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Local Food Claims: Canadian Food Inspection Agency

In the coming weeks, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will undertake an initiative to modernize its food labelling approach. The CFIA—with input from consumers, industry and other stakeholders—will conduct a review of food labelling regulations, guidelines and policies including claims such as use of the term "local".

In the interim, the CFIA is adopting an interim policy which recognizes "local" as:

food produced in the province or territory in which it is sold, or
food sold across provincial borders within 50 km of the originating province or territory

Local Agriculture

Irish potato famine pathogen identified

Scientists have used plant samples collected in the mid-19th Century to identify the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine.

A plant pest that causes potato blight spread to Ireland in 1845 triggering a famine that killed one million people.

[It is interesting to learn from this article that, "Phytophthora infestans - which causes potato blight - emerged in the US in 1844, and spread to Europe the following year."]

Local Agriculture

Heat-Trapping Gas Passes Milestone, Raising Fears

The level of the most important heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide, has passed a long-feared milestone, scientists reported Friday, reaching a concentration not seen on the earth for millions of years.

Climate Change

Terry Sprague lead tour of Moira Ridge Farm, Roslin

Terry Sprague of Nature Stuff led a tour of Moira Ridge Farms, Roslin, home of Cliff and Heather Maclean on May 19. You can see Terry Sprague and Barry Kant of Brighton's photos of this unique property.

Moira Ridge Farm, Roslin

Caring for Land

America's first climate refugees Newtok, Alaska is losing ground to the sea at a dangerous rate and for its residents, exile is inevitable.

Sabrina Warner keeps having the same nightmare: a huge wave rearing up out of the water and crashing over her home, forcing her to swim for her life with her toddler son.

"I dream about the water coming in," she said. The landscape in winter on the Bering Sea coast seems peaceful, the tidal wave of Warner's nightmare trapped by snow and several feet of ice. But the calm is deceptive. Spring break-up will soon restore the Ninglick River to its full violent force.

Climate Change

A Black Mound of Canadian Oil Waste Is Rising Over Detroit

Windsor, Ontario — Assumption Park gives residents of this city lovely views of the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit skyline. Lately they’ve been treated to another sight: a three-story pile of petroleum coke covering an entire city block on the other side of the Detroit River.

Climate Change

Forget pipelines – Canada must prepare for a post-carbon world

The expansion of oil-sands operations and various pipeline proposals to get bitumen to market have incraseingly been topics of conversation in Canada, from debates in the House of Commons to discussions around the dinner table. Much of the discussion has focused around tangible things that we can see – devastation of the Alberta landscape from surface mining operations, pollution of downstream rivers, the threat of pipeline spills, and the danger of accidents involving supertankers along the British Columbia coast.

Climate Change

Planning application submitted for largest UK rural Passivhaus scheme

Churchman’s rural masterplan for developer Archihaus has been submitted for planning in Herefordshire. The scheme is the UK’s largest Passivhaus housing scheme in a rural setting and constitutes the first stage in realising an ambitious vision to transform both the quality and the sustainability of developer housing in the UK.

Green Communities

Forum: Resilience to climate change

Guelph - Be creative, uncover social capital, protect farmland and support local agriculture. These tips were identified by agricultural and rural leaders at the 2013 Farmland Forum as key elements to building resilience to climate change and rising energy prices in rural Ontario.

Climate Change

Charles: 'Climate change sceptics are turning Earth into dying patient'

Heir to throne intervenes on issue dividing coalition, making outspoken criticism of attempts to tackle global warming

Prince Charles has attacked corporate lobbyists and climate change sceptics for turning the Earth into a "dying patient", making his most outspoken criticism yet of the world's failure to tackle global warming just when the heir to the throne is assuming a growing number of the duties of what is supposed to be an apolitical monarchy.

Climate Change

Sustainability

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