Robert Arnason
Robert Arnason covers the economics, policy and science of Canadian agriculture, with an emphasis on how those forces shape food production and markets. He has reported for The Western Producer since 2008, filing thousands of stories that follow the supply chain from farm fields and livestock herds through trade corridors, processing plants and shifting consumer demand. His coverage stands out for its focus on what policy changes, market moves and technology mean in practical terms for producers and agri-food businesses.
Pacific trade corridor and export routes
Trade infrastructure and export risk are recurring threads in Arnason’s work. He reports on calls for government to prioritize the Pacific trade corridor, explaining how bottlenecks in ports and rail can constrain grain movement and weaken Canada’s position in Asian markets. In coverage of a proposed U.S. diesel export ban, he details how fuel supply shocks could ripple through the Prairies, raising costs across farming and transportation.
He writes about farmers’ frustration with opaque export sales data, showing how gaps in reporting complicate marketing decisions and risk management on the farm. Earlier work on North Dakota’s eagerness to buy from Canada and on U.S. wheat forging new paths underscores his habit of linking cross-border dynamics to opportunities and threats for Canadian producers.
When he profiles the largest cropland owner in Canada feeling bullish on agriculture, he connects land ownership and investor sentiment with longer-term confidence in commodities and export demand.
Farm economics, tax policy and labour
Arnason frequently drills into the finances of farming and the policy tools that shape margins. He covers cereal groups refunding millions of dollars in checkoffs to growers, breaking down where the money comes from, how it is used for research and breeding, and why some producers choose to opt out.
His reporting on a proposed “mega” tax deduction focuses on how the measure would flow through farm balance sheets and investment decisions, rather than treating it as an abstract fiscal change. Regular market pieces, including Canadian Financial Close notes and reviews of Chicago Board of Trade moves, track currency shifts and futures prices and spell out implications for grain and oilseed sales. He returns to labour again and again, documenting a persistent ag labour shortage and a sharp decline in the number of people working in agriculture, and tying those trends to competition among farms and ag businesses for the same limited workforce.
Earlier stories on a growing farm labour gap and surveys of producers reinforce that he treats labour as a structural constraint on the entire food and agriculture system.
Protein demand, food trends and imports
Food and nutrition trends, especially around protein, are another core strand in his reporting. He explains a surge in cottage cheese sales as part of a broader demand for protein, connecting retail data with consumer preferences and opportunities for dairy processors and farmers.
Coverage of ongoing strength in animal protein demand shows how meat consumption patterns support cattle, hog and poultry sectors and influence feed grain markets. He reports on beef imports from Australia jumping sharply, examining how foreign product fits into domestic supply and pricing.
In a story on a Harvard study finding seed oils healthier than butter, he translates health research into potential shifts in fat consumption and demand for canola and other oilseeds.
He has followed retailer commitments to cage-free eggs and strategies that pre-empt producer plans, framing these as examples of how corporate pledges reshape farm practices and supply chains. Pieces on cattle numbers sliding in Canada and on producers moving partially promotant-free show him tracing how herd size, management choices and consumer expectations intersect in the protein market.
Sustainability, regenerative agriculture and technology
Arnason spends considerable time on sustainability debates and the technologies meant to support them. He covers myths and misinformation around regenerative agriculture, giving space to agronomists and farmers to separate practice from rhetoric and to test claims against soil health and yield data.
Reporting on the launch of a sustainability index for agriculture looks at how new metrics try to quantify environmental performance and what adoption could mean for farms and food companies. He has examined opposition to neonicotinoid seed treatments, outlining concerns about pollinators alongside the agronomic reasons growers rely on the products.
Stories asking whether agriculture extension is working in Canada focus on knowledge transfer and the gap between research and on-farm practice. He writes about gene editing being a tough sell for wheat and the introduction of forage wheat varieties, showing how innovation meets caution in crop development.
When he covers advanced AI tools for farming created by tech firms and ag networks, he treats them as part of a broader shift toward data-driven production and decision-making. Across these pieces, including work on the bullish outlook of large cropland owners, his through-line is how sustainability narratives, regulation and new technology reshape risk, productivity and long-term viability for agriculture and the food system.
4 more food journalists.
Al Culliton
Al Culliton is a writer and historian whose work focuses on the American cocktail as a living part of food and culture, using obscure, historic drinks to show how bars, spirits and cities change. They write reported features that trace how forgotten recipes move from old bar guides back onto modern menus, reconstructing how cocktails originally tasted and explaining how new builds reshape them. Their beat is revived classics, regional specialties and low-proof aperitifs, covered one drink at a time with close attention to specs, technique, glassware and service. They write about cocktails as cultural artifacts tied to specific communities and geographies, using single recipes to explore place, identity, regional traditions and diaspora histories. Across masthead work and recipe writing, they combine primary-source research with present-day reporting from working bars, in precise, accessible prose grounded in technical detail.
Alaina Chou
Alaina Chou stands out for rigorously testing food and kitchen products and turning those hands-on trials into clear shopping advice. She is a commerce writer at Bon Appétit and Epicurious, where she makes newsletters and shopping guides for home cooks. Her beat is food commerce, with coverage of air fryers, meal kits, protein powders, pepper grinders, electrolyte drinks, and cookbooks. She focuses on what is worth buying, how it performs, how it tastes, and how it fits daily routines and wellness. She also writes sale-driven lists and roundup pieces, and she has worked on Bon Appétit’s Feel Good Food Plan. Her reporting is practical, direct, and grounded in product testing.
Amadea Tanner
Amadea Tanner is a food journalist for Daily Meal whose distinct focus is food history, culinary nostalgia, and the way everyday dishes reveal broader cultural stories. She covers canned baked beans, boomer-era casseroles, cowboy trail food, and sailors’ rations to show how preservation, technology, labor, and survival shaped familiar staples. Her beat includes retro recipes, mid‑20th‑century home cooking, old-school ice cream flavors, and vintage cookbooks, treating them as records of household budgets and aspirations. She also reports on kitchen culture and domestic design, from breakfast alcoves and pie safes to milk doors and wall phones. Tanner investigates global dish origins and contested national claims in pieces on haggis and pavlova. Beyond Daily Meal, she has worked across food, travel, and sustainability, contributing to outlets including Atlas Obscura, Beau Monde Media, Yahoo, and Tasting Table.
Amanda Garrity
Amanda Garrity stands out for turning food, holidays, and family traditions into practical service stories that help readers plan specific celebrations. She is a lifestyle editor at TODAY.com and has more than seven years of experience as a lifestyle writer and editor, including five years on staff at Good Housekeeping, where she covered home, holidays, food, entertainment, and other lifestyle news. Her work also appears in consumer titles including Prevention, Men’s Health, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, and Best Products. Her beat centers on event-based menus, holiday explainers, and classic TV and film guides, with clear, list-driven reporting that gives readers specific dates, recipes, viewing options, and simple background for family planning.