Food Focus

Many sectors in modern agriculture depend on seasonal labour to plant, maintain, and harvest crops. Often these jobs are done by temporary foreign workers, new immigrant, or undocumented workers. In fact cheap labour is essential across the entire food system from farms, through processing to restaurants and retail. The COVID pandemic has highlighted dependence of the food system on these low wage...

Waste - including food waste - is increasingly in our consciousness. In this episode my colleague Mark Wickson speaks with Laura Nash about the Zero Waste movement. They talk about her motivation and experiences as she works towards a life with no waste. They acknowledge some of the challenges and explore opportunities.

In this episode Mike talks to Dr Jess Haines, Co-Director of the Guelph Family Health Study about new research on how families are being affected by the pandemic. Jess shares some new survey results on how family's routines have changed during the crisis. They talk about less exercise, more meal planning and preparation, more meals prepared as a family, shopping habits, and more. Jess also shares...

Have you ever wondered how restaurants might operate in the future? Will the COVID Pandemic accelerate or catalyze some of the changes? This is the second half of Mike's discussion with Bruce McAdams on restaurants and COVID. They talk about what restaurants might look like in a few years. They cover issues like delivery, specialization, labour, pricing and revenue management. A fundamental questi...

What will restaurants look like as they re-open after COVID-19 lockdowns? This episode is the first half of a conversation with my friend and colleague UofG's Bruce McAdams on restaurants and COVID. We talk about what we might expect in terms of our experience in restaurants and also some of the things that might not be as obvious to the average guest. The restaurant industry is hurting more than...

Flour has never been as cool. Temporary shortages coupled with a surge in baking as people are staying at home during the pandemic has brought flour into the mainstream. In this episode, Mike talks to Melissa McKeown who runs 1847 Milling, a micro miller in southwestern Ontario. They talk about starting and running a small farm based food business, competing against the giants, and some the challe...

In this episode Mike has a conversation with Dana McCauley about food innovation and trends and how they are changing given the COVID19 pandemic.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the agri-food system has experienced unprecedented demand shocks. Questions and concerns about Canadian food supply chains have been discussed as new food processing plant closures are announced. In this podcast episode we sat down with John Masswohl, member of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, to discuss the challenges present in the beef industry and how rip...

From farm to table, a new year typically presents new opportunities and challenges within the food system. Predicting these changes can allow us to better prepare for what may come. However, it is important to consider not only the consumer side of food, but also what may change in primary production. In this episode of the Food Focus Podcast we sat down with Len Kahn, President of Kahntact Market...

The food industry seems to be constantly evolving and adapting. This makes predicting future food trends difficult - but not impossible. Jo-Ann McArthur and her team at Nourish Food Marketing are experts on all things food and are up for the challenge. In their 2020 food trends report, they’ve taken a high level look at how our interactions with food are changing. In this episode, we sat down with...

In this series of episodes titled Talking to Farmers, our objective is to introduce listeners to farmers and give you insight into their lives and work. In this episode, we sat down with Emily den Haan, a dairy farmer who manages Haanview Farms operations. We cover everything from how Emily first got started in dairy farming to what she thinks the industry will look like in the future.

The food options we have available today are constantly evolving and expanding. As palettes and dietary restrictions change, food scientists and product developers are racing to keep up. Ben Carnevale, food scientist with Blendtek Ingredients, knows all about food product innovation and chances are good he’s been involved in bringing some of your favourite food products to the market. In this epis...

Cory van Groningen, farmer and politician, is one of four brothers currently operating VG Meats. VG Meats is a local, family-owned company that specializes in small herd, high care beef from production all the way through to retail. With their goal of producing the best beef in the world right here in Ontario, they are committed to taking the long way around in producing the highest quality produc...

For most, the idea of eating your family's beloved pet is unfathomable. However, when sitting down to a meal with meat, these thoughts and concerns disappear. Hal Herzog, one of the world’s leading anthrozoologists, has been investigating the complex relationships we hold with animals for several decades. In his recent book, “Some we love, some we hate, some we eat: why it’s so hard to think strai...

Good for you and good for the planet – are edible insects the next super food? Jarrod Goldin, co-founder of Entomo Farms, certainly thinks so. As the global leader in the cultivation of insect protein, Entomo Farms has a new solution to healthy and sustainable foods. In this episode, we sit down with Jarrod to learn more about how a cricket farm works and about the health and environmental benefit...

Second Harvest is building an efficient food recovery network with the joint mission of fuelling people and reducing the environmental impacts of avoidable food waste. Operating as a charity with a business mindset, they are serious about achieving their vision of no waste, no hunger in Canada. In this episode we sit down with Lori Nikkel, CEO of Second Harvest, to learn more about where they star...

Much to carnivores’ disappointment, nutritional research has long suggested a link between increased red meat consumption and elevated cancer and heart disease risk. This was the status quo until recently when a team of researchers released a controversial study suggesting this link may not be as strong as was once believed. Cue debate among researchers and widespread consumer confusion and frustr...

In today’s society, we often hear polarized opinions on the use of biotechnology in food, even among small circles of people. But why has this become such a contentious, often emotional, issue? In this episode, we sit down with Kevin Folta, Professor in the Department of Horticulture Sciences at the University of Florida to discuss how the conversation around biotechnology evolved to be what it is...

'Raised without antibiotics', 'Hormone-free'… Have you ever wondered what these claims might mean for your health or for the health of farm animals? In this episode, we sit down with Steven Roche and Dan Shock from ACER consulting and address some of the confusion around antibiotic resistance. We discuss how and when antibiotics are used in agriculture, what that means for humans and how we can mi...

For a variety of business and personal reasons, Darcy MacDonell decided to only open his restaurant The Farmhouse Tavern four days a week. This business model has yielded impressive results benefiting all involved in the restaurant from staff and proprietor to guests and the environment. In this podcast episode we discuss his restaurant, business practices and how the restaurant industry is changi...

What are some of the misconceptions people have about vegans? Turns out, there are many. It's not all about quinoa and avocadoes for the group of 6 vegans we interviewed in this podcast episode. As a follow-up to our previous Talking to Vegans podcast, in this episode we discuss the affordability of veganism, the nature of sacrifice and whether or not you can be a part-time vegan. Transcript avail...

People often think of vegans as a caricature. However, even among this group with similarly stricter diets than the average, there is a great deal of diversity. In order to better understand some of these different perspectives, I sat down with a group of 6 vegans to have a non-confrontational conversation about what it means to be vegan. Tune in to our first of two episodes titled "Talking to Veg...

“Why don’t they get it?” is a question we often hear among the scientific community when speculating about consumers’ hesitancy to accept new scientific developments. However, the manner in which the general public interacts with evidence is not necessarily the way scientists think they do – which complicates matters. In this episode we sit down with Maya Goldenberg, associate professor at the Uni...

Ned Bell is a long time sustainable seafood ambassador and is the Ocean Wise Executive Chef based at the Vancouver Aquarium. Calling his cooking "globally inspired and locally created", Ned is passionate about encouraging diverse, local diets - which of course involve seafood. In this episode he encourages us to think more about what we eat and why we select certain foods. Transcript available her...

Join us in this unconventional episode where the Food Focus team engages in our first ever “Taste Test”. Listen along as we compare common food products for which there are conventional and premium product options. Can we tell the difference between organic tortilla chips and conventional ones? Does a higher price mean improved value and taste? Tune in to find out as we continue to broaden our lea...