CCA Appoints Expert Panel on Atypical Food Production Technologies for Canadian Food Security

Canada’s food system is facing a range of issues that affect the accessibility and affordability of food. At the request of the National Research Council of Canada, the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) has formed an Expert Panel to examine the areas of advancement in atypical food production that have the greatest potential to help Canada achieve national food security within the next two decades. Lenore Newman, Director of the Food and Agriculture Institute and Research Chair, Food and Agriculture Innovation, at the University of the Fraser Valley, will serve as Chair of the Expert Panel.

“In the past few years, Canada’s food system has encountered unprecedented challenges, including a pandemic, low supplies, trade disruptions, and rising prices,” said Dr. Newman. “Atypical food production could help us to adapt to these and other changes and I look forward to exploring this important issue with my colleagues.”

As Chair, Dr. Newman will lead a multidisciplinary group with expertise in agricultural sciences, economics, engineering, food security, industry, and public policy. The Panel will answer the following question:

What areas of scientific and technological advancement (and related investment) in atypical food production will most contribute to Canada achieving national food security within the next two decades?

“I’m delighted that this panel, under Dr. Newman’s leadership, will be undertaking an assessment on this topic — one which I am confident will support innovative technological approaches that can help improve food security in communities across Canada,” said Eric M. Meslin, PhD, FRSC, FCAHS, President and CEO of the CCA.

More information can be found here.

The Expert Panel on Atypical Food Production Technologies for Canadian Food Security:

• Lenore Newman (Chair), Director, Food and Agriculture Institute and Research Chair, Food and Agriculture Innovation, University of the Fraser Valley
• Yuxiang Chen, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Engineering, University of Alberta
• Stephanie Cook, Operations Manager, The Smart Farm, Opaskwayak Cree Nation
• Martine Dorais, Professor, Department of Phytology, Université Laval
• Evan Fraser, Professor; Director, Arrell Food Institute, University of Guelph
• David Natcher, Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Saskatchewan
• Charles Nicholson, Associate Professor, Animal and Dairy Sciences and Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Henry Penn, Research Associate, Arctic Institute of North America
• Tammara Soma, Assistant Professor, School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University
• Alison Sunstrum, Founder, CEO CNSRVX-Inc.
• Alex Turkewitsch, President and Greenhouse Consultant, Greenhouse Engineering
• Rene Van Acker, Professor and Dean, Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph