Insights and Stories of Dave Bedard

Jul. 31, 2009 at 6:08 pm CDT

An independent British review of organic foods compared to conventionally-grown foods has found “no important differences” in the nutritive content, or in any additional health benefits, for organics. The “data mining” study, carried out by researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and commissioned by the […]

By Dave Bedard

Jul. 27, 2009 at 3:23 pm CDT

The notion that the food traveling the shorter distance from gate to plate is the most environmentally friendly is being challenged in a new British study and in a Canadian policy paper. Cranfield University, based in Bedfordshire in the east of England, recently released a new comparative life-cycle assessment of […]

By Dave Bedard

Jul. 14, 2009 at 3:15 pm CDT

U.S. seed and ag chem firm Monsanto will take its first steps into wheat breeding by buying Montana wheat germplasm company WestBred for US$45 million. But the St. Louis-based buyer, clearly mindful of the furore over the plans for genetically-modified wheat that it scrapped in 2004, stresses that its immediate […]

By Dave Bedard

Jul. 14, 2009 at 12:17 am CDT

A pledge by most of Canada’s ag ministers last week for a mandatory, nationwide livestock traceability system by 2011 has left too much unanswered for Canada’s cattle producers or the Saskatchewan government to support. The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association on Monday rolled out a statement of disappointment, saying not much else […]

By Dave Bedard

Jul. 3, 2009 at 8:21 pm CDT

Argentina believes it’s home to the second suspected case of humans passing the pandemic H1N1 flu virus to hogs, according to the Reuters news agency. Reuters’ Helen Popper on Wednesday quoted an Argentine government spokesman as saying workers at a hog farm in Buenos Aires province are suspected to have […]

By Dave Bedard