The Sound of One Hand Clapping, Dairy Drama & Special Guest Kirstin Beardsley, CEO at Food Banks Canada

Our exceptional guest on this episode is Kirstin Beardsley, CEO at Food Banks Canada, who discusses food insecurity in Canada and the great work done by food banks across Canada to help bridge the gap for an increasingly large and changing nature of the population.

Sylvain and I discuss the horror and murder in Israel and the impacts on food or commodity prices. We talk about Sylvain's upcoming testimony in Ottawa (well, in Halifax, really), for the 18th time in his career with the Department of Finance, pre-budget consultations, the Federal government's Thanksgiving press conference and their own response, or lack thereof, to food affordability in Canada. We also highlight the significance of addressing sales taxes on various food products and tackling the issue of "shrink-inflation." The episode also delves into the triggering of the "exceptional circumstance mechanism" by the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers as they try to prevent an increase in dairy prices and the relative cost delta between Canada and the U.S. in the industrial cost of dairy. Lastly, we talk about the short and long-run issues of significant weight loss in society thanks to semaglutide injections, also known as Wegovy or Ozempic and Sylvain's  8th book, out this week, "La part du gâteau" i.e. Our piece of the pie: today's food geopolitics."

About Kristin

Kirstin Beardsley stepped into the role of Chief Executive Officer of Food Banks Canada on February 1, 2022. Prior to leading the network of over 4,700 food banks and community agencies, Kirstin was Food Banks Canada’s bilingual Chief Network Services Officer and was responsible for leading transformational change in the food banking system in Canada. With a strong and deep understanding of food insecurity in Canada, and of the work of the food banking network, Kirstin has provided leadership to the organization’s strategic plans and task forces over the past 8 years. In her role as Chief Network Services Officer, Kirstin led robust new system wide approaches to learning, government relations, advocacy, research, national funds distribution and a range of programs supporting the ten provincial organizations to improve the effectiveness of local food banks.

Kirstin is from Ottawa, Ontario but now calls Toronto home. During her time away from work, Kirstin enjoys spending time with her family. Kirstin is passionate about working towards the Food Banks Canada vision of a Canada where no one goes hungry and is just as passionate about the incredible people in food banking who are making a difference every day in the lives of so many.

About Us
Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph’s Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.

He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.

Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre’s Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa.

About Michael

Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc. and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada and the Bank of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Today's Shopping Choice and Pandora Jewellery.   

Michael has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels. ReThink Retail has added Michael to their prestigious Top Global Retail Influencers list for 2023 for the third year in a row.

Michael is also the president of Maven Media, producing a network of leading trade podcasts, including Remarkable Retail , with best-selling author Steve Dennis, now ranked one of the top retail podcasts in the world. 

Based in San Francisco, Global eCommerce Leaders podcast explores global cross-border issues and opportunities for eCommerce brands and retailers. 

Last but not least, Michael is the producer and host of the "Last Request Barbeque" channel on YouTube, where he cooks meals to die for - and collaborates with top brands as a food and product influencer across North America

About Us

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Visiting Professor in Food Policy and Distribution at McGill University and a Professor in Food Distribution and Policy in the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University.

Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. He is one of the world’s most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability with over 775 published peer-reviewed journal articles. Dr. Charlebois is also an editor for the prestigious Trends in Food Science Technology journal. 

He co-hosts The Food Professor podcast, discussing issues in the food, foodservice, grocery and restaurant industries and which is the most listened Canadian management podcast in Canada. 

Every year since 2012, he has published the now highly anticipated Canadian Food Price Report, which provides an overview of food price trends for the coming year. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, nationally as well as internationally. 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 and other countries.

With extensive experience collaborating with businesses, governments, and NGOs, Dr. Charlebois combines academic rigor with practical expertise, making him one of the most influential voices in the global agri-food landscape. His work continues to advance the understanding of food systems, fostering innovation and resilience in a rapidly evolving industry. In 2025, he received the prestigious Charles III medal recognizing his tremendous work in informing Canadians about food issues.

 Michael LeBlanc is a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions hosted senior retail executive on-stage in 1:1 interviews worldwide. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including The Remarkable Retail Podcast, The Voice of Retail, The Food Professor, The FEED powered by Loblaw and the Global eCommerce Leaders podcast.  He has been recognized by the National Retail Federation (NRF) as a global Top Retail Voice for 2025 and 2025, and continues to be a ReThink Retail Top Retail Expert for the fifth year in a row.