Three U of G professors spoke to the Financial Post about why Canada still has a national butter reserve. 

Dr. Evan Fraser, director of the Arrell Food Institute, explained that while government reserves have fallen out of favour in the age of the global marketplace, Canada’s butter reserve is a quirk of the government’s supply management rules. 

Fraser is professor in Department of Geography, Environment & Geomatics, College of Social and Applied Human Sciences, where he studies rural agricultural policy food security and how each is affected by climate change. He is Canada Research Chair in Global Food Security and helps lead the Food from Thought initiative. 

Dr. Simon Somogyi, agribusiness researcher at the School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management, Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics, discussed the costs of maintaining Canada’s butter reserve. 

Dr. Stephen LeBlanc, director of Dairy at Guelph and a professor in the Department of Population Medicine, Ontario Veterinary College, explained why butter production peaks in the spring.