Dr. Sylvain Charlebois

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 and is the former Dean of the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph’s Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. While at the University of Guelph, he was also the Associate Dean of Research for the College of Business and Economics.

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.

He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one is 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 number of 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. 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, as well as in the United States, Brazil, Austria, Italy, France, Belgium, China, Great Britain, Finland and the Netherlands.

LIVE / VIRTUAL PRESENTATIONS:

Note the following are sample topics.
All presentations are customized to the specific client's needs.

The Rise of the Conscious Carnivore? The Good, the Bad, and the Awfully Ugly +

For years, voluntarily committing to a special diet was a tacit choice. It appears these choices are now allowing a growing collective to go on the offensive. Estimates from a recent wide-ranging Dalhousie University study suggest that Canada harbours more than 2.3 million vegetarians, and upwards of 850,000 vegans. The number of vegetarians in Canada is almost equivalent to the population of Montréal, one of Canada’s largest cities. So, what’s going on? The meat industry is certainly being challenged these days by more activists advocating against meat consumption. Some are suggesting we ban meat consumption altogether. Still, meat does have a future, but it’s getting complicated out there. --

The Future of Canadian Agriculture +

Food security expert Dr. Sylvain Charlebois offers up some food for thought on the future of Canadian agriculture. Charlebois delves into the Canadian Food Guide produced by Health Canada and details the changes to the guide and what it means for rural and urban consumers. He also tackles the current trends that are plant-based protein, the future of single-use plastic and, let’s not forget, the new opportunities edibles will offer. --

Combatting Global Food Fraud to Defend Food Safety and Industry Integrity +

Food fraud is a serious and growing problem that if left unchecked will undermine food safety systems worldwide. Gain insight into the scope of this issue and what is being done to stop it both domestically and internationally.

Walk away with a heightened understanding of the urgency of this issue so you can:

• Develop and incorporate food fraud detection into your food safety system
• Get your suppliers onside to ensure their products are fraud-free
• Encourage government to apply greater resources to this issue so Canada’s food safety system is not undermined --
  

For more information, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois' speaking schedule,*speaking fees, and booking Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, contact us. * Fee range indicated is for "virtual" events. Contact us for pricing on live, in-person events.