NB Agriculture production. Representational image by Adele Payman on unsplash
Fredericton/CMEDIA: Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Marie-Claude Bibeau met during her recent visit to New Brunswick with local entrepreneurs, producers, government representatives, and industry experts in the agriculture and agri-food sector.
Diversity of New Brunswick’s agri-food production and its contribution to the region’s sustainable development including various agri-food industries, including poultry, dairy maple syrup, lamb, haskap and potatoes was highlighted by the Minister in roundtable discussions and tours.
Beginning with a tour and a roundtable at the Jardin Botanique du Nouveau-Brunswick in Saint-Jacques, located in the north-west of the province, the Minister was accompanied by René Arseneault, MP for Madawaska – Restigouche and several agricultural stakeholders and local mayors, Jenika Atwin, Member of Parliament for Fredericton, Bibeau also visited Chinova Bioworks Inc. in Fredericton, one of six finalists competing in the Food Waste Reduction Challenge – Novel Technologies Streams..
The company demonstrated how to reduce food waste by the use of mushrooms to create a natural, clean-label ingredient that improves the quality, freshness and shelf-life of food and beverage products.
As a semi-finalist in the Challenge, Chinova received $100,000 in January 2022 to build a prototype of their innovative technology. In January 2023, the company received an additional $450,000 as a Challenge finalist to test their technology in an operational environment.
After receiving $100,000, as a semi-finalist in the Challenge, in January 2022 to build a prototype of their innovative technology, Chinova in January 2023, received an additional $450,000 as a Challenge finalist to test their technology in an operational environment and now is competing for one of two Challenge grand prizes of up to $1 million, to be announced in Spring 2024.
Chinova is now competing for one of two Challenge grand prizes of up to $1 million, to be announced in Spring 2024.Minister Bibeau concluded her New Brunswick tour in Sackville with a visit at the Tantramar Grasslands Co-operative Limited, one of 25 research sites as part of Living Lab – New Brunswick.
Concluding her tour in New Brunswick the minister visited at the Tantramar Grasslands Co-operative Limited, one of 25 research sites as part of Living Lab – New Brunswick, Bibeau participated in a roundtable with partners of this project along with Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, discussed the importance of adopting beneficial management practices such as rotational grazing practices and soil sequestration and how they can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
While also touring many innovative agricultural enterprises while in New Brunswick, including the Fromagerie de la République, in Saint-Basile, Cormier – Producteur de légumes farm in Rivière Verte, and W.A. Farm, a family-owned pork farm in Salisbury, she also visited the Dieppe Farmers Market, where she met with local producers and vendors.
The Annual Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers of Agriculture Conference, co-chaired by Bibeau with with Margaret Johnson, Minister of Agriculture, Aquaculture, and Fisheries of New Brunswick, underlining the importance of collaborating to ensure that producers and processors in Canada have the supports they need to continue to feed Canadians and a growing global population,was one of the highlights of the Minister’s tour in New Brunswick.
