Does eating pork 'sweep away the dirt'? Thursday, April 3, 2014 Many South Koreans subscribe to the traditional belief that eating pork helps cleanse the body of pollutants. Korea AgraFood magazine reports that, after doing a particularly dusty piece of work, many South Koreans will eat pork to "sweep away all the dirt in the throat."The South China Morning Post cites this old belief as the driver behind a 32 per cent increase in pork belly and leg sales in the first week of December, when air pollution in Seoul reached a level three out of six. South Korean media call the smog that drifts east from China an "air raid," and inhabitants are increasingly concerned about its hazardous effects.Unfortunately, there is no scientific proof that eating pork will actually help. At least it's not as harmful as jamming cigarette butts up your nose, another bogus cure that The New York Times reports is spreading over the Chinese Internet.Meanwhile, the smog in China is so bad that Bloomberg News reports Chinese pilots at domestic airlines must now be qualified for blind landings before they can fly into the country's 10 most congested airports. BP Pulling savings from the air Behind the Lines - April 2014
SARM Calling for Stronger Rural Emergency Funding Friday, March 6, 2026 The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) is calling on provincial and federal governments to strengthen funding and partnerships that support emergency response services across rural Saskatchewan. Rural municipalities playa major rolein protecting communities during... Read this article online
Ag included in Carney’s trip to Japan Friday, March 6, 2026 Canada’s ag industry is part of the equation when it comes to the country’s continued relationship with Japan. A March 6 joint statement by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi indicates establishing a “comprehensive strategic partnership,” which includes... Read this article online
A new front in the repair access debate Friday, March 6, 2026 Iowa lawmakers have pushed the right‑to‑repair conversation into new territory with House File 2529, a bill that focuses specifically on diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) systems—the single most common cause of emissions-related downtime on modern farm machinery. The bill would require... Read this article online
March 8 is International Women’s Day Friday, March 6, 2026 Across the United States and Canada, women are taking on increasingly visible roles in agriculture—managing farms, leading ag-tech startups, advancing research, and strengthening the rural economies that feed both nations. Their work reflects a shift in an industry once defined... Read this article online
Alberta Pork Launches First-of-Its-Kind Retail Contest Thursday, March 5, 2026 Alberta Pork is putting Canadian pork in the spotlight this spring with a new retail promotion designed to encourage shoppers to choose Verified Canadian Pork (VCP) at the grocery store. Running from February 23 to March 30, the is the first initiative of its kind in Canada, offering... Read this article online