Author: Owen Roberts

Lettuce fight the pandemic with chewing gum

Lowly lettuce never gets much mention when we talk about healthy eating. But that may be about to change. Scientists have grown lettuce with proteins that can neutralize the COVID-virus, and they’ve incorporated it into chewing gum. Could that mean this least-likely vegetable will rocket to the front of the pack, with a whole new importance? Image: nbcnews.com

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Rising costs need ministers’ attention now

Statistics Canada just released figures showing the Farm Product Price Index increased nearly 25 percent in September 2021, compared to the same month last year.
Canadian agriculture ministers have their work cut out for them to mitigate issues such as labour shortages and supply chain interruptions that are contributing to these runaway costs throughout the industry.

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Farmers angry about relentless consolidations and food prices

Consumer spending reaches a peak around the holidays, so although we spend more, we’re also increasingly conscious of money going out the door. We’re turning an eye towards food prices, and so are farmers. Their costs are skyrocketing, and they point the finger at the mega multinationals that now control food production supply chains, giving them fewer options to operate profitably. Image: nfu.org

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Publish your rural story in the people’s archive

Ontario’s rural residents have stories unique to living life ‘in the country’. Now there’s a chance to read and share those experiences in a new, online space called the People’s Archive of Rural Ontario, thanks to a University of Guelph professor and the Rural Ontario Institute. Image: ruralontario.org

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Urban Cowboy

Raising awareness and promoting dialogue about current food and agriculture issues.

OWEN ROBERTS

Headshot of Owen Roberts

Owen Roberts is a faculty member in the Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications program at the University of Illinois. As an agricultural journalist, he is the past president of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists and a lifetime achievement award recipient from the Canadian Farm Writers' Federation. His programs and research papers have been recognized nationally and internationally through awards from the Journal of Applied Communications, the National Agri-Marketing Association, the Association for Communications Excellence, and others.

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