As TruLeaf has been evolving rapidly over the past year or more, an updated website was in order. We have recently launched the new version at truleaf.ca, please feel free to explore it!
Dennis Dimick, environmental editor for National Geographic, provides insight on "The Year of Food", how farmers can connect to the media, and thoughts about feeding the world.
Michele Payn-Knoper interviews Dennis Dimick, of National Geographic on their "Year of Food". This campaign, if you will, could dovetail nicely with the FAO's "International Year of Family Farming".
The "Year of Food" makes the point that conventional and organic farmers can, and should, work together for improvement of the agricultural industry. Let's take that one step further.
Urban farmers, vertical farms, plant factories, or whatever name you choose to use, must all work together to feed the world. Each production system has a place in the wider agricultural industry, and each production system could stand some improvement. We are all in this together.
There's no doubt that food production requires a lot of water. Water use by field crops vary by crop, climate, and growth stage. For example, a fully developed crop of corn would require more water than, say, radishes. A climate that is sunny or windy would result in increased water requirements, compared to the same crop grown in humid or overcast conditions. The FAO has a fantastic reference document explaining crop water use.
However, agricultural researchers and producers are constantly working to find ways to decrease water use or increase water use efficiency. Improvements can come from plant breeding, engineering of irrigation systems, or from shifting production of appropriate high value crops to recirculating, protected systems. Such intervention will be of increasing importance over the next number of years.
This may be a figure released in 2009, but it doesn't negate the impact that Canada's many farmers markets have on the economy. The economic impact study, found here, breaks down the impacts of these markets. For example, over half the vendors surveyed reported that their participation in a market created between 1 and 5 jobs.
A recent study in Neuropsychologia links tyrosine, an amino acid found in foods such as spinach, may enhance our cognitive ability to prevent a reflex reaction.
An article by CTV, How a spinach omelette can sharpen your reflexes, describes the study, and how eating tyrosine rich foods could have a positive impact on road safety.
The peer-reviewed paper, Eating to stop: Tyrosine supplementation enhances inhibitory control but not response execution, can be found here.
Today we are showing you a picture of our new office view! We recently completed a major renovation, and decided there was no better way to show visitors the heart of the company than letting them see right into our research lab. Of course, it wouldn't be complete without a TruLeaf style paint job!
This may come as a surprise, but almost every farm in Canada is a family farm! The farm may be a large field crop operation on the prairie, or a small beef farm on the east coast. The farmer may produce the milk you find on the shelf at your local grocery store or the vegetables you buy at your local farm market. Whether its large or small, in fields, greenhouses (or vertical farm!) or barns, Canada's agriculture industry is family based! At TruLeaf, we may not be a family, but we all share a dedication to our product, just like farm families across the country.
A recent article from CBC, titled “Pesticide residue found on nearly half of organic produce”, may have some Canadian consumers re-evaluating why they spend their food dollars on organic fruits and vegetables, and spurring their questions about our agricultural industry.
Information from a Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) reports nearly half of the tested samples of organic produce contained pesticide residue, with approximately 2% of samples containing more than the allowable limit. This is, admittedly, much lower than the statistics for more conventionally grown crops. These data points have produced a veritable storm in the media. An article in the National Post suggested labeling of organic products be abandoned. There is no doubt, however, that the Canadian organic agriculture industry is significant (as you can see in the infographic from the Canada Organic Trade Association)
Food production is a hot button topic in a country where most of the population relies on third parties to supply them with one of the essentials of life. Products grown in highly controlled environments, operations which have strict preventative measures against pests, are more likely to be free from pesticides and pathogens. Regardless, a population that depends on a very small sector (about 2% of the population, according to Statistics Canada) for food production, is bound to be disconnected from the overall production chain. Some of the common fears, and misconceptions, revolve around the so-called ‘factory-farm’, hormones and antibiotics, pesticides, and genetic modification.
Fortunately, there are plenty of ways for a resident of Canada to learn more about their food. Perhaps in an effort to stem the misrepresentation of agriculture from various lobbying groups, various provincial departments of agriculture offer educational material. Many producer organizations embark on educational promotions, and there are plenty of opportunities to meet the folks that are responsible for Canadian agricultural production. For example, the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture’s “Meet Your Farmer” campaign organizes an “Open Farm Day” each year, and other provinces do the same.
Agriculture, sometimes fondly referred to as “Ag” in Canada is not perfect, but it is an industry that Canadians can be proud of. Each day, hundreds of thousands of Canadian farmers, educators, researchers, specialists, retailers, and financial experts work hard to bring you quality food and improve a thriving industry. TruLeaf is proud to be a part of it.
In honor of that, over the next number of days we will be posting facts about Canadian Ag from Farm Credit Canada.
David McInerney, FreshDirect's co-founder, speaks to why our food is not as flavorful as it could be, what we can do about, and introduces us to several dedicated agricultural producers!
Debra Murphy, of Real Agriculture, recently interviewed Kevin Folta from the University of Florida about his work with horticultural plants, and the interactions between genetics, light, and flavour. You can watch the video below, or read the original article.
TruLeaf, and others in the controlled environment agriculture sector, grow with entirely artificial lighting. This means gaining knowledge of the interactions Dr. Folta describes are critical-we have to make certain that plants are receiving the right light to strike a true note in the orchestra of flavour (to continue Dr. Folta's appropriate analogy). However, this control of light spectrum also offers intriguing possibilities to manipulate flavour in ways which were previously unknown.
TruLeaf's research facility is just minutes from Dalhousie's Faculty of Agriculture. Founded in 1905 and formerly known as the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, this campus offers unique programs and hands-on learning in plant and animal science, agricultural engineering, and many other areas. As Canada's third oldest institution for agricultural research and education, affectionately known as 'The AC', this campus boasts an impressive amount of research and international connections. With two employees educated on the AC campus, TruLeaf is proud to be associated with Dalhousie's Faculty of Agriculture.
Maybe you're a student preparing to graduate from high school, an interested parent, or an adult looking to return to school. If you have interests in food production, agribusiness, or animal care, the AC has something for you. Come and explore this unique Nova Scotia campus!
Salad in space: Lessons from NASA on low-impact farming
When you think about NASA, chances are that Mars, the international space station, and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield come to mind--in fact, here he is rehydrating some leafy greens at zero gravity!
At TruLeaf, we're very excited that the leading minds at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are thinking about new ways to grow fresh, healthy plants.
According to Modern Farmer's recent piece, “Space Farming: The Final Frontier”, it costs about $10,000 to send one pound of food into space.
Between cost concerns and weight constraints, new attention is being turned toward systems that would enable astronauts to produce their own food while on mission.
Plant production in space requires a system that uses as few resources as possible--nutrients, water, growing media, lights are all potentially weighty items. The less weight on a space-faring vessel, the less fuel and money needed for the mission.
Enter the “Vegetable Production System”, a soilless system that employs red, blue, and green LED lights to grow plants:
The Vegetable Production System (Veggie) is a deployable plant growth unit capable of producing salad-type crops to provide the crew with a palatable, nutritious, and safe source of fresh food and a tool to support relaxation and recreation. The Veggie provides lighting and nutrient delivery, but utilizes the cabin environment for temperature control and as a source of carbon dioxide to promote growth. (Source: NASA)
The system is expected to be used on the International Space Station later this year to grow a popular variety of lettuce named ‘Outredgeous’.
This isn’t the first time NASA has set its sights on agriculture. In fact, NASA has been studying crop production in space since the 1980’s.
In fact, spinoff technologies adapted from NASA's work have benefitted our earthly agricultural industry in the following ways:
Improvements in GPS and satellite technologies for precision agriculture and crop health monitoring;
Air purification technologies to make harvested crops last longer;
Robotics for fruit harvesting;
New contributions to research on artificial lighting and aeroponic plant production.
So what does this mean for those of us who will never enjoy a meal in orbit? The real challenge that NASA is tackling is how to grow fresh food with as few resources as possible.
It is no secret that the food system as we know it--that is, vast quantities of imported fruits and vegetables supplemented by what is seasonally grown locally--is going to change. The rising cost of fuel alone will bring about new experiments in low-impact agriculture.
At TruLeaf, we are striving emulate this thinking to produce higher yields with fewer resources. For example, our trials follow scientific research methods and rigorous data collection to fully understand exactly how much water and energy goes into a single pound of food, and how we can reduce from there. Our goal is to maximize freshness, taste, nutrient content, while minimizing the inputs required. We are always thrilled to learn about creative agricultural research from from unconventional sources, like NASA, on growing a lot using only a little.
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For more information on the technical aspects of NASA’s research into crop growth in space, please visit “Crop Production for Advanced Life Support Systems”.
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