As if farmers in Ontario and Quebec didn’t have enough to deal with already, now it seems an unwelcome guest, more typically found in the American corn-belt, has taken up residence in central Canadian cornfields as well.

According The Canadian Press, the Western bean cutworm is a tiny insect that feeds on the corn’s pollen and silk before eventually eating the developing kernels. It could cost affected farmers anywhere from 10 to 15 per cent of crop yield.

TORONTO — When you’re raised in an Italian household with a near-obsessive focus on food, you know a thing or two about local and fresh produce. With that in mind, Niagara, Ont., chef Tony de Luca, who operates the Old Winery Restaurant and de Luca’s Wine Country Restaurant in Niagara-on-the-Lake, recently published his second cookbook, Simply in Season:  12 months of Wine Country Cooking.

Published by Whitecap Books, the tome highlights the farm-to-table movement with a collection of family recipes that celebrate simple, seasonal cooking.

TORONTO — A major new mixed-use complex that will feature a four-star hotel, and a series of restaurants, is set to begin construction later this year in what is becoming Toronto’s Southcore financial district.

The British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC) announced, yesterday, July 28,  its newest development project, Southcore Financial Centre (SFC), will encompass a block in the southern part of the downtown core from York St. to Lower Simcoe St., within walking distance of King and Bay streets.

TORONTO — Looking to the future development of tourism, and its cultural implications, Toronto’s Centennial College will be hosting a symposium on Cultural & Heritage Tourism from Oct. 5 to 6.

The "Intercultural Dialogue in Tourism: 2020 Vision," which will be hosted by the school’s Culture and Heritage Institute, is in collaboration with UNESCO's International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures and International Year of Biodiversity. It is within this framework that the fourth annual symposium will explore how knowledge, events, institutions and industries in culture, heritage and tourism can be more effective in facilitating and developing platforms for intercultural dialogue in Canada.