Mini or “baby†vegetables have come to occupy a huge spot in modern culinary culture. But few can claim as exotic a lineage as Guatemalan baby corn. Producer Tulio Garcia Sr. explains how workers at a remote village in Guatemala are hand-harvesting up to three million ears a week for Costco. Photo: Tulio Garcia Sr.
Read More
Agricultural suppliers point to the supply chain as the source of escalating food prices. But who’s driving those costs? It’s not farmers, who are paying up to twice as much for inputs such as fertilizer this year. It’s suppliers themselves. Photo: globalnews.com
Read More
Shortages of labour, packaging and even pallets will be among our worst 2021 memories. Canada’s food system remained resilient though, and kept food on the shelves. However, political leadership is needed to address the skyrocketing prices farmers and consumers are now facing. Photo: thegrower.org
Read More
Farmers have a lot of credibility with the public. And as the New Year advances, you can expect to see more of them in the media, communicating with consumers about how they produce food. Kudos to Ottawa and to the Canadian Agricultural Youth Council for their participation in this effort. Image: agriculture.canada.ca
Read More
Lowly lettuce never gets much mention when we talk about healthy eating. But that may be about to change. Scientists have grown lettuce with proteins that can neutralize the COVID-virus, and they’ve incorporated it into chewing gum. Could that mean this least-likely vegetable will rocket to the front of the pack, with a whole new importance? Image: nbcnews.com
Read More
Owen Roberts is an agricultural journalist and communications instructor based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. He is a trustee on the Global Foundation for Agricultural Journalism and an associate editor (communications) for the Journal of Agromedicine. Previously, Owen was president of the International Forum for Agricultural Journalists, an agricultural communications faculty member at the University of Illinois, and research communications director at the University of Guelph. His programs and research papers have been recognized through awards from the Journal of Applied Communications, the National Agri-Marketing Association, the Association for Communications Excellence and the Canadian Farm Writers' Federation.