Sylvain Charlebois

Sylvain Charlebois
Born	1970 (age 47–48) Farnham, Quebec, Canada
Other names	The Food Professor
Alma mater	Université de Sherbrooke, Université de Montréal, Royal Military College
Occupation	Canadian Scientist, Food Distribution and Policy
Employer	Dalhousie University, Canada
Organization	Conference Board of Canada, CD 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, Business Scientific Institute, Institute of Agrifood Analytics.

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.^[2]

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.^[3]. In 2018, he left his decanal position to launch a new Institute in Agrifood Analytics, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.^[4]

Charlebois was a Professor in the College of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph^[5] 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.^[6] As Director, in 2009, he became one of the youngest university Deans in Canada.

Food Safety and Traceability World Rankings (2006-2015)

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.^[7] 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.^[8] He is the project lead for the World Ranking Food Safety Performance Report (2008, 2010, 2014).^[9][10]

Canada's Food Price Report (2011-2018)

Now published by Dalhousie University and the University of Guelph, Charlebois is the project lead since its inception (2011 to 2018).^[11] 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. It is estimated that the report is consulted by 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.^[12]

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).^[13] According to Google Scholar, he is one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.

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 centres and think tanks and has worked with the CD Howe Institute^[14] and the Conference Board of Canada.^[15] His research has been featured in a number of publications, including The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Foreign Policy, 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 CD 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.^{[16] [17]} The DPC program was eventually cancelled, months after the release of the study.

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. ^[18] Weeks after the study was released, an amendment to Bill C-45 was presented to include edibles.^[19]

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 almost two decades, he has advocated for major reforms to the system.^{[20][21][22][23][24]}

Teaching philosophy

Charlebois has conducted live case studies for years now.^[25] In his approach, Charlebois attempts to incorporate realism and the concept of Co-opetition in the classroom.^[26] 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 also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute^[27] based in Luxemburg.

Awards

Charlebois is a two-time winner of the prestigious International Emerald Lit Award in research (2008, 2012).^[28] He has done a TEDx talk on global trades and emerging agricultural economies.^[29] 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.^[30] In 2015, he also won the Bill Braithwaite Distinguished Professorial Award as a graduate Faculty at the University of Guelph.

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

References