Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz stopped in at Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon yesterday.
Ritz walked through some of the exhibits, sampled some pulled pork prepared by the Manitoba Pork Council, and announced $440 thousand in funding for the Manitoba Food Processors Association.
$300,000 will be used to help entrepreneurs launch new food businesses and products, and $141,666 will allow the MFPA to study idea of developing a functional food "service centre" in Winnipeg.
"Canada has proven to the world that we can produce...everytime we can add value to those commodities going out is certainly good for the Canadian economy," said Ritz. "There are a lot of side benefits, a lot of value added coming out of leftover materials from our crops."
Ritz, along with Brandon-Souris MP Merv Tweed, also participated in a closed-door roundtable with farmers while in Brandon on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, Ritz announced an agreement between Canada and the US on animal disease zoning.
Source: PortageOnline