Tag Archives: Galen Weston

#FS2012 Canadian Food Summit in Tweets

Posted by Diana in Uncategorized and tagged with , , , , ,

My summary of the Canadian Food Summit 2012 in tweets:

  • The line-up for #FS2012 is insane! Hope this means it’s going to be a good conference.
  • Loads of food for breakfast at #FS2012 but no fruit or yoghurt! A little disappointing. Obviously not organized by dietitians.
  • Galen Weston on farmers’ markets: “someday they’re going to kill people.” Side note: Maple Leaf Foods is one of the #FS2012 sponsors.
  • Interesting dynamic when a conference has food industry, farmers, public health, non-profit…
  • Go Nick Saul from @TheStopCFC asking Galen Weston about the true cost breakdown of food!
  • Butter at the highest end of food prices.
  • Great presentation by Kim Raine at #FS2012 – they should’ve switched it so the food industry ppl were forced to attend.
  • MQ: the costs of junk food are hidden/forestalled as the costs to healthcare down the line @bittman #amen
  • Just had a vision of sugary foods and beverages being sold by dealers on the street like crack.
  • And then there was coca cola and ice cream sandwiches. Apparently we’re not planning on leading by example.
  • Large scale agriculture is the only way forward in Canadian food industry according to Michael McCain. #ignorance
  • If by “enjoy” you mean feeling frustrated and enraged, then yes, absolutely enjoying this ;)
  • No fresh fruit at break but we did have this lovely display of plastic veg.
  • Looking forward to this debate with @bittman and @thelocavore!
  • In case you were wondering: there’s about 8 mg vitamin C in a small McDonald’s fries and in an apple. More to it than that though.
  • Excellent passionate and rational argument by @thelocavore – take notes @bittman!
  • Hey Rob: supermarkets and farmers’ markets aren’t diametrically opposed. You can buy local food at the supermarket.
  • Also, farmers’ markets aren’t novelties for everyone. I know loads of people who do the bulk of their shopping at them.
  • Interesting that there’s been no discussion about Community Supported Agriculture.
  • Great first day at #FS2012 – nice to make so many new twitter friends. Looking forward to tomorrow (but first sleep!).
  • So Canada is 3rd (behind Australia & Chile) with a rating of -1.5; therefore, at low risk for food insecurity. What does this mean?
  • Consumer food security will be assured as long as producers make money.
  • New Moo Moo Bar. 1.5″ long and 3 g saturated fat, 11 g sugar.
  • I learned a lesson from yesterday and brought a banana with me for breakfast. Not even fruit centre pieces today.
  • “Get a government that cares!” – @scotfoodjames
  • Disappointed by @scotfoodjames commenting that “fat tax” is bad because we should take personal responsibility.
  • Ralph Martin at #FS2012 suggests we consider having a Ministry of Food and bringing home economics back to schools. Yes! And YES!!
  • @scotfoodjames I agree that taxation isn’t the answer but not bc we can take personal responsibility. We need to change our food environment.
  • @scotfoodjames education is one piece but not enough. Healthy choices need to be easier to make.
  • Excellent presentation by Nick Saul from @TheStopCFC! Yes to Ministry of Food, yes to National School Nutrition Program!
  • I like that Nick Saul pointed out that we need to be involved in food policy not just as consumers but as citizens.
  • Just had lunch with a gentleman from the CFIA. Keep an eye out for up coming food labelling public consultations.
  • Unfortunate that #FS2012 ended on such an uninspiring mote. Overall an interesting couple of days though.

Galen Weston doesn’t care about small farmers

Posted by Diana in Uncategorized and tagged with , , , , , , ,

As you may have heard, Galen Weston really put his foot in it at the Canadian Food Summit 2012 yesterday. He made an off-the-cuff comment about how some day farmers’ markets are going to kill people. Naturally, that enraged many farmers in the room and others of us who support local food and community food security. I found it especially ironic as Maple Leaf Foods was one of the conference sponsors. Sure, people might get food poisoning from foods sold at a farmers market but that’s going to have a far less widespread effect than an outbreak in a food distributed by a national supermarket chain. Moving on…

Another thing that Galen mentioned was that Canada could become the world’s leading producer of pulses if we undertake a strategy like that of Brazil in cornering the orange market. I like that he recognized that we’re a major producer of pulses. I also like that pulses are an affordable and nutritious food; a high-fibre, low-fat meat alternative. However, I’m concerned about putting all of our eggs (or legumes/pulses) in one basket. Do we really want to be financially dependent on one crop? Personally, I think it’s better to diversify. Mixed farms are far more sustainable and efficient than large scale mono-crop farms. Growing one type of food is not the answer to Canada’s agricultural industry.