Food Policy meeting?!?

Many people,have long thought a National Food policy is critical to and for this country's future.

Before the blow-up of the economy, stock markets, global business and bank failures, not too many people were even interested in the idea. Our current government is NOT looking at the issue at all. But in the 'new world' that some economists and citizens, think may be the future, such a concept had better be on the table.

For one thing, if the food processing sector is one of the largest employers in Canada, not too many people are paying attention to THAT salient fact. It would seem that we should be ensuring our plants and processors are not for sale. Look what happened to one of the few remaining fruit & vegetable processors, once it's ownership was secured by an American company. They raided the brands and closed it down.

It looks as if the Liberals are moving forward on the idea of a National Food Policy.

Experts discuss food policy

April 15, 2009

Rob O'Flanagan Mercury Staff
GUELPH

The complexities of developing a national food policy in this country were made clear during a Liberal Food Caucus discussion in Guelph yesterday. see more at :http://delicious.com/dariblawg

I just hope agriculture is paying attention here. Dairy organizations should really be paying attention as this is exactly what some of them have been advocating for a long time. - CG

Calcium Confusion - Health Canada vs Research

This morning on Canada AM, Dr. Shapiro gave calcium a boost. But this was not just any boost. She commented twice that the preferred source and her preferred source of calcium was food, ie) dairy products. WOW!!! See the whole video clip here.

So I went hunting. The rest of this posting tries to make sense of some of what I found.

I also found the print article at CTV which is much more cautious. The good Doctor also talks about 3 servings of dairy. Hmm I think the last rewrite of the Food Guide (Dairiblawg 2006) blew that one out of the water. She goes further and quotes the necessary grams as 1500 per day!

Well, those of us in dairy land who have been paying attention knew that one too, just another reason to blast the Canada Food Guide and the bureaucrats who wrote it!!! I am getting very tired of Health Canada and the simple things they do not do for our health.

In fact I believe it is time some of us reminded the media that Health Canada may have some really serious problems, the least of which is inaccurate dietary advice!!!! What do ordinary Canadians do now?

Other articles link the same study which was written up in the Archive of Internal Medicine. I found another good one at CBC.

While I was there I also found disparaging and very negative remarks by the Nutrition Sleuth! I also spent some time trying to find this person or group. There were some interesting comments on the site as well. One that that still thinks milk may contain rBST (Bovine somatotropin)!!!

Holy cow!!! This just goes to show that farmers and their organizations can never rest when it comes to trying to educate the public. I think they need to farther and take on Health Canada and at the same time keep the public informed about the battle.

One just has to wonder if Candaians are doomed to a litany of deficiency related diseases that our governement should be taking the lead on? -cg

Internet trolling-Guess What??

I have had no time lately for poor old dairiblawg. To be fair though, there were a lot of really wild and unexpected things happening out there at the same time. The McCain's food fiasco, a possible 'coalition' government, economic collapse, the presidential elections .......

So today, I thought I'd troll around on the Internet. Sometimes really good stuff shows up and sometimes not.

Today I hit a bit of pay dirt. Terence Corcoran: The dairy farmers' annual price heist was not unexpected and I'm sure the dairy farmers and their organizations have seem this article, however, I was surprised to see all the anti articles listed so nicely on the Financial Post pages.

I went trolling some more and came up with: Keeping Canada's food safe from the Guelph Mercury and the thought provoking : How Safe is Our Food Supply? by P.J. Wade.

And if anyone from the food or farming sectors think Canadians or the Media have forgotten about the listeria outbreak, check out: What's next for food supply after deadly outbreak? from CTV.

And to round out your reading pleasure : The End of Food from the CBC.

Just goes to show you that vigilance is required to stay on top of the many, many issues that can have a detrimental impact on us, our food systems and our country. Have a great day!- cg

National Food Policy

Liberals launch consultations on food safety

OTTAWA - The Liberal opposition announced today the beginning of a nation-wide consultative process to establish a comprehensive national food policy designed to protect the health of Canadians, Liberal Health Critic Carolyn Bennett and Liberal Agriculture Critic Wayne Easter said today.

“As we search for solutions to shore up our economic health, we must remember that health and social safety nets are essential ingredients to boosting the economy,” said Dr. Bennett. “Stephen Harper may have locked the doors on Parliament but the Liberal Party is continuing to work for Canadians.”

“Canadians are expecting us to work together to deliver a stimulus package that boosts the economy, creates jobs, and improves our social safety net. A comprehensive food policy for Canada is one way that we can improve our economic and social health,” added Mr. Easter.

In addition to Dr. Bennett and Mr. Easter, Associate Health Critic Kirsty Duncan and fellow MPs Brian Murphy, Lise Zarac, Anita Neville and Mike Savage will be instrumental in the consultative process.Liberal MPs and past candidates will be traveling the country in January speaking to Canadians and seeking input on various aspects of a comprehensive food policy, including:

the global forces of food security;
ecological threats to food security;
food production/distribution;
food safety and public health; and
food security and poverty.

“If we fail to include health and social issues in a stimulus package, we are destined to come up short in our attempt to help" said Dr. Duncan.

You have to give Mr. Easter credit for continuing to battle for what is best for Farmers and Canadians. It looks like he is getting more support for these ideas. Farmers and consumers need to be part of this process.-CG

Another Remembrance Day

For Dad - citygirl

Someone IS paying attention....

While researching for more material on the listeria outbreaks in Canada, I ran across an interesting Blog site on the topic. It is called : Marler Blog

In it he has many American articles but he also details outbreaks from Canada, as well. There are other links from the site to many,many other blogs and webs that discuss this issue in detail.

Food processors and producers need to pay attention here, this fellow is a LAWYER. Litigation over due diligence and plant and processing standards, regardless of the size of the processor (here I am thinking of those 'on farm' plants) is rampant. The media isn't talking bout this either.

Go and check it out.

Food Safety Disaster

When I last wrote in Dairiblawg , the article that set me off had been buried deep in the back of newspapers. Changes to CFIA, the 5% cut in budget, etc, etc. Even though in my bones I felt this was the path to disaster, I didn't think we would see it happen so soon.

I have been reading and watching the news stories as the Maple Leaf Foods disaster, just keeps on growing. Worse, they are one of the few large plants left in Ontario to process pigs for farmers.

Again, consumers are probably shocked at how many brands were handled by that single plant. Our illusion of choice has disappeared and consumers are left wondering where to go.

I think they are flocking to farmers markets, and local butcher shops (if you have one) . Ontario better have its food safety guidelines and inspections up to snuff. There are not enough small processors or local suppliers out there to keep us all in fresh food. Things could get darn interesting.

Massive modern, distributions systems for food like we have, are very efficient. They have brought us food for a ridiculously cheap price, nation-wide. But they can also be deadly, spreading disease or food borne illness across massive distances and numbers of people.

This was always the Achilles heel of the food industry. I guess we just have been darn lucky it hasn't happened sooner!!

******

Since I first started this post, Maple Leaf has finally come back on line, Quebec has had its own food safety issue, this time surrounding cheese and China has had several more food safety scandals surrounding illegal additives in baby formula and other products.

These days, when I go into my local butcher shop, I hear questions like, "Who does your processed meat?" Maple Leaf anyone?

I will be detailing more on this issue as it continues to dominate consumer thinking. The larger problem is that the media has not followed through on this topic. It comes and goes as food safety issues hit the headlines. No one has asked why we should accept this level of risk in our food system.

Consumers are quietly doing what they have always done. Finding other places to buy or source their food.