http://food.damours.net Food and Agriculture in the Maritimes, Canada and around the world Wed, 31 Dec 2008 05:54:22 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It is great to see that bigger is not always better. The story old-school hog farming stages a comeback, about Russ Kremer and the Ozark Mountain Pork co-operative, is a fabulous demonstration that quality and sustainable agriculture can succeed and overcome the mindset that bigger and "more efficient" is always ... http://food.damours.net/sustainable-hog-farming-stages-a-comeback Have you ever noticed that certain food items that you buy don't seem to last as long as before? This could be due to the practice known as short sizing. What is short sizing? The practice of short sizing consists of slightly reducing package sizes while keeping the prices near the ... http://food.damours.net/shinking-package-size-short-sizing In 2007, the Canadian government announced new regulatory changes with respect to cheese sold in Canada that may affect the quality, content and perhaps the price of cheese in your supermarket. Cheese labelling changes The changes are fairly minor but the updated law will require imposes compositional standards for cheeses.  In other ... http://food.damours.net/cheese-labelling-changes-in-canada New Brunswick Open Farm Day for 2008 has been scheduled for September 21st, 2008. Open Farm Day Every year in the fall, the NB Department of Agriculture and Aquaculture, along with the agricultural alliance of NB with support from the Sobey's supermarket chain have an Open Farm Day.  In the spirit of ... http://food.damours.net/new-brunswick-open-farm-day-2008 If you are looking for some lemon meringue pie or just about anything else that uses lemons, be prepared to have to hunt it down as you might have a hard time finding it.  You might want to get your wallet ready too as a shortage of lemons (and lemon ... http://food.damours.net/looking-for-some-lemon-merigue-pie In late July, the New Brunswick government announced a large funding initiative for the agricultural sector.  Totalling up to $850,000 the funds will be divided between several different programs in the following manner: Livestock genetic enhancement initiative - $300,000 Honeybee expansion initiative - $150,000 Apple development initiative - $100,000 Organic development initiative - $90,000 Strategic ... http://food.damours.net/nprovince-announces-850000-in-support-of-agriculture In April, the Hawaii Department of Agriculture started a three year pilot program which is attempting to trace and track produce (tomatoes in the pilot) using RFID tags.  The tags are not attached directly to the tomatoes but to the boxes in which the tomatoes are shipped from the farm. The ... http://food.damours.net/using-rfid-to-track-produce-from-farm-to-plate How much of the money that you spend at the grocery store ends up in the farmer's pockets? According to the article "Farmers' Share of Food Dollar" on Envirovore, not much.  The story claims that on average, 20% of every dollar goes to the farmer.  Obviously, the percentage will vary greatly ... http://food.damours.net/farmers-share-of-food-dollar Earlier this week, the provincial agriculture minister Ronald Ouellette and Fundy Royal MP Rob Moore announced an initiative directed at New Brunswick's orchards and vineyards.  Up to $772,680 ($309,000 provincial - $463,680 federal) will be made available to fruit tree and vineyard owners across the province who wish to transition ... http://food.damours.net/new-brunswick-orchards-and-vineyards-receive-investment-from-government The battle is brewing over chicken processing in New Brunswick. The Players In one corner is the long established Nadeau Maple Lodge (owned by Ontario based parent company Maple Lodge Farms) who currently operates New Brunswick's only chicken processing facility in the northern New Brunswick community of St. Francois de Madawaska. In the ... http://food.damours.net/fighting-over-chicken-processing-in-new-brunswick The tomato industry appears to be headed for some tough times after the recent rash of salmonella poisoning cases in the United States.  The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has linked the salmonella cases to certain raw tomatoes.  Tomato varieties which appear to be of concern are raw red ... http://food.damours.net/salmonella-and-the-tomato-industry This is a new blog dedicated to food and agriculture.  As the blog is based in Fredericton, New Brunswick the blog will cover some local and regional issues and stories.  The Food, Food, Food blog will also examine agriculture and food related issues across Canada and around the world. Some of ... http://food.damours.net/farms-farming-food