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Climate Change and Food Insecurity: How Can Canada Adapt?

By Tabitha Caswell for Bioenterprise Canada

Although Canada has abundant resources, its food and agriculture systems are uniquely influenced by its geography which spans a wide range of climate zones from mild to temperate and subarctic. Situated in the northern hemisphere, much of the country experiences limited growing seasons and as the warming trend continues, our vulnerable ecosystems will be affected by adverse and unexpected weather-related events like droughts, fires, and floods.  

A complex dynamic of socio-economic factors, multi-cultural perspectives, and policy frameworks further shape Canada’s approach to addressing climate change impacts, requiring collaborative, context-specific adaptation strategies to ensure the resilience and sustainability of our agri-food sector.

In this article, we’ll explore how the Canadian agri-food system can adapt by leveraging modern innovation and technology, while strategically incorporating a return to traditional agricultural practices. 

Source : Bioenterprises.ca

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Designing a Robotic Berry Picker

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Since blackberries must be harvested by hand, the process is time-consuming and labor-intensive. To support a growing blackberry industry in Arkansas, food science associate professor Renee Threlfall is collaborating with mechanical engineering assistant professor Anthony Gunderman to develop a mechanical harvesting system. Most recently, the team designed a device to measure the force needed to pick a blackberry without damaging it. The data from this device will help inform the next stage of development and move the team closer to the goal of a fully autonomous robotic berry picker. The device was developed by Gunderman, with Yue Chen, a former U of A professor now at Georgia Tech, and Jeremy Collins, then a U of A undergraduate engineering student. To determine the force needed to pick blackberries without damage, the engineers worked with Threlfall and Andrea Myers, then a graduate student.