It’s gotta be KD: After droughts, trade disputes, WTO challenges and war, the main ingredient in Canada’s national dish — durum wheat — is making a comeback in Italy..Apart from the threat of being cut off natural gas from Russia, Italians had an ever greater reason to dread the start of the war in Ukraine. That’s because Italy imports most of its durum wheat used to make pasta from Black Sea ports that are either under sanction or siege.. Ukraine WheatUkraine Wheat being loaded for export. .And now they’re looking to Canada to fill their plates — and palates — after a particularly nasty trade dispute saw Canada’s market share for the coveted grain plummet following the imposition of the Canada-Europe free trade agreement (CETA) in 2017..Canada’s market share fell more than 60% after the agreement came into effect, and Italian farm groups launched a smear campaign against Canadian imports on the grounds that it’s genetically modified. In addition, Canadian farmers use glyphosate — RoundUp — as a herbicide, which is banned in Europe, sparking huge protests against the deal.. CETA protestProtestors picket Canadian food products in Rome, 2019. .In response, the Italian government implemented a punitive point-of-origin food labelling law that equated Canadian-sourced pasta grain with poison..But that all changed in February of last year with Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine. Not only did it spark the biggest conflict in Europe since the Second World War, but it also disrupted grain shipments through the Black Sea..Italy, being the world’s largest pasta market, imports more than half the durum it consumes. Its domestic production crashed last summer in the wake of crippling droughts in the Po River valley..Faced with the prospect of soaring spaghettini prices, the Italian industry ministry relented and reluctantly allowed increased imports of Canadian sourced grain.. Lady and the TrampThe iconic spaghetti scene from Lady and the Tramp .Consequently, Canadian durum exports quadrupled through the first eight months of the 2022-23 crop year to around one-million tonnes, according to Winnipeg-based Cereals Canada, making it the country’s largest supplier..Durum, which is also colloquially known as ‘macaroni wheat’ is the second most cultivated species after common wheat, even through it only accounts for 5-8% of global production. It was developed through artificial selection in Central Europe and the Eurasian Steppes — now Ukraine — in 7,000 BC..Unlike common wheat, it doesn’t need threshing. Its higher gluten content makes it less practical for flour and more suited to semolina and pasta..The Italians didn’t actually invent pasta, however; it was developed in Egypt and brought to Italy in the 15th Century. In 2018, Canada was the sixth-largest producer in the world after the EU, China, India, Russia and the US..After a disastrous drought in 2021 cut Canada’s grain exports in half, Cereals Canada CEO Dean Dias expects overall cereal production to hit 35 million tonnes with about 24 million tonnes available for export..“It is important to understand Canadian wheat is recognized worldwide for its quality. It therefore does not automatically replace Black Sea wheat or Russian and Ukrainian wheat. They cannot simply be interchanged. Countries around the world actually mix Russian and Ukrainian wheat with Canadian wheat,” he told CBC Radio in February, in an interview posted on the association’s web site..“So with the current situation, Canadian wheat has been able to meet demand. However, some countries may not be able to obtain wheat from the two main exporters, and have had to turn to other suppliers.”
