Locavore News by Elbert van Donkersgoed
Posted: September 8, 2009
Categories: Food in the News / News from Sustain Ontario
Perspectives on good food and farming
Farmers’ Share of Grocery Bill Shrinking
There was a rise in the cost of groceries by 3.2 per cent from 2008 to 2009, and this money was not passed on to the farmer. In fact, producers received 1.7 per cent less money than in the previous year. In the end, the consumer was paying $6.01 more for groceries, the farmer received $0.86 less, and the middleman received $6.87 more. Depending on the food group, the farmers’ share percentage ranged from 5 per cent for grain products, to 53 per cent for milk and alternatives. TheFarmers’ Share research project 2009 by Dr. Alma Kennedy was commissioned by Keystone Agricultural Producers of Manitoba. Summary of study.
Food trends 2009: A simply happy new year
As recession takes hold, look for comfort foods, less complicated cooking and a few sprightly innovations. If you’re a homebody who enjoys making a big pan of macaroni and cheese, or eating a hearty, homemade stew instead of going to a fancy restaurant, congratulations: You are among the trendiest people in the country. So what are some foods, flavors and culinary trends we’ll see in 2009? Here are several, gleaned from a variety of trend reports. Houston Chronicle.
Minister vows to help devastated apple growers
Tornado damage is in the millions for 15 growers near Thornbury. Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Leona Dombrowsky toured the tornado-devastated apple growing area near Thornbury on Saturday and vowed to try to help growers facing financial ruin from the Aug. 20 storm. Better Farming website.
Easement means Caledon farm to stay in agriculture
A conservation easement has been granted on a Caledon property that will keep it as farmland in perpetuity. The unusual arrangement between Deirdre Wright and the Ontario Farmland Trust (OFT) was announced last Thursday at the Belain Farm on Shaws Creek Road.
This land securement project is the first one completed by OFT, a not for profit organization that promotes the preservation of farmland in the province. Orangeville Citizen story. Belain Farm on the website of the Ontario Farmland Trust.
Loblaw thinking locally
“We think it’s a competitive advantage,” Mike Venton, Loblaw’s senior vice-president of produce, said of the company’s renewed focus on fresh fruits and vegetables. At this time of year, local produce is in the spotlight as the harvest season enters its peak period and consumers complain that too little of it makes its way into large supermarkets such as Loblaw. Toronto Star story.
The changing American food market
New research shows more Americans are eating at home now that at the beginning of the year. The latest numbers from consumer, media and market research firm Mintel finds 8 in 10 Americans say they are having more meals at home these days and 52 percent are spending less at restaurants compared to a year ago. Among their “Five Global Consumer Trends for 2009“, Mintel says trust has become paramount for food companies. Brownfield Ag News story.
Healthy meals at food carts for kids
A new social enterprise by Mercy Corps is taking a pragmatic approach to improving children’s food intake. The Healthy Street Foods Project in Jakarta has funded a fleet of food stalls and is providing them to selected street-vendors around the city. Worth USD 600 each, these are no ordinary food stalls. Known as Kedai Balitaku (‘My Child’s Cafe‘), they serve nutritional food at low prices. Springwise story.
Canadian Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative Releases First Annual Report
The Children’s Advertising Initiative is a voluntary initiative by 18 of Canada’s leading food and beverage companies. In April 2007, Participants announced their collaborative commitment to use their creativity and marketing activities to promote and support healthy dietary choices and healthy lifestyles to children under 12 years of age. Website. In its first annualCompliance Report, issued in July 2009 and covering 2008, Advertising Standards Canada concluded that all of the Canadian Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative participants fulfilled their pledge commitments.
Making Sense of the Gluten-Free Trend
There is little question that consumer interest in gluten-free eating habits—as well as gluten-free products—is on the rise. Is gluten-free an enduring trend with serious legs? Or, alternately, is our collective interest in gluten-free merely a passing fancy much like low-carb dieting? Likewise, while there is no question that sales of gluten-free products are experiencing rapid growth, one must remember that any new category experiences such growth. It’s easy to generate impressive growth results when you start from zero. Hartman Group analysis.
How to Grow Food Democracy
“Food democracy” has become the rallying cry of an emerging grassroots movement. It certainly sounds good–but what exactly does it mean? “Eating local,” as more and more people strive to do, is part of it. What are the obstacles to democratizing the food system, and how can they be overcome? For this forum, we asked five leading figures of this country’s food movement to reflect on how food democracy can be achieved, here and now. Editor’s intro to an issue of The Nation on the theme: Food for All.
AND in case you missed it
‘High as a kite’ wallabies blamed for crop circles
Wallabies snacking in Tasmania’s legally grown opium poppy fields are getting “high as a kite” and hopping around in circles, trampling the crops, a state official said. “We have a problem with wallabies entering poppy fields, getting as high as a kite and going around in circles,” The Mercury newspaper quoted Giddings as telling the hearing. “Then they crash. We see crop circles in the poppy industry from wallabies that are high.” MSNBC/Associated Press story.