Brewster Kneen reading CBAN’s newspaper, December 2023.

In Memoriam: Brewster Kneen

July 21, 1933 – December 1, 2025

The Canadian Biotechnology Action Network honours the life and legacy of Brewster Kneen, leading Canadian food systems analyst and critic of genetic engineering.

Brewster died aged 92 on December 1, 2025, after dedicating much of his long, full life to taking action for justice. Brewster was a global leader in examining genetic engineering and critiquing what he described as the ideology of biotechnology, a “bad attitude” of ingratitude and domination.

Brewster was engaged in creating the first debates in Canada over genetic engineering and took time to share his analysis with communities across the country and around the world. He travelled across Canada speaking about the issues and bringing people together. Brewster was a mentor to many people who now continue his work across Canada’s food sovereignty movement and in the community of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network.

Together with his late partner Cathleen Kneen he published The Ram’s Horn, an international monthly magazine of food system analysis. He authored seven books including Farmageddon: Food and the Culture of Biotechnology (New Society, 1998), Invisible Giant: Cargill and its Transnational Strategies (1995), and From Land to Mouth: Understanding the Food System (1989).

Brewster continued to research and explore new ideas as he agitated for clear thinking on complex issues.

“Modern biotechnology — genetic engineering — is an assault on life; not an altruistic exercise in curiosity, but a demand to control.” – Brewster Kneen, Farmageddon: Food and The Culture of Biotechnology, 1999.