Marc Fawcett-Atkinson
Journalist | Vancouver |
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About Marc Fawcett-Atkinson
Marc Fawcett-Atkinson is a reporter and writer covering food systems, climate, disinformation, and plastics and the environment for Canada’s National Observer.
His ongoing investigations of the plastic industry in Canada won him a Webster Award's nomination in environmental reporting in 2021. He was also a nominee for a Canadian Association of Journalists's award for his reporting on disinformation.
Marc has previously written for High Country News, the Literary Review of Canada, and other publications on topics exploring relationships between people and their social and physical environments.
He holds an M.A. in journalism from the University of British Columbia and a B.A. in Human Ecology from the College of the Atlantic.
Canada's seed system is complicated. Does it need an update?
“Farmers are the ultimate stakeholders when it comes to food systems,” Aabir Dey said. “They assume virtually all the risk when it comes to putting food on our table. They do the majority of the work. They’re the most impacted by all kinds of decisions related to agriculture. To exclude them from all of the essential production processes of agriculture just doesn’t make sense.”
Supersize chicken: A good idea?
Stephanie Torrey sometimes designs obstacle courses. Obstacle courses for chickens. The avian games were part of a recent study co-led by Torrey, an assistant professor of animal science at the University of Guelph, that found making chickens grow slower was better for their well-being — but came at a high cost.
What's on your plate could make the difference in climate crisis
Food can stop climate change. Sort of. The path of food from farm to fork and beyond is responsible for between 21 and 37 per cent of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
Food — from farm to fork and beyond — may be key to Paris goals, UN says
Food is cheap. So cheap, it’s hurting the planet. Food systems — the paths meals take from farm to fork and beyond — are among the largest anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs). They don’t need to be: A report published last week found changing how we grow, use, and dispose of food could significantly reduce emissions.
'I just hope everything doesn't start shutting down again'
Paul Natrall misses balmy, busy, bustling evenings serving bannock at summer festivals. That's been the norm for the Squamish Nation chef and food truck owner who specializes in Indigenous fusion cuisine. Since he opened his business in 2017, Natrall — better known as “Mr. Bannock” — has been a popular fixture at festivals and other gatherings across B.C.’s Lower Mainland.
How cheddar cheese explains Canada's dairy politics
Canada had extra cheddar in July. About 42,000 tonnes of it. That’s not unusual. The sharp, hard cheese — and a statistical benchmark for the federal government — has a long history in Canada’s almost $7-billion dairy industry. A history that’s key to understanding modern-day dairy politics.
Canadian seed growers vote against corporate merger — for now
Last Thursday, Terry Boehm breathed a sigh of relief. The Canadian Seed Growers' Association, which represents 3,500 seed growers across Canada, voted against a proposed merger with four other seed industry organizations. It was a decision Boehm, a farmer and Saskatchewan representative for the National Farmers Union, hopes will protect farmers' independence — and the integrity of Canada’s farms.
Steers, rams, and hogs: B.C.’s meat industry, by the numbers
In British Columbia, livestock is controversial. Especially killing livestock. The problem is hitting small-scale meat farmers particularly hard, Julia Smith, president of the Small-Scale Meat Producers Association and a rancher, said. They’re pinched between a regulatory maze that’s decimated both local abattoirs and the small livestock farms — and skyrocketing demand for local meat.
B.C. is updating its abattoir rules, but some advocates are hungry for more
Julia Smith is lucky. Her pigs have a date with the butcher. That was far from guaranteed, says the Merritt, B.C. rancher and president of the Small-Scale Meat Producers Association. B.C. abattoirs and butcher shops are in short supply, Smith explained, limiting the availability of local meat in the province — and recently announced changes to provincial abattoir laws might not do much.
Feds extend deadline, eligibility for COVID-19 business credit. That's good for farmers, advocates say
Even in a pandemic, seeds germinate, livestock grow — and farmers keep working. That rhythm, vital to Canada’s food supply and rural economies, belies the uncertainty farmers face from bad weather, markets — and now, COVID-19. It’s an uncertainty advocates hope will ease with changes to the Canada Emergency Business Account announced Monday.