Program will research producing enough food for growing populations
By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com
The federal government is investing nearly $77 million into the University of Guelph for the school’s Food From Thought program.
The investment, which represents the largest in the history of the school, will help researchers use high-tech information systems to help produce enough food for a growing population while sustaining Earth’s ecosystems.
“It is not just how much food we produce but also the way we produce it that will be key in the next century,” professor Malcolm Campbell, the institutional lead for the program, said in a university release.
Campbell added that new technology and agricultural practices must enhance biosecurity while providing safe, nutritious food and improving animal welfare.
Some issues researchers will tackle include:
- Expanding use of DNA barcoding technology developed at U of G to identify food fraud, food-borne ailments and invasive pests, and to improve environmental impact assessments;
- Using “big data” on farms to reduce pesticide use, monitor watershed health and identify crops suited to the effects of climate change; and
- Using information management systems to help track emerging infectious disease threats to livestock and to control pathogens in the food supply.
Government representatives said that as food challenges become increasingly complex, the University of Guelph will be able to research viable solutions.
“The global food supply will require the University’s unique leadership skills that bring together agricultural expertise, big data, environmental science, business and civil society,” MP for Guelph Lloyd Longfield said in a release. “Today’s funding announcement will give Canada a huge step forward to become a global leader in food.”