Author: Owen Roberts

Culinary giant Anita Stewart’s passing last week was a huge loss for all Canadians, and especially for our food producers. Anita was considered the champion of the local food movement in this country and she’d want us to continue to advocate on behalf of Canadian food . Photo: Guelph Today

Agriculture suffers from a shortage of skilled labour, so it’s good to see investments into initiatives such as Conestoga’s College’s 16-week Agricultural Equipment Operator pilot program, the Olds College Smart Agriculture Applied Research Program and Assiniboine College’s agricultural training program. Worker shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic underlined how much we need to step up efforts to create a reliable, accessible agri-food workforce.

Planting, pruning, irrigating and harvesting doesn’t come cheap, as the farmers who depend on temporary foreign workers know too well. They incurred huge expenses last summer, trying to make their operations more pandemic-proof.
Photo: viacampesina.com

If you were fortunate enough to be able to sit down with family at Thanksgiving, it was likely with mixed emotions: grateful for the food we have and the company we share, but concern for those who don’t – here and elsewhere in the world.