Canadian Horticultural Council

Every year, hundreds of International Farm Workers arrive in Canada to work in greenhouses and on farms. International Farm Workers are essential to the farming industry and our local economy, and without their help there would be no Canadian fruit and vegetable production. On Canadian farms, both international and domestic workers are working hard to ensure our food supply remains stable. While over half of Canadian fruit and vegetable farm employees are domestic, for decades, Canadian produce has made its way to your home thanks to the invaluable help of international farm workers. To learn more about these workers, we invite you to watch and share Heartbeat A Celebration of International Farm Workers at https://www.hortcouncil.ca/en/heartbeat/

The latest round of fees introduced by large grocery retailers on their suppliers has attracted coverage in the news media over the past week. This is occurring at a time when farmers and food and beverage processors are already facing a complex web of arbitrary fees and penalties in their relationships with large grocery retailers, in addition to managing the on-going impact of Covid-19 on Canada’s food system. We call on the federal and provincial governments to implement a code of practice in Canada to check this arbitrary conduct from large grocery retailers, review all current fees, penalties, and after sale deductions, and to protect Canada’s agri-food sectors.

International workers play an important role in the economies where they work, but this year, with less international workers in Canada and with workers taking extra precautions to make less trips away from farms, Simcoe, ON, merchants have noticed a difference

Updated Food Recall Warning (Salmonella) Red, yellow, white, and sweet yellow onions grown by Thomson International Inc. and imported from the USA Distribution British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Northwest Territories, Yukon, and possibly national. Recalling firm Industry

The Public Health Agency of Canada is advising people in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario to throw away red onions that came from the U.S. and food products that may have been made with these onions due to a risk of salmonella

We've heard plenty over the past two months about farm workers coming down with COVID-19, but some operations have been able to keep the virus away. Host Tony Doucette speaks with Michael Del Ciancio, the general manager of a greenhouse in Ruthven, where all staff have been tested - and tested negative.