Manitoba association pitches CentrePort for national food terminal

A Manitoba association is vying for federal dollars to build a major food terminal as Ottawa unrolls its national food security strategy.

Michael Mikulak, head of industry advocate group Food & Beverage Manitoba, said he’s in talks with several federal departments.

He’s envisioning a 120,000-square-foot site at CentrePort Canada, the trimodal inland port spanning parts of Winnipeg and the Rural Municipality of Rosser.

About 15,000 sq. ft. would become a production-focused commercial kitchen for Manitoba companies to rent as they grow. A warehouse to store and distribute food — from Manitoba and elsewhere — would consume most of the building, Mikulak said.

‘Part of the neighbourhood’s history’: Minto staple B.C. Grocery shutters

Gary Achtemichuk stopped at his favourite Winnipeg corner store for relish.

Unlike similar trips over the last four decades, he left with a surprise: B.C. Grocery, a Minto neighbourhood staple, was closing its doors.

Owner Lechman Parboji officially shuttered the shop Monday after 42 years at its helm. On Wednesday, movers hauled equipment out, making room for a new three-bedroom apartment suite — one the Parboji family intends to use, at least initially.

“The whole neighbourhood is going to miss him,” Achtemichuk said. “He was the friendliest gentleman you’d ever want to talk to.”

Canada’s first drive-thru-only McDonald’s opens in Winnipeg

One Grimace and dozens of smiles were on display Wednesday as McDonald’s staff and supporters celebrated the grand opening of the fast-food chain’s first drive-thru-only restaurant in Canada.

Chefs gather in St. Boniface to see whose version of jollof is best

Chef Alex Bockarie is bringing an age-old African culinary battle to Winnipeg.

On Saturday, five local chefs hailing from Senegal, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Nigeria will go head-to-head to determine who makes the best jollof — a rice dish simmered in a savoury tomato-based stew.

“Jollof rice originated from Senegal but it has spread throughout West Africa and every country has its own method of cooking it,” Bockarie says. “It’s a long-standing fight; even among the communities here in Winnipeg, everybody’s always saying that Sierra Leone’s (jollof) is the best, Ghana’s is the best, Nigeria’s is the best.

“It’s a friendly competition; friendly, but very serious too.”

Schwartz’s Deli swaps black cherry soda for local alternative as U.S. tariffs bite

On a typical summer day at Schwartz’s Deli, in Montreal, there's a lineup at the door as tourists and locals wait to get their smoked-meat sandwich. But now, something has changed.

Local demand surges for Canadian-made food and household goods, but retailers lag

Food and household goods companies in Canada say they're seeing a surge in demand as Canadians prioritize shopping local amid the ongoing trade war, but they say some retailers are slow to give more shelf space to products from this country.

Despite the strain of higher prices at the grocery store, many shoppers are going out of their way to buy Canadian-made products, food and household goods, companies told The Canadian Press.

However, they say some retailers are slow to react to the shift in demand, leading to a rise in selling directly to consumers.

"We aren't really built for direct-to-customer sales but we're doing it because of the demand we're seeing," said Kathleen Chapman, president of aVenco Ltd., a Bowmanville, Ont.-based parchment paper company.

Village Green Bakery keeps focus on classic quality, kindness, fun in Victoria Beach

VICTORIA BEACH — They’re not carved into stone tablets — they’re reminders and not commandments, after all — but behind one of the display cases at Village Green Bakery is a laminated sheet of letter-size paper with a list of statements outlining how owner Jen Leslie wants staffers to approach their work.

Fittingly, there’s a baker’s dozen of them.

One is aimed specifically at a stoic teen who’s worked at the bakery since it opened in summer 2022 — “Smile, Brody,” it says — while the other 12 are meant for all 17 employees at the seasonal business, which is open annually from May long weekend until Thanksgiving.

“Smile and enjoy the ride,” is the first reminder, followed by, “The summer is short, so make it a good one,” “always take the high road” and “you are awesome.”

Advocate assembles gift bundles for Trans Day of Remembrance

In a world rife with chaos and division, there’s never been a better time for kindness, joy… and a cookie.

Kalyn Falk is on a mission to provide all three.

Falk founded the Trans Day of Remembrance Care Package Project in 2020 as a way to mourn those lost and to ensure that trans and non-binary people in the community feel valued, seen and cared for.

Trans Day of Remembrance is observed every year on Nov. 20 to honour the memory of transgender, two-spirit and non-binary people who lost their lives to acts of anti-transgender violence and systemic oppression.

Beware invasive, ‘frightening’ waterhemp

There’s a threat lurking on the edge of Manitoba farmers’ fields this fall that’s even scarier than the escalating trade war with their biggest customer.

Provincial extension advisers are warning farmers to watch for a weed known as “tall waterhemp,” which, true to its name, may already be towering above ready-to-harvest crops.

Those wispy tentacles waving in the breeze look pretty innocuous from a distance. But this highly invasive member of the pigweed family produces hundreds of thousands of seeds that are just itching for dispersal through farmers’ combines and across their fields.

Each of those tiny seeds — one small pill container filled halfway holds 44,000 — can produce plants with stems the width of saplings and heights of two to five metres. One or two plants can quickly turn into a patch. If waterhemp takes over a field, it can choke out the growing crop and cut yields by more than 90 per cent.

Province announces phys-ed curriculum overhaul

Manitoba is overhauling phys-ed class and requiring all high school students to regularly work up a sweat on school grounds to graduate.

Premier Wab Kinew announced on Thursday that a new curriculum is being piloted across the kindergarten to Grade 12 system this fall.

Changes to phys-ed and health education — which apply to all grades, but Grade 11 and 12 students, in particular — will ensure these mandatory subjects are delivered entirely in-person, starting in the 2028-29 school year.

The policy is called “Every Body, Every Day.”

New Skyline: revolving restaurant to reopen atop Fort Garry Place

Come fall, people will once again have the chance to dine more than two dozen storeys above Winnipeg’s downtown.

Alfonso Maury, former owner of Corrientes Argentine Pizzeria, is preparing to reopen the revolving restaurant on the 30th floor of Fort Garry Place. The venue, which has sat empty for the past six years, offers a panoramic view of the city.

Maury is aiming to open Dos Pampas Skyline Restaurant at the beginning of October. He plans to hire around 20 employees, who will prepare and serve an Argentinian-inspired menu he is currently putting together with head chef Norm Pastorin.

Dos Pampas will include seating for 120 customers, Maury said. Additionally, the restaurant will feature a lounge with couches and short tables where guests who have finished their meal but who aren’t ready to leave can enjoy dessert or another drink.

Try these veggie burger options around Winnipeg

This summer, a quest to discover Winnipeg’s finest veggie burgers unveiled a surprising array of creative and delicious options. From the structural integrity of buns to thoughtful toppings, the article explores standout local eateries, each offering unique takes on plant-based patties that are as flavorful as they are engaging.

Lucky Charms and Trix go au naturel as General Mills ditches artificial colors

General Mills said Wednesday it has removed artificial colors from all its U.S. cereals, including Lucky Charms and Trix.

The Minneapolis company has shifted to fruit- and vegetable-based dyes as well as colors derived from spices like turmeric and paprika to give its cereals their customary bright colors.

“This achievement reflects how we are evolving with consumer needs while continuing to offer food that tastes great, delivers quality and provides value,” said Bethany Quam, General Mills’ president of cereal, in a statement.

General Mills said 90% of its U.S. retail products are now free of artificial dyes. Products that still contain artificial colors, like some Betty Crocker cake mixes and Fruit Roll-Ups, will transition to natural dyes by the end of 2027, the company said.

Buy Canadian: Purchasing patriotism sees renewed push amid rising tariffs

Buy Canadian sentiment is seeing a resurgence across the country as backlash to U.S. tariffs grows.

Consumers eager to support local products and businesses are swapping shopping tips and resources online as some retailers renew labelling of tariffed or homegrown goods in stores.

The Canada List, a website that ranks thousands of products sold in Canada based on their contribution to the Canadian economy, has seen a dramatic rise in traffic in recent days, founder Matthew Shane said in an interview Wednesday.

"My back-of-the-envelope calculation is daily traffic is actually up 10,000 per cent since Friday," Shane said, adding thousands of people are signing up for the newsletter daily. "It's a strong indication that the Canadian public is increasingly engaged in these trade tensions."

Grocers revive signage to indicate tariff-affected items, Canadian products

Canadian grocers are adding more signage to highlight homegrown products as trade tensions escalate between Canada and the United States.

Loblaw says it is bringing back the T symbols to its grocery shelf labels to signal products that have seen price increases due to tariffs, replicating its response from last year when the tariff war first began.

Customers will start noticing the T symbols on a small number of products, which will grow as tariffs are applied across more categories, Loblaw chief executive Per Bank wrote in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday.

"And one commitment is especially important: Loblaw will not benefit from tariffs," he said.

Arts & Life team taste-tests new Kraft concoction

Prepare your tongue for the ultimate thrill, as Kraft Dinner has once again veered wildly out of its box and into new territory.

Earth is simmering in its hottest water temps on record, and that’s bad for fish and us

The world's oceans simmered to their hottest temperatures on record over the weekend and are likely to warm even further in the next few months, putting stress on life in the water and on land too, the European climate service Copernicus announced Monday.

Spurred by a still growing but already supersized natural El Nino and human-caused climate change, the world's ocean temperatures hit 21.1 degrees Celsius (70 degrees Fahrenheit) on Friday and Saturday, narrowly edging out the average daily record set in March 2024, said Samantha Burgess, strategic climate lead for Copernicus.

“This is yet another sign of our climate system under strain and the ocean under immense pressure,” Burgess said.

Jane Lubchenco, an oceanographer and former chief of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration called the record “very troubling.”

Cool spots for more summer sweets

You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream. Missed seeing your favourite ice cream joint in last month’s Chill Out feature? Cheer up: we’ve compiled our reader suggestions.

‘How can we grow back the herd in Canada?’

Amid high beef prices and trade uncertainty, a Farm Credit Canada executive touched down in Winnipeg with a message: it’s time for cattle producers to grow.

“What they face right now is … opportunity,” said Jean-Philippe Gervais, the federal Crown corporation’s executive vice-president of agricultural production.

Gervais was representing FCC, the country’s top agricultural lender, at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference.

He spoke to the Free Press ahead of his keynote speech Thursday afternoon. Hundreds of cattle farmers and industry leaders gathered at the RBC Convention Centre for the four-day event, which began on Monday.

Texas barbecue is getting a halal makeover

FORT WORTH, Texas (RNS) — At 9 a.m. on a scorching Saturday in June, nearly 100 people were already lined up outside Goldee’s BBQ, a small, wooden-shack restaurant.

First in line was 30-year-old Thanh Huynh, who had been sitting in a lawn chair on the joint’s rustic porch since 6:30 a.m.

“I have, like, a whole list, and I’m going to spend lots of money here. It’ll be worth it,” he said, laughing while rattling off a long order of meats and sides from his phone’s Notes app as a sweet, smoky scent from nearby pits hung in the air.

Opened in 2020 by a group of his friends, the restaurant was named the No. 1 barbecue spot in the state by Texas Monthly a year later, and then won a Bib Gourmand award from the prestigious Michelin Guide, given for “great food at a great value.”

Somalia faces another hunger crisis and the UN food agency head says it has far less funds to help

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Six million people in Somalia are facing acute food insecurity while the World Food Program has only a tenth of the resources it had in 2022 when it helped avert famine in the drought- and conflict-stricken East African nation, the head of the U.N. agency told The Associated Press.

“We can only do the bare minimum,” WFP acting executive director Carl Skau said Wednesday during a visit to a nutrition center on the outskirts of the capital, Mogadishu. “We’re only providing these nutrition supplies to the children that are really the worst hit.”

The reduced funds, because of cuts in international aid by donors and the redirection of resources to other humanitarian crises, meant that the WFP is unable to expand its assistance in Somalia, Skau said.

Millions of people at risk but far less aid

Planned Elmwood Hub project combines 115 mixed-income housing units, social supports, programs

A long-awaited project will aim to add 115 new homes in Elmwood, with on-site social programs to support some of its more vulnerable residents.

New Bannatyne eatery brings feast of Asian flavours

Matriarchal influences run deep at House of Ma Kitchen and Bar.

Executive chef Dom Merano took inspiration from his mom’s home cooking while developing the menu for the new Exchange District restaurant — specifically Cynthia Merano’s recipes for lumpia (Filipino spring rolls) and kare-kare (braised beef and peanut stew).

“It tastes like home,” Merano says of the dishes, adding that his mom “felt honoured to be able to share her cooking with people. She was actually here prior to opening helping me roll lumpia.”

Cynthia’s photo is hung among the “Wall of Mas” at the back of the restaurant, where the mothers and grandmothers of True Hospitality staff are given pride of place.

MamiMarkets connecting ethnic food vendors, customers

A West African soup recipe and a fruitless search for ingredients led to a business opportunity for two Manitoba entrepreneurs.