Cannabis 5 Years Later, The Less-Than Mighty Mississippi, Feeding Canadians is a SNAP and Special Guest Chef Ricardo

The Food Professor

In this episode, we have the pleasure of hosting a true Canadian icon, Ricardo – a renowned chef, author, television personality, and entrepreneur. Notably, he's a recipient of the Order of Canada and the Ordre national du Québec for his contributions to the nation. Even after selling his business to Sobeys in 2021, Ricardo continues to be a media and food powerhouse, producing content at a prodigious level.

In the news, we discuss the mighty Mississippi Waterway, the impacts on this climate change transportation corridor, and its North American food cost implications. We explore pressing topics like the Dairy Farmers' recent decisions to hold back on recommending a rate increase for 2024 and the fifth anniversary of cannabis legalization from both positive and negative angles. We unpack what a SNAP program is and how it could help feed Canadians that need help. Lastly, Michael visits Harlem and Red Rooster restaurant.

Be sure to check out the Coffee Association of Canada's annual conference, and stop by and say hi to Sylvain and Michael in their pop-up podcast studio!

About Ricardo

Chef, author, television personality, entrepreneur: Ricardo is all that. Recognized throughout Canada, he represents a brand that embodies a contemporary vision of family life. His mission? To inspire, educate and bring people together to cook and eat together.

His company offers a multiplatform culinary experience to Canadians. Among its main achievements:

• a magazine read by over 650,000 people every issue
• ricardocuisine.com, the reference among Canadian cooking websites, with 7,000 recipes and 4.4 million monthly visitors
• Over 1.2 million fans on social media
• a television show on ICI Radio-Canada Télé for the past 21 years and a number of other productions presented here and abroad
• 13 books in French and 6 books in English, all bestsellers
• three boutiques and three restaurants in Saint-Lambert, Quebec City and Laval
• an online boutique offering the entire range of RICARDO products
• a RICARDO ready-to-eat counter at the Galeries de la Capitale in Quebec City
• a collection of cooking accessories available in 600 outlets across Canada
• a range of over 100 RICARDO food products available exclusively at IGA, including some now sold in Sobeys stores in Ontario

Trained at the Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec (ITHQ), Ricardo continued his studies with a degree in broadcasting from Ottawa’s Algonquin College before embarking on his well-known career as a communicator.

Over the last several years, Ricardo was appointed to the Order of Canada and the Ordre national du Québec, thanks to his efforts to make the culinary arts accessible to all and for his involvement in various social causes. In 2017, he received an honorary degree from the Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec for his career achievements. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate in nutrition by Université Laval along with his wife Brigitte for their contributions to culinary issues and nutrition in Quebec.

A man of compassion, Ricardo has been the spokesperson for over 15 years for La Tablée des Chefs, an organization whose mission is to feed people in need and to develop culinary education for youth. His commitment and devotion to young people has been rewarded with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Lastly, along with architect Pierre Thibault and triathlete Pierre Lavoie, Ricardo is one of the founding members of Lab-École, a non-profit organization that aims to bring together multidisciplinary expertise to design the environment of tomorrow’s schools.

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

The Food Professor #podcast is presented by Caddle.

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 president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Secure conference with leaders from The Gap and Kroger talking about violence in retail stores, keynotes on the state & future of retail in Orlando and Halifax, and at the 2023 Canadian GroceryConnex conference, hosting the CEOs of Walmart Canada, Longo's and Save-On-Foods Canada. Michael brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.
Michael also produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in North America, Remarkable Retail,
Canada's top retail industry podcast; the Voice of Retail; Canada's top food industry and the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor, with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.
Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail influencers for the fourth year in a row, Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer, and you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.
Available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state of the retail industry in Canada and the U.S., and the future of retail.