Canada's aggressive trade agenda has spawned much political, public and media discussion about the supply management system in place for certain agric...

If we value local food and want to maintain the critical benefits that nature provides, we must put food and water first. That's why we're calling on municipalities and provincial governments to redouble their efforts to protect our remaining farmland and green space from costly, polluting urban sprawl.

A billion tonnes of limestone lie beneath the rural countryside in Melancthon Township, 100 kilometres north of Toronto. A plan to remove it spotlights the challenges faced everywhere when the desire to protect valuable and ever-diminishing farmland clashes with efforts to push industrial development.

Many of the 1,200 known species of bats are in trouble. And we humans deserve much of the blame. A bat can eat more than 1,000 insects in an hour, and without the services of bats, the agave plant, from which we get tequila, might not survive. So, if you like tequila but not mosquito bites, you should view bats as your friends.

Why do we object so vigorously to what these poor animals experienced, yet accept that had they not escaped from the trailer, the steers would have be slaughtered for food just hours later? The only difference is, we don't bear witness to these conditions -- the suffering goes on behind closed doors.

Although advances in modern agriculture have brought millions of hectares of once-unsuitable scrub land into food production, the environmental consequences of our growing "foodprint" have been severe.

John Duffy (L): As the Canadian Press reported, Ms. Horwath is "standing behind a candidate who is coming under fire from the other parties for comments he made about religion and Nazis." We don't know how much quality control went into the NDP's candidate selection process, but one imagines we're going to find out in the days ahead.

In its campaign against the Canadian Wheat Board's single desk system, the Conservative government has invoked the language of "choice," framing its intentions in terms of expanding farmers' options for marketing their produce. State intervention that forcibly undermines the CWB will accomplish exactly the opposite.

David Arap Kilel nearly stumbles up the hill of his slanted farm in pinstripe pants tucked into knee-high gum boots, wet despite the neighbouring dry fields. "I'm the first home in my community with irrigation!" he shouts breathlessly, waving calloused hands.

For 32 years, my family has looked forward to our annual trip toward the Okanagan Valley to pick cherries. Now, much of that land has been converted to accommodate big houses. We have to make sure we don't sacrifice the very things that made a community attractive in the first place.

THE CANADIAN PRESS -- MONTREAL - What salary would you expect to pay a force of internationally diverse workers who toil harmoniously -- without pensi...

THE CANADIAN PRESS -- OTTAWA - South Korea says it has decided to resume imports of Canadian beef, lifting an eight-year ban imposed over fears of mad...