VANCOUVER - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed this week that the nation has met World Health Organization standards to achieve “disease-free” status for avian influenza, or bird flu. Read more…

VANCOUVER - Thousands of dead Coho salmon fry are floating around in a “toxic soup” after a chemical spill in Port Coquitlam’s Hyde Creek.

Two officers from Environment Canada are currently on scene trying to identify the chemicals in the creek and track their origin. Read more…

VANCOUVER - One of the world’s leading voices on the intersection of food systems theory and the art of just enjoying a damn good meal will be in Vancouver Saturday.

At a fundraiser to preserve the UBC Farm, Michael Pollan, author of bestsellers The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food, will sign books and elaborate upon his manifesto for eating: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants”. Read more…

VANCOUVER - Lovers of swordfish, orange roughy or farmed salmon, beware: Greenpeace is planning to take its fight for sustainable fishing to grocery stores across Canada in the next few weeks.

"There have been a lot of good intentions, a lot of commitments, but this has not really translated to changes in the store, and it has certainly not trickled back to changes on the water," said Sarah King, a Greenpeace oceans campaigner. Read more…

A new report suggests the number of people relying on food banks nationwide could be set to increase dramatically unless there are significant changes to the current welfare system.

“First and foremost, the provinces must shift from welfare policies based on distrust of welfare recipients (with provinces essentially setting up rules that punish them), to one that responds to the needs of people,” according to the study. Read more…

The British Columbia Institute of Agrologists has stayed an ethics complaint against Wendy Holm, a member and farm scientist who spoke out about the “muzzling” of a colleague.

“I'm relieved it's over,” said Holm. Read more…

If Stephen Harper is “The Tim Hortons Prime Minister”, then it's really too bad Conservative candidate Troy DeSouza failed to join him in Ottawa.

DeSouza declared election expenses from 13 visits to Tim Hortons, but his expenses covered more than the PM's favourite source of deep fried dough. His declaration filed with Elections Canada includes the following: Read more…

David Basi appeared in B.C. Supreme Court today in Victoria for what was marked on the court registry as the “continuation of a trial or a hearing.”

“We look forward to the trial of this matter,” said Basi's lawyer Michael Bolton after the hearing. Read more…

Vancouver City Council has voted to allow residents to keep backyard chickens. But across the Pacific, Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, is moving in the opposite direction. Read more…

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced today that it had found another Fraser Valley poultry farm hit by avian influenza. Read more…

Biologist Alexandra Morton wins longstanding court case -- feds, not province will regulate fish farms, B.C. Supreme Court rules. Read more…

Compassion clubs and other medical marijuana distributors should have restrictions on them lifted, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled yesterday.

To the delight of a packed courtroom in Vancouver, Justice Marvyn Koenigsberg said federal regulations that limit people's access to medicinal cannabis are "constitutionally invalid" and gave the government a year to amend the rules. Read more…

After a sluggish weekend response to the bird flu outbreak in Abbotsford, the provincial and federal governments looked a little more alert by Monday night. Read more…

A still-unidentified strain of bird flu has been found on an Abbotsford turkey farm. It’s not the first time, but it could be the most serious outbreak since the mass culling of 17 million Fraser Valley birds in 2004. Read more…

Unless a new buyer can be found soon, the owner of the iconic Save-on-Meats on East Hastings says the store may shut down in March. Read more…

A farm scientist under attack from her professional organization has hired a high-powered lawyer while her supporters are raising money to defend her and other agrologists.

Last month Wendy Holm became the subject of a B.C. Institute of Agrologists ethics complaint after she spoke to the Tyee about the “muzzling” of one of her colleagues. Holm has hired Joseph Arvay, a lawyer known for his civil and human rights work, to represent her.

Meanwhile members of the Farmland Defence League are preparing to raise money to defend Holm and other agrologists, said organizer Herb Barbolet.

“It's just ludicrous and highly offensive to anyone who believes in justice and democracy,” said Barbolet. “It's much akin to a SLAPP suit. It's shutting down what should be a transparent and open process.” Read more…

For a few years now, Europeans have been capturing the power of cow poop -- and soon Lower Mainland residents may be able to do the same by purchasing manure-derived methane instead of natural gas to heat their homes and water. Read more…

Ensuring that agricultural land is available – and putting farmers on it -- are prerequisites to a local food system, but such a system isn't sustainable if farmers can't afford to stay in business, said panelists at a Metro Vancouver agriculture discussion yesterday. Read more…

Professionals should be prepared to defend their work and opinions in public, said the mayor of the city at the centre of a conflict among farm scientists.

“I believe in openness and transparency,” said Delta mayor Lois Jackson. “When I'm criticized it's on page one of the paper.” Read more…

A farm scientist who told the Tyee last week that she and her colleagues are being “muzzled” from speaking about issues of public interest now herself faces an ethics complaint from a colleague.

Wendy Holm, a past president of the B.C. Institute of Agrologists, said Bob Holtby told her by e-mail he has made a complaint to the institute's conduct and discipline committee about her comments to the Tyee. Holtby chairs that committee, but told Holm he will step aside for an acting chair to be appointed while his complaint is heard.

“I find her characterization of my work and my role as chair as being unprofessional,” said Holtby. “That's the nature of the complaint.” Read more…