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Better Pork Featured Articles

Better Pork magazine is published bimonthly. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


Bacon-lettuce comparison questioned

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Producing a calorie of bacon causes fewer greenhouse gas emissions than a calorie of lettuce. That's according to a new study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University published in Environment Systems and Decisions and reported on in Climatewire. That's because, on a calorie basis, many fruits and vegetables are resource-intensive. If Americans switched their diets to fall in line with U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, energy use, water use and greenhouse gas emissions would increase by 38 per cent, 10 per cent and six per cent respectively.

One of the authors, Paul Fischbeck, professor of social and decision sciences and engineering and public policy, concludes that a strictly vegan diet isn't good for the environment.  However, pork isn't really off the hook. No one eats lettuce for calorie content, points out Martin Heller, a research specialist with the Center for Sustainable Systems at the University of Michigan, who published a similar study last May saying the bacon-lettuce comparison is ridiculous.

One lesson is that life-cycle assessments of foods are questionable. Maybe the newest dietary guidelines will be affected by climate change concerns anyway. BP

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Sask. hosting rural innovation conference this month

Wednesday, September 10, 2025

Estevan, Sask. will play host to ICED Rural 2025, Canada’s only rural innovation conference, Sept. 23 and 24. “This year’s theme zeroes in on two of the most critical challenges and opportunities facing rural innovation: Energy and Education,” the event website says. As part of the... Read this article online

Pork exports strengthen Manitoba's economy

Wednesday, September 10, 2025

Manitoba’s pork export business has changed, according to a new provincial trade report released earlier this year. The report looked to sum up the province’s current pork trade landscape and identify alternate markets the province could be selling into. It was one of several such... Read this article online

Alberta Crop Harvest Moves Ahead of Averages

Wednesday, September 10, 2025

According to the AFSC and Alberta Government Crop Reporting Survey, Alberta’s 2025 harvest is moving ahead of schedule as hot and dry conditions continue across the province. By September 2, major crop harvest was 22 percent complete, a 14 percent jump from last week. This pace is ahead of... Read this article online

Ag ministers wrap up FPT meetings in Winnipeg

Wednesday, September 10, 2025

The federal government will support farmers as work continues to restore market access. That’s part of the message federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald told reporters Tuesday after two days of federal-provincial-territorial (FPT) meetings in Winnipeg. Recently announced... Read this article online

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