Big and diverse turnout of Food Waste Reduction Challenge applications

Feb 12, 2021

Ottawa, Ontario – The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, announced an impressive turnout of 343 applications received from innovators in Canada and around the world as part of the Government of Canada’s Food Waste Reduction Challenge.

An initiative under the Food Policy for Canada, the $20-million Food Waste Reduction Challenge was launched in November 2020 to accelerate and advance diverse and high-impact solutions to food waste in Canada. Up to $10.8 million will be awarded under Streams A and B to innovators with business model solutions that can prevent or divert food waste at any point from farm-to-plate.

Of the 343 applications received, 27 percent were submitted by applicants who self-identified as youth (30 years old and under), 30 percent by applicants who self-identified as from a visible minority group and 32 percent by applicants who self-identified as women.

Streams A and B opened on November 19, 2020 and closed on January 18, 2021. Applications are being assessed and the first round of winners will be announced in the coming months. Streams C and D are scheduled to launch in spring 2021, and will focus on new technologies that extend the life of food or transform food waste into new foods or value-added products.

By encouraging more solutions to food waste in Canadian society, we can increase food availability, save consumers and businesses money and strengthen our food systems, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Source : Government of Canada

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.