triffid in Canadian flax exports, even though everyone thought it was dead and buried long ago, is about as close as it gets to waking up to discover your nightmare wasn't a dream.

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Government of Canada Funding Will Help Canola Industry Meet 2015 Targets
Canola Council of Canada —
9/23/2009

Canola Council of Canada (CCC) president JoAnne Buth today thanked the Government of Canada for investing up to $3.39 million in two new canola industry projects that will play a critical role in achieving the industry’s shared vision of 15 million tonnes of sustained canola production and demand by 2015.

“On behalf of the Canola Council of Canada, I want to thank Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and the Government of Canada for your tremendous support of our industry,” said Buth during the Saskatoon announcement.

Funding under the Agri-Marketing Program (AMP) will help Canada’s canola industry build international market demand, while funding under the Agri-Flexibility Program “will bring agricultural extension to a whole new level in this country,” said Buth.

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Ontarians value biotech and want more federal government support for the industry
Reuters — BIOTECanada
9/19/2009

Ontarians overwhelmingly value biotechnology`s contribution to their lives and
the economy, BIOTECanada told Minister Milloy and an audience of over 150
business leaders at the launch of the sixth annual National Biotechnology Week.
The results, part of an annual poll, conducted by Nanos Research, found
Ontarians to be strong supporters of biotechnology and of government support to
the industry

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The future of wheat
National Post — Rolf Penner
8/18/2009

Genetically modified wheat would increase yields, cut pesticide use and give Canadian farmers a global edge

Nine wheat organizations in Australia, Canada and the United States, among them the North American Millers’ Association, recently released a joint statement that called for a synchronized introduction of genetically modified (GM) wheat into the marketplace.

The trend toward major biotech crops in soybeans, corn and canola is already well established over the past dozen years. It is high time that wheat joins their ranks.

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Modified corn seeds sow doubts
The Globe and Mail — Martin Mittelstaedt
8/4/2009

Next spring, farmers in Canada will be able to sow one of the most complicated genetically engineered plants ever designed, a futuristic type of corn containing eight foreign genes.

With so much crammed into one seed, the modified corn will be able to confer multiple benefits, such as resistance to corn borers and rootworms, two caterpillar-like pests that infest the valuable grain crop, as well as withstanding applications of glyphosate, a weed killer better known by its commercial name, Roundup.

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GM canola a growth crop for Canada
The Age - Business News — Philip Hopkins
8/3/2009

GENETICALLY modified canola has become Canada’s most valuable crop, is poised for more growth and is testimony to the country’s innovation policy, according to a visiting Canadian grains executive.

Dennis Stephens, of the Canada Grains Council, said GM canola was introduced into Canada in 1995 as part of a government innovation policy.

Since then, the area sown to canola had increased from about 4 million hectares to almost 6 million hectares.

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Conventional food as nutritious as organic: study
CTV.ca News —
7/29/2009

Organic food lovers may insist their produce, meat and milk are fresher, tastier, and better for the environment. But a new study suggests they aren't any more nutritious.

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Enviro-romanticism is hurting Africa
The Globe and Mail — Margaret Wente
7/18/2009

Many of my friends and neighbours are converts to the organics movement. They believe that food grown the natural way is better for us and for the planet. They worry that genetically modified crops grown with commercial pesticides and fertilizers may actually be harming the health of their children. They believe family farms are better than large commercial farms. They detest the rapacious agri-multinationals, which stand accused of maximizing profits by gaining a stranglehold on the market, pushing unhealthy foods on the consumer, and forcing farmers to buy their modified seeds.

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Organic tastes good, but better for us? No
The Globe and Mail — Margaret Wente
7/11/2009

Our farmers' market in the country has gone dramatically upscale. It used to be that, if you wanted, say, carrots, you had to settle for orange ones. They were crude, gnarly things that were sometimes as thick as baseball bats. Not any more. Today, you can buy carrots in a wide variety of designer colours. They are slender and delicious, and almost as sweet as sugar. They are 100-per-cent organic, grown without pesticides or fertilizers or genetically modified seeds. They are the most refined and righteous carrots you ever ate. So what if they cost $5 instead of 50 cents? Affluent weekenders line up for them, and if you don't get there early, they'll be gone.

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'Designer wheat' nets top prize
The Canadian Press — Sheryl Ubelacker
5/7/2009

TORONTO - Scott Adams never expected to take a prize in a competition for the best student biotech research projects in Canada - he was just happy to come to the nation's capital as one of 14 finalists.

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ONTARIO: U of G researchers find suspected glyphosate resistant weed
University of Guelph —
5/7/2009

Researchers at the University of Guelph's Ontario Agricultural College have found a giant ragweed biotype that is showing resistance to the popular herbicide glyphosate. The plants are able to survive glyphosate use rates that kill normal susceptible weeds.

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Ag research gets funding boost
The Western Producer — Michael Raine
4/23/2009

Ottawa has promised $49.6 million to help fund research projects aimed at developing new tools for Canadian agriculture.

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Canada urgently needs to reinvest in the life sciences industry: PwC and BIOTECanada survey
PwC and BIOTECanada —
4/20/2009

TORONTO, April 20 /CNW/ - The biggest challenge for the Canadian life science and biotechnology industry is the ability to access capital, according to the biennial PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) Canadian Life Sciences Industry Forecast 2009, completed in collaboration with BIOTECanada.

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Technology can help ease food fright
Guelph Mercury — Owen Roberts
6/9/2008

As world leaders were scrambling for answers last week in Rome at a United Nations summit on the global food crisis, agribusiness leader Martin Taylor was quietly stepping to the podium before 40 farm industry leaders and media in Guelph to suggest his solution to the problem -- current technology.

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