Sylvain Charlebois

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois (born 1970) is a regular oped contributor for Montreal's La Presse, Toronto's The Globe and Mail, and also writes a blog for the Canadian Grocer magazine called "The Food Professor".[1] He is also known as the lead author of Canada's Food Price Report, an annual forecast on food prices and trends, released every December since 2010.[2]. Since 2020, he is also co-host of the podcast called "The Food Professor".[3]

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois
Born (1970-03-30) 30 March 1970
Farnham, Quebec, Canada
Other namesThe Food Professor
Alma materUniversité de Sherbrooke, Université de Montréal, Royal Military College
OccupationCanadian scientist, food distribution and policy
EmployerDalhousie University, Canada
OrganizationConference Board of Canada, C. D. Howe Institute, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, University of Guelph's Food Institute, United States Department of Agriculture, European Food Safety Authority, China Food and Drug Administration, Institute of Food Technologists, Global Food Traceability Center, Canadian Agri-Food Foresight Institute, Business Scientific Institute, Agri-food Analytics Lab, University of British Columbia

Charlebois is a Canadian researcher in food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University. He is also Dalhousie's former Dean of the Faculty of Management and holds a cross-appointment as professor at Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture.[4] In 2018, he left his decanal position to launch a new Agri-food Analytics Lab,[5] at Dalhousie University.[6]

Charlebois was a Professor in the College of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph[7] in Ontario, Canada, from 2010 to 2016. In 2011, he co-founded the University of Guelph's Food Institute (now the Arrell Food Institute). From 2004 to 2010, he was a member of the Faculty of Business Administration of the University of Regina in Regina, Canada. He has served as acting dean, associate dean for the College of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph. He also served as the Director of the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy (Regina Campus), also affiliated with the University of Saskatchewan.[8] As director, in 2009, he became one of the youngest university Deans in Canada.

Food safety and traceability world rankings (2006–16)

Charlebois has authored nearly 500 publications in peer-reviewed journals, professional publications, conference proceedings in food science and management. He is known for being the lead author of many reports which compare global food safety and traceability systems.[9] In 2011, Charlebois chaired the first International Workshop on food safety performance metrics and risk intelligence in Helsinki, Finland, during which 21 countries were represented.[10] He is the project lead for the World Ranking Food Safety Performance Report (2008, 2010, 2014).[11][12]

Canada's Food Price Report (2011–2020)

Now published by Dalhousie University and the University of Guelph, Charlebois is the lead author of Canada's Food Price Report since its inception (2011 to 2020).[13] Both predictive modelling through machine learning and econometrics are used to support the annual forecast. The report was published by the University of Guelph only from 2011 to 2016. The report's market reach is estimated at over 280 million people in 50 countries annually. In 2015, the project was recognized as one of the University of Guelph's most significant research accomplishments over the past 50 years.[14][15][16][17] It was announced in July 2020 that both the University of Saskatchewan and the University of British Columbia are joining the project, starting with the 2021 edition.[18]

Research

He is the author of five books on global food systems, one in French, an essay on food security and safety. His most recent academic book is entitled "Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking", published by Wiley-Blackwell (2017).[19] It was announced in July 2019 that Charlebois is writing a 6th book, on poutine, due to be released in 2020.[20] According to Google Scholar, he is one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.[21] Since 2020, he is an Editor of Trends in Food Science and Technology, one of the world's top food science academic journals.[22]

His current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution and safety, and has published many articles in several top academic journals food science and management. Dr. Charlebois is an associate researcher with many research centers and think tanks and has worked with the C. D. Howe Institute[23] and the Conference Board of Canada.[24] His research has been featured in a number of publications, including The Lancet, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Foreign Policy, the South China Morning Post, The Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star, Maclean's and La Presse, as well as on NBC, ABC, Fox News, BBC, the Business News Network, CBC Radio and CBC Television, Global, CTV, TVOntario and TVA. He has conducted media interviews in several countries including the United States, many European countries, Russia, Philippines, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and India.

Other notable studies

In 2008, Charlebois co-authored a C. D. Howe Institute study which benchmarked the performance of the Canadian Wheat Board’s Daily Price Contract (DPC) program. The study suggested that the program provided poor financial returns for farmers.[25][26] The DPC program was eventually cancelled, months after the release of the study.

In 2011, Charlebois chaired the first international workshop on food safety performance metrics, with 21 countries involved. Some countries objected to the idea that countries could be compared based on food safety policies, risk management and risk communication practices.[27][28][29] Since that seminal workshop which was held in Helsinki, Finland, sharing and comparing practices in food safety amongst nations are more widely accepted. He argues that the structure of food safety governance favours the advancement of international partnerships and collaboration.

Charlebois speaking in Toronto in 2018

In 2017, Charlebois' team looked at the cannabis in Canada legislation and the issue of edibles. Initially, edibles were not included in Bill C-45. The study released in September 2017 argued that consumers would be confused over what to do with cannabis-infused food products. It also argued that results should compel the federal government to introduce a framework around the consumption of edibles when legalization proceeds with the Cannabis Act.[30] Weeks after the study was released, Bill C-45 was amended to include edibles.[31] In 2019, a second study released by Charlebois' team made a case for how the black market for cannabis-infused food products in the country could expand if Canada's regulatory framework is too strict.[32][33]

In 2019, Charlebois' team released a cost analysis on Canada's Food Guide, a first in Canada. The study indicated that the 2019 version made Canadian families more food secure than the 2007 version.[34] But the report also warned that, within a few years, demand for plant-based proteins, fresh fruits and vegetables could increase to the point where the price difference between guides would be eliminated.[35]

Charlebois is also a well-known critic of Supply management (Canada), the country's quota system for poultry, eggs and dairy. He has studied the economic role of marketing boards in Canada for years. For more than two decades, he has advocated for major reforms to the system.[36][37][38][39][40] In April 2020, during the COVID-19 crisis, he claimed dumping raw milk in Canada should be illegal and that milk should be considered a public good, unlike in other countries.[41][42][43] He is also known for his controversial position on GMOs. While advocating for more transparency by way of strict labeling rules for consumers, he believes in the safety of food products which include genetically engineered ingredients.[44]

Over the years, Charlebois has coined a few expressions to explain food trends. "Protein wars" is one which points to tensions between existing animal protein sources and plant-based alternatives for consumers.[45][46] Protein wars are essentially caused by the rise of the conscious omnivore, the flexitarian. The term "food category appropriation" was also coined by Charlebois, which is when a company will use a well-known food descriptor, like cheese, meat, and apply it to an alternative product using different ingredients.[47] During the COVID-19 pandemic, he spoke about how the food supply chain is becoming more "democratized", and that the pandemic forced Canada to step up levels of e-commerce.[48][49]. More than ever, farmers, processors, could avoid Canadian grocers' oligopolistic powers and sell directly to consumers who don't want, or can't visit grocery stores.[50]

Teaching philosophy

Charlebois has conducted live case studies for years now.[51] In his approach, Charlebois attempts to incorporate realism and the concept of Co-opetition in the classroom.[52] He believes that the simultaneity of competition and cooperation in a live case study setting makes for a profoundly powerful learning experience for students. Past live case studies involved companies like Sobeys, Monsanto, PepsiCo, Loblaw Companies, Gencor and Campbell Soup Company.

He is a co-author of Real People, Real Decisions, published by Pearson Education Canada.

Appointments

Dr. Charlebois is a member of the National Scientific Committee since 2011, and was member of the National Expert Board of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Since 2013, he also a member of the Global Food Traceability Center's Advisory Council based in Washington, D.C.. He sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies . He has testified on several occasions before parliamentary committees on food policy-related issues as an expert witness. He has been asked to act as an advisor on food and agricultural policies in many Canadian provinces, in the United States, Brazil, Italy, France, Belgium, China, Great Britain, Finland and the Netherlands. He has been a visiting scholar at the University of São Paulo in Brazil, at the University of Helsinki in Finland, at NorthWestern A&F University in China, at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, and at the University of Sydney in Australia.

Charlebois is a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute[53] based in Luxembourg.

Awards

Charlebois is a two-time winner of the prestigious International Emerald Lit Award in research (2008, 2012).[54] He has done a TEDx talk on global trades and emerging agricultural economies.[55] He is also a three-time "Teacher of the Year" award winner while in Saskatchewan, in 2006, 2007 and 2009. In 2006, MacLean's Magazine recognized him as one of the best university professors in the country.[56] In 2015, he also won the Bill Braithwaite Distinguished Professorial Award as a graduate Faculty at the University of Guelph. In 2019, he won the Faculty of Management's Researcher of the Year Award, at Dalhousie University. With that award, Charlebois has won three research awards at three different universities.

Charlebois holds degrees from the Royal Military College of Canada, the Université de Montréal and the Université de Sherbrooke.

Others

In July 2018, Dalhousie looked into bullying, harassment complaints against school dean Charlebois[57][58] University hired an external investigator to assess the complaints and to provide a written report. Dean Charlebois step down when the investigation went public on 1 September to launch a new research center.[59][60][61]While Charlebois still works at the university, individuals involved in the investigation have since resigned and left Dalhousie.[62]

gollark: Anyway, obviously the round earth is a superior technical solution, but you can bodge the flat-earth thing into *kind of* working and the patent issues make it much cheaper.
gollark: No, a point is dimensionless.
gollark: Round things were patented, so they can't use oblate spheroids without paying the ruinous royalties.
gollark: Most physics treats them as point masses or weird probability-clouds.
gollark: The government also operates light catapults, of course, for certain situations.

References
  1. "The Food Professor".
  2. "Canadians will spend more in restaurants in 2018: Canada's Food Price Report".
  3. https://the-food-professor.simplecast.com/episodes/sylvain-give-the-canadian-government-a-b-on-agriculture-coivd-19-support-pandemic-processing-plants-and-the-joy-of-gardening
  4. "Dalhousie appoints New Dean of Management".
  5. https://www.dal.ca/sites/agri-food.html
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "University of Guelph". uoguelph.ca.
  8. "Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy". schoolofpublicpolicy.sk.ca. 23 January 2015.
  9. "Canada's Food Tracking Needs Improvement: Study". uoguelph.ca. 26 June 2014.
  10. Charlebois Sylvain (2014). "Comparison of Global Food Traceability Regulations and Requirements". Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety. 13 (5): 1104–1123. doi:10.1111/1541-4337.12101.
  11. Jean-Charles Le Vallée (20 November 2014). "2014 World Ranking: Food Safety Performance". conferenceboard.ca.
  12. "Faculty Authored Papers – Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy". schoolofpublicpolicy.sk.ca. 16 January 2015. Archived from the original on 17 April 2015.
  13. "Rising Food Prices: U of G Economists Predict Some Relief in 2012". uoguelph.ca. 12 December 2011.
  14. https://www.uoguelph.ca/research/sites/default/files/public/Research_50_Web_CC.pdf
  15. "Canada's Food Price Report 2019 – Faculty of Management – Dalhousie University". Dal.ca. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  16. https://www.dal.ca/sites/agri-food/research/canada-s-food-price-report.html
  17. https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1416068/hausse-prix-nourriture-sylvain-charlebois-rapport-prix-alimentaires-2020
  18. https://www.realagriculture.com/2020/07/canadas-food-price-report-adds-saskatchewan-b-c-collaborators/
  19. http://ca.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1119071127.html
  20. https://www.lapresse.ca/debats/opinions/201907/20/01-5234592-que-linventeur-de-la-poutine-se-leve-.php
  21. "Dr. Sylvain Charlebois – Google Scholar Citations". Google Scholar. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  22. https://www.journals.elsevier.com/trends-in-food-science-and-technology
  23. "A Bushel Half Full: Reforming the Canadian Wheat Board". cdhowe.org.
  24. Jean-Charles Le Vallée (21 November 2014). "Benchmarking World Food Safety Performance". conferenceboard.ca.
  25. "C.D. Howe, CWB spar on grain marketing data". 20 November 2008.
  26. "Think-tank critical of wheat board performance | CBC News".
  27. Le Vallée, Jean-Charles; Charlebois, Sylvain (2015). "Benchmarking Global Food Safety Performances: The Era of Risk Intelligence". Journal of Food Protection. 78 (10): 1896–1913. doi:10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-15-044. PMID 26408141.
  28. Charlebois, Sylvain; Sterling, Brian; Haratifar, Sanaz; Naing, Sandi Kyaw (2014). "Comparison of Global Food Traceability Regulations and Requirements". Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety. 13 (5): 1104–1123. doi:10.1111/1541-4337.12101. ISSN 1541-4337.
  29. Charlebois, Sylvain; Hielm, Sebastian (2014). "Empowering the regulators in the development of national performance measurements in food safety". British Food Journal. 116 (2): 317–336. doi:10.1108/BFJ-05-2012-0124.
  30. "Canadians favour marijuana legalization, curious about weed edibles: Dalhousie survey | CTV News Atlantic".
  31. "Plant height restrictions out, timeline for edibles added to Liberals' pot bill | CBC News".
  32. https://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/where-s-the-party-survey-finds-canadians-losing-interest-in-legalized-cannabis-1.4413602
  33. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/cannabis-edibles-study-dalhousie-university-sylvain-charlebois-1.5128514
  34. https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/canada-food-guide-survey-half-of-canadians-face-barriers-1.5056251
  35. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-study-suggests-new-food-guide-is-more-affordable-only-under-specific/
  36. Tamilia, Robert D.; Charlebois, Sylvain (2007). "The importance of marketing boards in Canada: A twenty‐first century perspective". British Food Journal. 109 (2): 119–144. doi:10.1108/00070700710725491.
  37. "Charlebois: Milking NAFTA – Why supply management may be doomed | Ottawa Citizen". 8 August 2017.
  38. "Charlebois has it all wrong, supply management is good for farmers and Canada – Farm Policy – Farmers' Voice | Dairy Farmers of Canada".
  39. "Media Release – the Canadian Dairy Industry in a Post Supply Management Era: The Future of the Canadian Dairy Sector". 23 March 2012.
  40. "Le Québec agricole face à une impasse". 15 February 2008.
  41. https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/charlebois-dont-blame-farmers-for-euthanizing-animals-and-dumping-milk-we-have-the-good-industry-we-deserve/
  42. https://www.lapresse.ca/debats/opinions/202004/08/01-5268602-jeter-du-lait-devrait-etre-illegal.php
  43. https://www.journaldequebec.com/2020/04/08/160-millions-de-litres-de-lait-jetes-au-canada-il-faut-rendre-le-gaspillage-illegal-croit-un-expert
  44. https://www.dal.ca/faculty/management/news-events/news/2018/05/24/release__dalhousie_study_finds_that_canadians_expect_mandatory_gmo_food_labelling.html
  45. "Protein wars: Why men love meat".
  46. "Sylvain Charlebois: Protein wars are here as diets are changing | Regina Leader-Post". 5 November 2018.
  47. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-vegan-cheese-and-fake-meat-a-recipe-for-food-appropriation/
  48. https://www.producer.com/2020/05/e-commerce-changes-retail-picture-brings-opportunities/
  49. https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/charlebois-covid-19-will-change-the-way-we-think-about-food-particularly-dairy
  50. https://www.newfoodmagazine.com/news/108699/short-food-supply-chains-foster-the-emergence-of-food-democracy/
  51. "Guelph MBAs take the Pepsi Challenge".
  52. "From Classroom to Boardroom: How International Marketing Students Earn Their Way to Experiential Learning Opportunities, and the Case of the "Beyond Borders of a Classroom" Program".
  53. "Professors of the Executive DBA – Business Science Institute".
  54. "Emerald: Outstanding Paper Awards". emeraldinsight.com.
  55. "The Farm Worth Saving: Dr. Sylvain Charlebois at TEDxGuelphU 2012" – via YouTube.
  56. "Sylvain Charlebois news, opinion and analysis – Macleans.ca".
  57. "Dalhousie looks into bullying, harassment complaints against school dean".
  58. "Un professeur de l'Université Dalhousie fait l'objet de plaintes d'intimidation et de harcèlement".
  59. "Un porte-parole de l'Université Dalhousie, Brian Leadbetter, a confirmé à Radio-Canada que cette enquête est terminée, mais que ses conclusions sont confidentielles. Aucune mesure supplémentaire ne sera prise, dit-il".
  60. "Faculty of management dean says bullying investigation played role in decision".
  61. https://ici.radio-canada.ca/premiere/emissions/le-reveil-ile-du-prince-edouard/segments/chronique/84365/sylvain-charlebois-doyen-alimentation-professeur-universite-dalhousie-haliax-nouvelle-ecosse
  62. https://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/archives/2018/06/18/richard-florizone-leaving-dalhousie-for-quantum-super-position
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