To find locally raised lamb, read the menu at your favourite restaurant and ask who supplies the kitchen, visit independent butchers or farmers’ markets, and browse the internet using key words like “local lamb” and your province’s name.

South Asian favourites — Part 2: Learning to love lamb

First We Eat: Lamb consumption is on the rise in Canada so it may be easier to find a local producer

My Saskatchewan-raised mom never served lamb while I was growing up. She hadn’t eaten it as a child or young woman, and as a result, I didn’t learn to love lamb until I was in my 30s and living in Calgary. Sheep have been a presence in Alberta since the late 1800s, when thousands of […] Read more

File photo of a Loblaw-owned Real Canadian Superstore location in Winnipeg. (Dave Bedard photo)

Loblaw beats estimates for quarterly revenue

Reuters — Canadian retailer Loblaw Cos. beat market estimates for quarterly revenue on Thursday, as demand for groceries and other essential items stayed strong. The pandemic-led trend of cooking at home has sustained even as COVID curbs have eased, continuing to help sales at grocery stores that benefited during last year’s lockdowns. Companies such as […] Read more


Greenleaf Foods, a subsidiary of meat processor Maple Leaf Foods, last month began providing its plant-based Lightlife Chick’n Tenders to convenience chain 7-Eleven in Canada. (Dave Bedard photo)

ADM releases alternative protein outlook for 2022

MarketsFarm — Major U.S. agribusiness ADM released a report Tuesday identifying the seven biggest trends in the alternative protein market, ranging from creating new protein sources from fungi to making plant-based meat substitutes more affordable and palatable to the general public. The seven trends in the report were: introduction of novel protein sources, using microbial […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canaryseed Development Commission of Saskatchewan)

Canary seed prices likely to be good in 2022

MarketsFarm — Prices for canary seed spiked to all-time new highs and then pulled well back as the Prairie winter set in, according to David Nobbs of Purely Canada Foods in Saskatoon. Nobbs explained prices were on a rollercoaster in 2021, starting out at around 30 cents per pound only to climb through the 30s […] Read more


Umami dates back to 1907, when a Japanese chemist discovered that kombu seaweed formed crystals of glutamate — an abundant amino acid — for a taste neither sweet, sour, salty or bitter, but savoury, rich and meaty.

Becoming a better cook — Part 2: The taste of umami

First We Eat: This Japanese word has various translations such as ‘savoury’ or ‘deliciousness’

The four tastes — sweet, salty, sour, bitter — underpin every dish we eat. Smart cooks reach routinely for a bit of honey, a smidgeon of salt, a splash of lemon, or a drop of bitters to balance a dish, and fat too, like butter, oil, or whipping cream. Asian and Latin cooks add pungent […] Read more

(Video screengrab from CBSA-asfc.gc.ca)

Vaccine mandate to lead to inflation, empty shelves, trucking executives say

Parallel mandate for U.S. entry starts Saturday

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


Becoming a better cook — Part 1: By the book

Becoming a better cook — Part 1: By the book

First We Eat: A list of food books that explain the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of cooking

My son recently served me a meal of spatchcocked (butterflied) chicken. It was sensational, crisp and juicy. “Butterflied is the only way I roast a whole bird anymore,” he told me. Then I watched as he made brownies. His recipe was more complex than mine, and he spent longer on the process. They were addictive, […] Read more

U.S. grain firm Scoular is expanding its reach in the flax market with a new processing plant just outside Regina. (Scoular.com)

Scoular fires up flax processing near Regina

Plant to process flax for food- and feed-grade markets

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


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Canada resists pressure to drop vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers

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

In a family committed to homemade gifts, food is often the medium that makes the rounds as presents.

Try this Carrot Pickle recipe over the holidays

First We Eat: If you grew a good crop of carrots this year you’ll want to make some jars of this for sure

All month I’ve been pestering Mom for stories. You’d think I was five again. But no. Truth is, we’ve been in closer proximity than usual. She’s recovering from glaucoma surgery, which has eliminated lifting, bending over, or carrying anything heavier than a supper plate. So I am at her house, lifting, bending over, and carrying. […] Read more