To our farmer-members: 2020 Reflections, 2021 Opportunities and Future Plans

Mar 30, 2021

BURLINGTON, ON – On March 25, 2021, Chicken Farmers of Ontario (CFO) hosted our Virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) – the virtual platform being one of the ways we continue to work differently during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With over 300 of our farmer-members, allied industry and government partners participating in the virtual meeting, the AGM was an excellent way to learn about and discuss opportunities, issues, and future plans for the Ontario chicken industry.

The meeting themes, Responsible, Resilient, Recover, and Deliver and Transform, demonstrate how CFO is working with farmers and industry to continue to understand and manage COVID-19’s challenges and impacts and how the resiliency of our supply management business model continues to prove effective and successful.

Source : CFO

Video: Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Regulations help markets and industry exist on level playing fields, keeping consumers safe and innovation from going too far. However, incredibly strict regulations can stunt innovation and cause entire industries to wither away. Dr. Peter James Facchini brings his perspective on how existing regulations have slowed the advancement of medical developments within Canada. Given the international concern of opium poppy’s illicit potential, Health Canada must abide by this global policy. But with modern technology pushing the development of many pharmaceuticals to being grown via fermentation, is it time to reconsider the rules?

Dr. Peter James Facchini leads research into the metabolic biochemistry in opium poppy at the University of Calgary. For more than 30 years, his work has contributed to the increased availability of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthetic genes to assist in the creation of morphine for pharmaceutical use. Dr. Facchini completed his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto before completing Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1992 & Université de Montréal in 1995.