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Agriculture Roundup

Agriculture Roundup for Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Mar 12, 2024 | 11:21 AM

The Saskatchewan Government has renewed a five-year funding agreement with part of the University of Saskatchewan’s agri-science hub at Innovation Place in Saskatoon, Sask.

The Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) was formed in 2012 to develop and deliver innovative solutions to feed the world.

GIFS will receive $3 million each year from 2023 to 2027 to support its ongoing operations supporting crop breeding through sequencing, bioinformatics and data analytics services or technology development towards the commercialization of new products.

GIFS recently completed a two-year study showing Saskatchewan can grow five major crops with a lower carbon footprint than other major producing countries, such as the United States, Australia, and France.

First-of-their-kind hemp and sunflower ingredients will provide food manufacturers with more protein choices.

Protein Industries Canada is working in conjunction with Burcon NutraScience, HPS Food and Ingredients and Puratos Canada.

Burcon is increasing the value of each hemp and sunflower flour by extracting hemp protein isolate, sunflower protein isolate and sunflower protein concentrate to meet the growing needs of food and beverage companies, as they work to provide Canadian consumers with a wide variety of nutritious and flavour-neutral protein options.

In partnership with Burcon, HPS is assessing hemp crop varieties to determine which are best suited for the new ingredients, while also developing, commercializing and scaling the technology needed to process the hemp into the new ingredients.

Further along the value chain, Puratos and Burcon will each focus on using the hemp and sunflower ingredients in new food and beverage products, particularly baking applications, beverages and meat alternatives.

The Canadian Centre for Food Integrity (CCFI) has announced Lisa Bishop-Spencer as its new Executive Director.

She has over 20 years of experience in strategic communications and brand management within the food industry. Bishop-Spencer’s career includes leadership roles at the Chicken Farmers of Canada and the City of Ottawa.

CCFI aims to continue its mission of building public trust and promoting informed decision-making in the food industry.

alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

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