The Weston Family Foundation has launched the $33 million Homegrown Innovation Challenge that it says is part of an effort to future-proof Canada’s food production.
Organizers said they want to encourage new ideas to boost the sustainable production of fruits and vegetables in Canada.
“Innovation challenges draw out creative people and incentivize them to solve tough problems,” said Tamara Rebanks, a director and past chair of the Weston Family Foundation.
For the Homegrown Innovation Challenge, teams will compete to create and deliver the best plan to grow berries year-round and at a large scale in Canada.
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Rebanks said the pandemic and climate change have shown how easily the supply chain can be disrupted and cause food shortages.
Many Canadians sometimes face fruit and vegetable shortages through lack of cost-effective domestic production.
“Canada imports up to 80 percent of its fresh fruits and vegetables each year. That means Canadians are vulnerable to supply chain disruptions and too often rely on exporters that employ unsustainable production methods,” said Rebanks.
“This is not a new problem for Canada but the past six months of extreme weather events across the country, compounded by the effects of the pandemic, have proven the urgency to enhance Canada’s food resilience.”
Evan Fraser, a director of the Arrell Food Institute and a geography professor at the University of Guelph, spoke during the announcement.
“A tremendous amount of our fruits and vegetables come from drought-ravaged parts of the world, such as the southwestern United States.
“I think we have to ask ourselves, is it likely that we will be able to continue to import huge volumes of lettuce and strawberries from these places over the next 30 years? In other words, if California’s droughts get worse, how will we as Canadian consumers adapt?” he said.
He said new food and agricultural technologies are an opportunity for Canada that can make the supply chain more resilient.
“I really believe that agriculture and food systems are right now on the edge of what can only be described as a massive transformation due to technology, and that I think our country is poised to be a global leader in this,” said Fraser.
Many farmers are familiar with precision farming and other sustainable innovations, including artificial intelligence, robotics, drones, indoor farming with low-cost LED lights and emerging solar energy technology.
Fraser said these innovations could change what Canadians eat in the future.
“Already farmers are using technologies like greenhouses, sophisticated ways of controlling lights and atmospheric conditions. They’re using these technologies to essentially extend the growing season. Today, we can produce products like cucumbers or peppers, tomatoes, leafy greens, or microgreens, both in vertical farms or greenhouses year-round,” Fraser said.
As the pace of innovation increases, he thinks many other crops, such as strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, will be produced in more areas.
“Who knows? Maybe with a bit of work in the future, even something like grapes or avocados,” he said.
“My point is that if we get the technologies right, we may find ourselves in a position of being far more food sovereign than we are today. That means we’ll be less dependent on international trade, as well as being a global leader in how these technologies are developed and deployed.”
The Homegrown Innovation Challenge’s emphasis on berries is a natural fit for Canada, said Rebanks.
With more than 200 native species in the country, “berries are intrinsically Canadian,” she said.
“Innovators … will have catalyzed a range of solutions relevant to other crops as well. If they can do this in a cost-effective way, this will bring down the price of healthy and sustainably grown food for all Canadians,” she said.
Challenge parameters include:
- systems that substantially extend the current berry harvest at any time of year
- systems capable of harvesting a species of berry in Canada where that berry is not currently grown
- systems that can produce multiple harvests in one year (for a species that has only one harvest per season)
- systems that allow for continual all-year berry harvest
Several challenge phases will occur over the next six years, culminating in a winner announced in 2028.
Each phase will support teams to give them the best chance of breakthroughs.
The innovation team that progresses through all challenge phases and claims the final award will receive up to $8 million in funding to develop and scale the innovation.
Informational webinars are scheduled March 9 and April 13. More details can be had by emailing challenge@westonfoundation.ca.
