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Organic group send petition to federal government

Feds asked to establish policies and programs to help organic producers meet consumer demand, create sustainable food systems

The petition says that Canadian consumers are driving strong demand for organic food, and asks the federal government to establish policies and programs to “encourage growth in the domestic supply of organic to meet the market opportunity,” and to “meaningfully recognize and incentivize sustainable resilient food systems, such as organic, across all departments that relate to Canadian food policy.”



I can’t justify paying the premium for organic food.

Why I don’t feed my kids organic food

Because of this I’ve been called a bad mom, irresponsible and downright lazy

I could certainly afford to pay up to 50 per cent more for organic food for my children to eat, but I refuse to. I decline to pay the premium for organic food because I cannot justify it when comparable conventional foods (including those with GMOs) are just as healthy and nutritious, and arguably more […] Read more

What do people want to know?

What do people want to know?

Taking a look at the questions people are asking the internet about agriculture

I did something that made me sad the other day. I often write about the chasm between farmers and the public they/we feed. There’s an information gap there that absolutely needs to be filled. If the gulf is allowed to grow, and the agriculture/food sector plods forward without a meaningful connection with the public and […] Read more



A meadow is inspected to see if it fulfills the requirements for the subsidy program — diversity of plant species.

Two markets; two attitudes

Letters from Europe: European growers work in a different policy and market environment 
than Prairie farmers

Recently a Swiss workshop speaker, Ruedi Sutter, commented on the many changes to Swiss agriculture in the last 30 years. It caused me to contemplate the similarity and difference of changes compared to western Canadian farmers. What I see when I visit “home” (Alberta), confirms my research on the web. The January 2016 report from […] Read more



It will be a long time before Swiss canola will be genetically modified.

No GMOs for farmers in Switzerland

After moving from Alberta to Europe, Marianne Stamm finds a different consumer culture

She chops onions, carrots and potatoes, adds them to the sizzling oil in the frying pan. The oil isn’t from genetically modified (GM) canola, and never will be if Monika Wanner, a Swiss farmwoman, has her way. “We have good products in Switzerland,” she says. “We don’t need GMOs.” That growing GMOs is banned in […] Read more


Farmers weigh in on “consumer demand”

Farmers weigh in on “consumer demand”

Consumers need to be educated, but also willing to pay

Responding to “consumer demands” isn’t necessarily about making some wholesale changes in farm operating practices, say Prairie farmers contacted for the February Farmer Panel. Those often heard claims that “the consumer is demanding…” everything from healthier, safer food, to reduced environmental footprint, to improved livestock and production practices need to be heard, say panel members. But sometimes […] Read more