Marc Fawcett-Atkinson
Journalist | Vancouver |
English
French
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.
Feds give $50 million to feed Canadians surplus food. Some hope it's just a start
On Thursday, federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau announced details of the $50-million Surplus Food Rescue Program, created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Feds serve up $50 million to get surplus food to Canadians
Canadians struggling to get enough to eat will soon have better access to food that otherwise would be composted. On Thursday, federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau announced details of the $50-million Surplus Food Rescue Program, created to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Young B.C. farmers can't afford farmland
Yuko Suda is a farmer. A farmer who can’t afford a farm. Instead, she rents her land, an increasingly common practice for new farmers across B.C. — one she worries won’t be sustainable long term. It’s an issue facing most young farmers in the province, one that threatens both their livelihoods and Canadians’ long-term access to food.
Women are key to fisheries, so why don't they get credit?
Taylor said when she started fishing, she had to constantly prove herself in the male-dominated industry — on top of taking on tasks to keep the boat running. Things are easier now, but at a larger scale, problems remain.
Temporary farm workers want to end 'crazy' wait for health insurance in light of COVID-19
Every summer, thousands of migrant farm workers flock to B.C. bearing painkillers and antibiotics. These personal pharmacies reflect workers’ concerns they won’t have access to adequate health care in the province, despite working in one of B.C.’s most dangerous — and essential — industries.
Gene editing debate takes root with organic broccoli, new UBC research shows
Broccoli sex is controversial. Especially organic broccoli sex. That’s because new gene editing technologies developed in the last 10 years have forced organic plant breeders, certification bodies, and farmers to re-examine techniques commonly used to breed the Lorax-like plants.
Blueberries left to compost as COVID-19 hits B.C. agriculture sector
With fewer workers available and outbreaks shutting the province’s farms and processing plants, heaps of blueberry compost will remain as testaments to COVID-19.
Weed, not food, drives record sales for B.C. farmers
Cannabis — not food — was the most profitable use of B.C.’s arable land last year.
Who owns B.C.'s fisheries?
Licences and quotas — the regulatory "keys" to fish harvesters' livelihoods — are managed through a system that has allowed corporations, as well as Canadian and foreign investors, to purchase the access rights to the province’s fish, which are worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Why Canada hires thousands of migrant farm workers
COVID-19 laid bare cracks in our agricultural system. Cracks that run deeper than disrupted supply chains and empty shelves. Cracks that tie together sky-high farm debt, land speculation, and Canada’s reliance on migrant agricultural workers.