To celebrate World Food Day at the University of Manitoba, the Food Systems Research Group, in collaboration with the Winnipeg Food Council, is organizing a campus food system transformation workshop. 

When:     October 16, 2019 from 1:00 – 4:30 pm

Where:    St. John’s College Cross Common Room (#108)

Keynote address:  Seeding Food Citizenship through Campus Food System Transformation

Dr. Hannah Wittman, Academic Director of the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm, and Professor in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia.

This presentation explores the campus food system as a nexus for creating food citizenship as is demonstrated by the experiences of several Canadian universities.   From the UBC Farm to the 25,000 meals per day provided by UBC Food Services, the UBC Food system has evolved significantly over the last 100 years.  The UBC food system includes primary production of food in research fields, environmental and food literacy education for students and community members at the UBC Farm, dining halls, student run cafes, and food science laboratories, a commitment to local procurement and fair trade, and collaboration with the Vancouver Food Policy Council and the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems to create equitable, healthy, and ecologically sound food systems one bite at a time.

Hannah Wittman received her PhD in Development Sociology from Cornell University and conducts community-based research related to food sovereignty, agrarian reform, and food literacy.  Her work contributes towards a critical discussion of pathways towards food sovereignty, agroecology, and health equity in Canada and Latin America.  

Guest presentation:  The Winnipeg Food Council: Exploring Campus-Community Engagement for Food Systems Change

Jeanette Sivilay, Coordinator of the Winnipeg Food Council

This presentation will explain what the Winnipeg Food Council is, why it was created, and the work it plans to undertake  including food assessments in all wards of Winnipeg. In doing so, the talk will also explore ideas for collaboration between the Winnipeg Food Council and the university community. 

Jeanette is the Coordinator of the Winnipeg Food Council, a new citizen advisory committee formed by Winnipeg City Council. A freshly minted University of Manitoba grad, Jeanette holds an MA in Geography, studying food sovereignty in Manitoba. She brings with her several years’ experience working at an on-campus farm in Winnipeg at Canadian Mennonite University, and currently volunteers as a community organizer in the local food community.

EVERYONE – Please join us to discuss what research, education/curriculum, and action we can undertake for campus food system transformation.

REGISTRATION ON SALE NOW!!!

STUDENT REGISTRATION ONLY $15 AND NON-STUDENT REGISTRATION $25, INCLUDES COFFEE, SNACKS, A CATERED LUNCH, AND A POST-EVENT SOCIAL (LOCATION TBD).

Register at: uomfssc.com/registration/

This one-day event showcases the food systems research happening here on campus through graduate student presentations, a poster competition, a keynote speech from Dr. Tara Moreau of the University of British Columbia and a panel with Dr. Moreau and some of the top food systems researchers on campus. Through presentations and discussion, we will talk about the opportunities, challenges, and successes made possible by collaboration through transdisciplinary food systems research.

Keep the conversation going by attending the social mixer at the Daily Bread Café on campus after the event from 5:00pm to 8:00pm!

Food Systems Student Symposium keynote Dr. Tara Moreau, UBC.

About the keynote: Tara Moreau, is the Associate Director of Sustainability and Community Programs at UBC Botanical Gardens where she oversees educational programs, sustainability initiatives, and community outreach. With over 15 years of experience including working as an international consultant for the UN-Food and Agriculture Organization, her goal is to advance local and global food systems and their sustainability. Her publications, presentations and educational programs relate to food systems, sustainability education, agriculture, biodiversity, and food policy across multiple jurisdictions.

About the panel: The afternoon panel discussion covers experiences and opportunities for collaborative, transdisciplinary research, both within the University of Manitoba and beyond. Panelists are Tara Moreau, and professors with the Food Systems Research Group here at the University of Manitoba. The panel will finish with an opportunity for audience questions and discussion.

Panelists:

• Tara Moreau, Associate Director of Sustainability and Community Programs at UBC Botanical Gardens
• Joyce Slater, Associate Professor, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences and Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba
• Teresa De Kievit, Associate Head/Graduate Chair, Microbiology, University of Manitoba
• Annette Desmarais, Associate Professor, Sociology & Canada Research Chair in Human Rights, Social Justice and Food Sovereignty, University of Manitoba
• Iain Davidson-Hunt, Professor, Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba

About student presentations: Students will share their research through traditional and Pecha Kucha oral presentations and through research posters. Pecha Kucha is a presentation style where presenters use 20 slides for 20 seconds each to communicate their research, which encourages students to learn how to communicate their research concisely and effectively to a wide audience. 

Here is a sneak peek at the student presentations for the day:

Traditional presentations

• Folarin Solademi: Heavy Metals Pollution in Industrial/Residential Areas, Winnipeg: Implication on Food Safety and Security
• Jess Nicksy: Anthronutrients: Amendments for closing nutrient cycles in organically managed systems
• Ramandeep Kaur: Kgengwe (Citrullus Ianatus) Seeds: A Novel and Sustainable Functional Food with Potential Anti-Atherogenic Properties
• Hannah Bihun: Regenerating Agriculture: Becoming a young farmer in Manitoba, Canada
• Md Monirujjaman: Dietary high protein worsens disease progression without altering renal prostanoids and other oxylipins in normal mice or in mice with inherited kidney disease
• Jeanette Sivilay: Communities of Resistance in Manitoba and the Potential for Food Sovereignty

Pecha Kucha presentations

• April Stainsby: Soil health monitoring research in prairie Canada and East Africa
• Sean Scammell: Crafting a Local Food Production System with Innovative Technologies for Northern Canada
• Uduak Edet: Remote Supervision of Autonomous Agricultural Machines: Concepts and Feasibility
• Kaitlyn Duthie-Kannikkatt: Cultivating seed sovereignty in Tarija, Bolivia
• Jeanger Labayen: Efficacy of pre-treatments on improving the tensile strength of unwanted textile and paper waste for biodegradable seedling pots

Poster presentations

• Emily Boonstra and Sydney Fortier: Environmental impacts associated with removal of productivity-enhancing technologies from the Canadian beef industry
• Brandon Hanson: Within and between animal variation in supplement intake with the use of a novel precision feeding system for beef cattle
• Hannah Oduro-Obeng: Impact of extrusion-cooking and sheet and cut processing on pasta carotenoid retention, cooking quality and starch properties
• Jiaur Rahman: Utilization of brewer’s spent grain through the characterization of bioactive polyphenols
• Rhea Teranishi: Enteric methane emissions from pregnant heifers as affected by multiple methane mitigation dietary strategies
• Lucien Cayer: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) derived oxylipins are decreased in the heart by dietary exposure to 2-monochloro-1,3-propanediol.
• Yidi Wang: Does energy dense diet affect birth outcomes in rats with prenatal ethanol exposure?
• Nikki Hawrylyshen: Connecting the dots: Investigating the relationship between determinants of health and food & nutrition security in Manitoba youth
• Ravinder Singh: Effects of carbon dioxide gas assisted extrusion cooking on physical properties of yellow pea puffed snacks
• Navjot Kaur Brar: A comparative evaluation of processing yellow peas (Pisum sativum L.) with convective hot air and superheated steam

On top of all of the great presentations and discussions throughout the day, F3S is an opportunity for students to meet people, network, and participate in the community of food systems researchers here at the University of Manitoba. 

Don’t miss out! Register today at uomfssc.com/registration/

Planning committee members and Masters students Hannah Bihun and Roxie Koohgoli promoted F3S 2019 at a recent Food Systems Research Group seminar. 

WHAT ARE FOOD SYSTEMS

When it’s time to eat, most of us don’t think about all the logistics and relationships required to deliver the dish placed in front of you. On average, food commodities travel between 1500 to 2500 miles before reaching their final destination – the plate. This journey of food creates what is known as the food system. A food system, as defined by the Oxford Martin Programme, includes “activities involved in the production, processing, transport, consumption, sustainability, governance and economics of food production, as well as the degree to which we waste food, and how food production affects the natural environment including health and wellbeing.”

The escalation of globalization over the past few decades has changed the way the food system works. Before the expansive growth of worldwide markets and the interconnectedness of economies, the majority of the food was raised and distributed locally. Today the journey from raw product to the food on your plate commonly involves several countries.

“Food systems are incredibly complex, operating on local, national and international scales, and they continue to grow in intricacy,” began Hannah and Roxie. “And they can contribute to social, political, economic, environmental, scientific, and health challenges.”

“Finding solutions to these problems requires collaboration across various governmental and non-governmental sectors to drive vibrant economies to have strong relationships around food. Collaboration leads to resilient networks necessary for rebuilding a healthy food system. Coming together with the common interest of food, collaborative research will allow the resources from each group forming the interconnectedness of food systems to make a greater impact in solving the flaws of the global food system.” 

A key point that Hannah and Roxie emphasized was that society already has all the necessary resources needed to support healthy food systems without the detrimental effects that are currently being caused. By working with multiple stakeholders, which include, but are not limited to, agricultural producers, educators, policymakers, food inventory managers and community organizers, a sustainable and efficient food system can be developed.

F3S 2019

The F3S planning committee sees the Food Systems Student Symposium as pivotal to not only bridge the knowledge gap of food systems on campus, but between government, civil society and industry as well. This years’ theme for the 1-day event, ‘Bridging the Gap,’ will focus on facilitating meaningful discussions and collaborations on food systems research across Faculties on campus. The symposium provides an opportunity for graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Manitoba to present their research with a new perspective. While all collaborative research fosters innovation through the exchange of resources and expertise between stakeholders, it is especially essential within the realm of academia as each faculty approaches problems differently, whether it be a top-down or a bottom-up approach. 

Keynote speaker Dr. Tara Moreau will kick off the day-long event. Dr. Moreau is a professor at the University of British Columbia with extensive experience relating to food systems. She is a member of the Vancouver Food Policy Council, has worked internationally as a consultant with the UN-Food and Agriculture Organization and is a board member at SPEC, a Vancouver-based environmental NGO. Graduate students conducting research on foods systems will present and discuss their findings through a combination of oral and poster presentations. The afternoon will feature a panel discussion with members of the Food Systems Research Group who will speak to how they are Bridging the Gap in their food systems-related research. 

While most of the 118 attendees last year were graduate students, there were also undergraduate students and industry members in attendance, with a total of 9 faculties being represented. The F3S planning committee is working hard to attract undergraduate students to attend this year’s symposium in hopes that the discourse and presentations on food systems will spark an interest to continue their studies, pursuing a Masters or PhD. 

ATTEND THIS YEARS FOOD SYSTEM STUDENT SYMPOSIUM

This year’s F3S will be held on Wednesday, June 26th, 2019 in 200 Robson Hall at The University of Manitoba from 8:30 am- 4:30 pm with a social to follow. 

Registration is open to both University of Manitoba students ($25) and staff ($50) as well as the public ($50). Registration and more information can be found online at https://uomfssc.com/registration/

Call for student abstracts: Students! Submit your abstract online: https://uomfssc.com. 

• The deadline for student speaker competition abstracts is Friday, May 24th at 4:00pm
• The deadline for student poster competition abstracts is Friday, May 31st at 4:00pm

What is the Food Systems Research Group? The FSRG is an umbrella group fostering the creation of multi/trans-disciplinary collaborative research to advance the theme of Safe, Healthy, Just and Sustainable Food Systems.

Sign up to receive FSRG news by sending an email to foodsystems@umanitoba.ca. 

Sara Poppel is an economics student currently helping with communications with the Food Systems Research Group.

In order to understand and gather knowledge surrounding the relationship between Lakota elders and food security, Dr. Mary Kate Dennis spent the summer of 2009 living on the Pine Ridge reservation in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Her findings, which counter the stories of poverty on the reservation through Lakota voices, provide new generational opportunities for food security, and establish a dialogue on food security unique to the reservation were shared at a Food Systems Research Group seminar on February 27th, 2019.

Dr. Mary Kate Dennis, Assistant Professor in the Master of Social Work based in Indigenous Knowledges Program in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Manitoba, begun the seminar by explaining that while social work research done on food security has gained popularity over the past years, it is often looked at on a global or urban scale and fails to account for issues in smaller communities and reservations where the nearest source of fresh food can be up to 160 km away. The few studies that have been done on food security in rural environments are also typically done through marginalized rhetoric of race, class, and poverty. From the beginning of her research on the Pine Ridge reserve, Dr. Mary Kate Dennis’s intent to study food security in one of poorest counties and largest reservations in the U.S. was different, and as said by a Lakota elder, would include “no sad stories!”.

LIVING AND LEARNING WITH LAKOTA ELDERS

Of the 25 elders that Dr. Dennis interviewed, 20 were women, five were men, only three were under the age of 70 and all had been born and raised on the reservation. In interviews that varied from an hour and a half to nine hours in length, they shared stories from their youth and what it was like to grow up on family homesteads without running water while relying on wooden fires for heat and being a part of large families that had up to ten children to feed. Stories shared were primarily from female perspectives. Of these stories, strong themes that came out were self-sufficiency, unison in family and neighbors, and food preservation. 

While the conditions may have been terrible, they survived on what was given to them. Growing up, the elders’ communities operated differently than they do today in part because they didn’t have access to the goods and services, government resources and programs that are meant to benefit the communities. Families could only rely on themselves and their neighbours to get by, and so they did. Men were responsible for husbandry and hunting while the women took care of the domestic work including cooking, cleaning and making clothes for the family. Farm animals included cows, horses, and chickens, while the large gardens grew tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers, watermelons, corn, beets, turnips, onions and more. Wild fruits and berries like chokecherries and wild plums were also gathered, dried and stored for the months ahead, much like everything else that was gathered and grown. While the communities were extremely independent, anything that couldn’t be made or grown could be purchased in town which required a horse and buggy to travel to. 

While many of these tasks were done as a way of survival they were also family quality time, used as teaching opportunities for the children so that they could also be self-sufficient. Because of this time spent together, food preservation was a significant part of the elders’ lives. Anything that could be used, ranging from fruits and vegetables to “garbage cuts and leftover parts” like animal lungs, were dried and stored in community root cellars. Community members would share their season’s harvest and dried meats and take what they needed from others, but never more. This unison of families eased the burdens that were present and “everyone worked together so that it was an easier time.”

CHANGING TIMES AND CHANGING COMMUNITIES

As the elders moved into their adult lives, government intervention and ‘modern’ goods entered their lives. Chips, pop, and other unhealthy but cheap convenience foods became accessible at nearby gas stations and government programs distributed processed rations lacking quality and proper nutrients. While the elders remained self-sufficient because of the knowledge that they had acquired during their youth relying on the land for food, this change in food supply shifted the immediate need for the younger generation to learn those same skills. Rations and modern food items have created a sense of dependency for the younger generations in the communities while creating many health problems like obesity and diabetes. Without the need to garden, farm and preserve food like their elders, residents and in particular, youth, became dependent on government aid. 

The elders, however, even in their old age, are still very much independent and continue to garden, share with their neighbours and only ever take what they need and nothing more. As Dr. Dennis explained, the Pine Ridge elders’ knowledge of land and food security needs to be accessed and shared with their community. Their knowledge and skills, which are unique to the land on the Pine Ridge Reservation, would allow other community members to be more independent and less reliant on the safety net that is government funding and rations. 

QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSIONS

Like all FSRG seminars, the last half-hour of Dr. Mary Kate Dennis’s talk included an open space for discussion between her and the attendees which included staff, scholars, and students from various faculties and programs. During this time, attendees had the opportunity to ask any questions related to Dr. Mary Kate Dennis, her research and the Lakota elders.

Some of the paraphrased questions and responses were:

What surprised you the most about the elders as it related to food?

They didn’t farm hogs.

How are seeds stored and exchanged?

Like any grandma! They dried, saved, exchanged and shared seeds in envelopes with their neighbours.

What do the elders think about the youth’s stance on food security?

Over time, government aid and resources have become much more prominent on reservations which have created relatively easier upbringings for Indigenous youth compared to those of the elders. Without a need for complete self-sufficiency and community interdependence, the elders respectfully see the youth as having a different work ethic than their own simply because the elders were not dependent on anything or anyone while at the same time had a much larger sense of community growing up. Coincidently, because Indigenous youth have a loss of self-sufficiency, the elders also believe that their own childhoods were in a sense, in fact, easier than today’s youth.

What is the Food Systems Research Group? The FSRG is an umbrella group fostering the creation of multi/trans-disciplinary collaborative research to advance the theme of Safe, Healthy, Just and Sustainable Food Systems. 

Sign up to receive FSRG news by sending an email to foodsystems@umanitoba.ca. 

Sara Poppel is an economics student in her second year, helping with communications with the Food Systems Research Group.

Join us for a special FSRG student seminar “Bridging the Gap: The Power of Collaborative Research” on Wednesday, April 10th at 9:30 am in 320 Sinnott Building by graduate students Hannah Bihun and Roxie Koohgoli, members of the Food Systems Student Symposium (F3S) planning committee.

ABOUT THIS TALK 

Food systems operate at local, national, and international scales, however, with the rise of globalization, the complexity within the food system and between food system actors increases. Collaborative research fosters innovation through the exchange of resources and expertise; it provides training and professional development and fosters open dialogue among industry, academia, and government. In addition to sharing information, those involved in collaborative research about the food system are able to share the cost of research as well as the benefits. Last year the Food Systems Research Group at the University of Manitoba (UofM) put together a student committee to plan and execute the inaugural Food Systems Student Symposium, a platform for graduate students to share their research and learn about other food systems research occurring on campus. The symposium was well attended and provided a great platform for food systems discussion with a focus on sustainability in the food system. This year the symposium theme is ‘Bridging the Gap’ and will focus on facilitating meaningful discussions and collaborations between food systems research across faculties at the UofM. Our goal is to establish a common vision for what collaborative food systems research should look like at the University of Manitoba and develop an understanding about the different strategies we can adapt to bridge the gaps that exist.

ABOUT THE F3S PLANNING COMMITTEE

F3S planning committee (clockwise): Roxie Koohgoli, Rafiqul Islam, Hannah Bihun, Adjarat Adegun, Laura Funk and Adam Franczyk.

The F3S student planning committee is a group of graduate students representing faculties across campus, including; Roxie Koohgoli (Agricultural and Food Sciences), Hannah Bihun (Environment, Earth, and Resources), Adam Franczyk (Agricultural and Food Sciences), Rafiqul Islam (Science), Adjarat Adegun (Environment, Earth, and Resources), and Laura Funk (Arts). The members of the planning committee are engaged in diverse research that contributes to or relates to food systems knowledge and is motivated to find ways to bridge the gaps between faculties. The goal of the symposium is to highlight and share graduate student research about food systems. With our focus on food systems, the purpose of F3S is to spark innovation, encourage collaboration amongst graduate students and faculty, and inspire undergraduate students to join the research community within various departments across the UofM. 

The Food Systems Research Group – a joint initiative by Agriculture, Environment, Science, and Arts Faculties – is an umbrella group fostering the creation of multi/trans-disciplinary collaborative research to advance the UofM signature research theme of Safe, Healthy, Just, and Sustainable Food Systems.

Faculty and students are welcome to join the FSRG. Email foodsystems@umanitoba.ca to join our mailing list to be informed of future events and activities of this diverse group.

Our winter FSRG research knowledge sharing series continues with the seminar “Protecting Canada’s crops using next-generation molecular fungicides” by Dr. Mark Belmonte, Associate Professor and Associate Head of Biological Sciences. Join us Wednesday, March 27th at 3:00 pm in 205 Armes Building. 

ABOUT THIS TALK 

Sclerotina sclerotiorum, the causal agent of white mold, infects over 450 species of plants worldwide. This fungal phytopathogen has become a major threat to crops including canola which contributes $26.7 billion to the Canadian economy. Sclerotinia has become a persistent problem for canola growers that has traditionally been managed using broad-spectrum fungicides.  However, current fungicide strategies have proven less effective and crop rotations fail due to the promiscuous host range of Sclerotinia and the formation of durable resting structures known as sclerotia. Thus, there is an immediate need to manage Sclerotinia using new ecologically friendly tools. Using a re-designed bioinformatics approach, Dr. Belmonte and his team developed next-generation molecular fungicides that target specific genes within the fungus and functionality of the molecules: dsRNA molecules that were screened for growth inhibition on the plant showed up to 85% reduction in lesion spread. As an alternative to foliar applications, they have also also engineered plants to over-express dsRNA molecules targeting the disease and showed a more profound and prolonged tolerance to the fungus across the growing season. Together, their work provides growers with ecologically conscience solutions to managing this devastating pathogen thus protecting Canada’s number one crop.  

ABOUT MARK BELMONTE

Dr. Mark Belmonte is an Associate Professor and Associate Head of Biological Sciences at the University of Manitoba. Mark received his BSc and MSc from the University of Calgary before moving to Winnipeg where he obtained his Ph.D. in plant science in 2008. After a brief postdoctoral fellowship at UC Davis, Mark moved back to Winnipeg to start his own lab in the Faculty of Science. His work holds the promise of solving world food shortages while significantly bolstering Canada’s agricultural economy. Dr. Belmonte’s group uses cutting edge next generation molecular and plant laser microdissection techniques to improve crop production and protection of some of Canada’s most important agricultural crops. Mark has published his work over 50 times, been the recipient of numerous awards, and is devoted to promoting science education and research at outreach events across Canada while taking pride in training the next generation of young scientists. 

ABOUT THE KNOWLEDGE SHARING SERIES

Each month during the regular session we will hold a presentation and discussion session so that as a research community we can learn from each other about the breadth and diversity of food systems research happening across our campus. The location of the session will vary depending on the host Faculty. The session consists of a 30-minute presentation followed by 30 minutes of discussion.

UPCOMING SPECIAL EVENTS

FSRG presents the Panel discussion: Canada’s New Food Guide: Protein on the Plate

• Apr 1, 7:00 pm at McNally Robinson – Featuring panelists Drs. Joyce Slater and James House, Dept. of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences and Mr. Darren Fife, Human Ecology Teacher Candidate, Faculty of Education. Session moderator Dr. Martin Scanlon, Professor and Dean, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Manitoba. 

Please join us for a special seminar by members of the graduate student team F3S, responsible for planning the second annual FSRG Food Systems Student Symposium being held June 26, 2019. The F3S call for abstracts is on now until April 1. Students from all disciplines are invited to apply.

• Apr 10, 9:30-10:30 –  Bridging the Gap: The power of collaborative research – Hannah Bihun and Roxie Koohgoli, F3S graduate student planning committee members  (NRI Seminar Room, 320 Sinnott Building)
   

The Food Systems Research Group – a joint initiative by Agriculture, Environment, Science, and Arts Faculties – is an umbrella group fostering the creation of multi/trans-disciplinary collaborative research to advance the UofM signature research theme of Safe, Healthy, Just, and Sustainable Food Systems.

Faculty and students are welcome to join the FSRG. Email foodsystems@umanitoba.ca to join our mailing list to be informed of future events and activities of this diverse group.

THE HISTORY OF ORGANIC AGRICULTURE IN CANADA

With the rise of pesticide-free foods, naturally dyed clothes and all natural beauty products, it may seem that organic products have only recently gained popularity and become relevant to the mainstream world. But, as Dr. Martin Entz explained at a Food Systems Research Group seminar on January 30th to a lecture hall full of faculty, students and other attendees, the term initially gained traction in Canada in the early 1950s after the first formal organic soil organization was formed, the Canadian Organic Soil Association. Years later in 1988, Manitoba registered its own organic producer’s provincial association and in 2001, the Organic Agricultural Centre of Canada was established. Finally in 2009, as the organic agriculture industry continued to grow rapidly, the federal government created the Standards Interpretation Committee to assist in the governing of organic production as it has, “clearly defined production and processing parameters, needs regulation, has a value proposition and is growing steadily.”

While organic products may be stereotyped as being elitist goods, the statistics provided by Dr. Entz proved otherwise. Today in Canada, 66% of Canadians buy organic goods on a weekly basis which includes 83% of millennials making weekly organic purchases. Annually, the industry contributes roughly 1.5 billion dollars to the Canadian economy with greenhouse goods being the largest contributor. Evidently, the demand for organic goods and services has grown substantially since the first formal organic soil organization was established just 60 years ago.

ABOUT DR. MARTIN ENTZ

Before diving into the science of organic agriculture, Entz, now an accomplished professor in the Plant Science department at the University of Manitoba, gave insight into influences that lead him to pursue a now 27-year career in agriculture. He credits his earliest influence to be familial as both of his parents were from northern European, which is where many sustainable agricultural practices that Canadian farmers now use, like rotational systems, originate from. Other influences that lead him to study sustainable and organic agriculture further on into his academic career include a book on the economics of permanence by E. F. Schumacher, the 1987 Brundtland Commission report, ‘Our Common Future,’ which coined the term ‘sustainable development,’ and the 1992 United Nations Real Earth Summit which discussed global environmental issues. Entz also jokingly gave thanks to the university for allowing him to, “do whatever the heck I wanted as long as I could get the money for it, and thank goodness for academic freedom.” 

TAKING THE FOOD SYSTEM ON AN ALTERNATIVE PATH 

A hundred years ago, the University of Manitoba’s campus looked very different than it does today. Originally, much of the campus was dedicated to education-oriented agricultural fields that had ongoing research being done which included studies on manure management, crop rotation, and fertilization of fields. Being able to read the archived research reports done on these studies as a graduate student himself gave him “a lot of excitement” while studying at The University of Saskatchewan.

Entz, along with colleagues who wanted to take the food system on an alternative path, developed an ecological farming system called ‘Pesticide Free Production.’ This system, which is now trademarked by the University of Manitoba, includes crops that are non-GMO and are free from pesticides from the time of crop emergence until the time of marketing. After a time he decided that if he was going to work on an alternative agriculture system for crop production with a value proposition, it needed to be organic. With support from the department heads, he first met with other organic farmers across the prairies to learn and observe their agricultural practices. In 1992 Entz started doing his own organic research just 20km south of the university at the Glenlea Research Farm. This Glenlea Long-Term Rotation, now entering its 28th year, is Canada’s oldest organic-conventional comparison study. 

Dr. Entz discussed organic-agriculture techniques such as reduced tillage organic and a wide variety of crop management systems aimed at producing high yielding organic grains. Plant Science technician, Keith Bamford, who has worked with Martin for the past 27 years perfected a system that combines a novel piece of field equipment (blade roller) with the right cover crop species to allow farmers to reduce the reliance on tillage for weed control.  This innovation has been the focus of several MSc and PhD projects and the blade roller, first used by small-holder farmers in Brazil, is now in commercial production in Canada. 

Another project involves breeding crops specifically for organic conditions. Entz set up a collaboration with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to develop wheat and oat varieties better suited to organic production, a program that has to released three registered Canadian varieties to-date. His team also engages farmers in the early generation selection process, a project that caught the attention of USC Canada, an NGO famous for its “seeds of diversity” work in the developing world. This farmer participatory plant breeding program now engages 75 farmers from Vancouver Island to PEI.   

SAVING THE WORLD ON HIS OWN TIME

A criticism that Entz and his colleagues faced while doing their research on organic production was that organic agriculture realistically could not feed the world. But he made it clear that he is more than comfortable with organic agriculture coexisting along with other forms of production and believes that, “it doesn’t need to be this or that when it can be this and that.” His response to those who believe that organic farming can’t feed the world reminds him of a paper that claims that humanity has reached the end of science and innovation when we have so clearly not; the innovation is simply different than what it once was. 

Entz refers back many times to a book by Stanley Fish called, ‘Save the World on Your Own Time,’ which advises university academics on how to do research that is meaningful to society. In response to the book, he shared publications of his own done with colleagues following the advice of Fish to better society through his work. 

Dr. Entz finished off his seminar by giving thanks to the faculty, his co-workers, staff and grad students for helping him accomplish all he has been able to do in the past quarter of a decade, “working from the landscape scale down to the molecular level.”

FOOD FOR THOUGHT KNOWLEDGE SHARING SERIES

What is the Food Systems Research Group? The FSRG is an umbrella group fostering the creation of multi/trans-disciplinary collaborative research to advance the theme of Safe, Healthy, Just and Sustainable Food Systems. 

The FSRG hosts a monthly seminar series featuring UofM research on food systems – joining our mailing list to receive upcoming notifications by sending an email to foodsystems@umanitoba.ca. 

Sara Poppel is an economics student in her second year, currently helping with communications with the Food Systems Research Group and the National Centre for Livestock and the Environment.

Our winter FSRG research knowledge sharing series continues with the seminar “An Offering: Lakota Elders Contributions to the Future of Food Security” by Dr. Mary Kate Dennis, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Social Work. Join us Wednesday, February 27th at 3:00 pm in 409 Tier Building. 

ABOUT THIS TALK 

Food security in American Indian communities is understudied and often viewed through a deficiency model when the narrative is shaped by non-Indigenous voices, examining the food system and diet through the lens of poverty or through a historic lens narrowly focused on the dwindling traditional food source. To address this gap in scholarship, a qualitative study explored the narratives related to food and food production with 25 Lakota elders living on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation. Findings derived via thematic analysis illustrate the experiences of the elders across their lifespans including their early beginnings on the family homestead, gardening and food preservation throughout their adulthoods. Implications include programming that would transmit the cultural and traditional knowledge of gardening between generations which leads to learning skills, cultural lifeways, and community health implications.

ABOUT MARY KATE DENNIS

Mary Kate Dennis is an Assistant Professor in the Master of Social Work based in Indigenous Knowledges Program in the Faculty of Social Work. Mary Kate is Athabaskan and her research uses Indigenous methodologies and focuses on elders living on reservations where they shared knowledge related to their lives including food sovereignty; land tenure and removal from their lands; and loss and grief.  She incorporates environmental and food justice in her social work courses and developed and teaches a course at the University of Michigan titled “Food Justice or Community Practice, Food Systems and Social Justice.”

ABOUT THE KNOWLEDGE SHARING SERIES

Each month during the regular session we will hold a presentation and discussion session so that as a research community we can learn from each other about the breadth and diversity of food systems research happening across our campus. The location of the session will vary depending on the host Faculty. The session consists of a 30-minute presentation followed by 30 minutes of discussion which will begin at 3:00 unless otherwise noted.

UPCOMING SEMINAR

• Mar 27 – Protecting Canada’s crops using next-generation molecular fungicides– Mark Belmonte, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science (205 Armes)

The Food Systems Research Group – a joint initiative by Agriculture, Environment, Science, and Arts Faculties – is an umbrella group fostering the creation of multi/trans-disciplinary collaborative research to advance the UofM signature research theme of Safe, Healthy, Just, and Sustainable Food Systems.

Faculty and students are welcome to join the FSRG. Email foodsystems@umanitoba.ca to join our mailing list to be informed of future events and activities of this diverse group.

UNTYING OF INTERNATIONAL FOOD AID HAS INCREASED FOOD AID SHIPMENTS

Canada’s international food aid today looks a lot different than when it began in 1951 as a means to dispose of surplus wheat stocks. In Canada and many other donor countries, both the type of aid and how food is sourced have completely changed during this period.

“When most people think of food aid, they typically think of emergency food aid, which is food donated to recipient countries in response to humanitarian crises, natural disasters, civil conflict, and refugee camps,” explains Cardwell, associate professor in Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics. “Today, the majority of food assistance coming out of Canada is emergency food aid.”

In the past, the majority of food assistance leaving Canada was either targeted to specific initiatives in recipient countries through project food aid, or supplied as a resource transfer providing balance-of-payments support to recipient-country governments through programme food aid. At that time food was primarily sourced within Canadian borders and shipped to recipient countries, referred to as direct-transfer aid.

A shift began early in the 21st century and today the vast majority of assistance is provided in the form of cash, with food being sourced in the recipient country – either locally, regionally or purchased in one country then distributed in another – instead of the donor country providing mainly “home-grown” cereal grains. This shift has allowed for overall greater purchasing power and the ability to provide foods that are more culturally relevant than under the original direct-transfer aid model.

THE MOVE TO UNTYING OF FOOD AID 

This shift arose from the untying of food aid. “Tied Aid refers to the requirement that goods and services be procured in the donor country,” says Cardwell. “Untying of aid led to a dramatic shift in international food assistance policies in 2005 and again in 2008 when tying requirements were completely eliminated.”

In 2001, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) argued that tying aid makes it inefficient and ineffective for a variety of reasons. Some of the concerns surrounding tied food aid include the cost of processing, shipping, and non-competitive procurement (which raises food-aid prices), the timeliness of shipping (which often took months to be delivered), the negative effects on competing local recipient markets, the possibility of political outcomes being manipulated, and the cultural difference in the food being delivered.

After a lobbying effort that was led by Winnipeg’s Canadian Foodgrains Bank, the Canadian Government reformed its food assistance tying policies in two stages. The tying rate was reduced to 50% in 2005 and was eliminated in 2008. Food aid practitioners (mainly the World Food Programme and Canadian Foodgrains Bank) reacted quickly to this new flexibility in sourcing, and now buy all food assistance outside Canada – usually from markets closer to recipients.

THE IMPACT OF UNTYING FOOD AID

Interested in determining how the untying of food aid affected the quantity of food aid Canada provided, Cardwell, in collaboration with Pascal Ghazalian, associate professor of Economics at the University of Lethbridge, modeled ‘what if?’ scenarios to predict what would have happened if food aid purchases had remained tied to Canadian sources.

Their research shows that untying Canadian-funded food assistance from domestic procurement requirements increased the volume of Canadian cereal food aid. “Policy change has resulted in better outcomes for those in need of emergency food aid,” concludes Cardwell. “And there are likely even further positive effects that were not captured in our modeling.”

Canada and the majority of other donor countries now provide nearly all food aid as cash, although a few countries, most notably the United States – the largest global donor several times over – continues to tie most of its international food aid to domestic sources.

Interested in learning more? The video of this seminar, including the Q & A session is available on YouTube.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT KNOWLEDGE SHARING SERIES

What is the Food Systems Research Group? The FSRG is an umbrella group fostering the creation of multi/trans-disciplinary collaborative research to advance the theme of Safe, Healthy, Just and Sustainable Food Systems. 

The FSRG hosts a monthly seminar series featuring UofM research on food systems – joining our mailing list to receive upcoming notifications by sending an email to foodsystems@umanitoba.ca. 

Sara Poppel is an economics student in her second year, currently helping with communications with the Food Systems Research Group and the National Centre for Livestock and the Environment.

Our winter FSRG research knowledge sharing series begins with the seminar “Organic & ecological research and teaching at the University: Building on 27 years of exploration” by Dr. Martin Entz, professor, Department of Plant Science, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences. Join us on Wednesday, January 30th at 3:00 pm in 130 Agriculture. 

ABOUT THIS TALK 

Elements of organic agriculture were represented in research and teaching during the early days of our faculty.  For example, long-term field experiments, which occupied the space of today’s Investors Group Stadium, were conducted between 1920 and 1960 for a better understanding of the role of crop rotation, manure management, and cover crops.  During the period of intensive agricultural industrialization in the 1960s and beyond, little emphasis was placed on the ecology of farming. This changed in the late 1980s with fresh ideas about sustainable development (Our Common Future, 1987) and biodiversity conservation (Rio Earth Summit 1992).  Organic field studies were once again established at the University in 1992 – the Glenlea long term organic study. The idea of studying and teaching organic agriculture was contested, but we have persevered, and today the University of Manitoba is credited with the top organic agriculture program in Canada.  Increasingly, organic agriculture research is offering new solutions to mainstream agriculture.

This talk will provide a brief history of the program; discuss the challenges of paradigm shifts within a University setting (responding to Stanley Fish, 2008; who argued that University professors should “Save the world on their own time”); highlight the U of M’s exciting research and educational programs; and discuss our efforts to integrate farmers and other citizens into the discovery process.

ABOUT MARTIN ENTZ

Matin Entz farming with Matoaka

Martin Entz is a professor of Agronomy and Natural Systems Agriculture in the Department of Plant Science at the University of Manitoba and has 30 years’ experience designing and evaluating ecologically intensive crop production systems in temperate and tropical agroecosystems.   He founded the Glenlea study, Canada’s oldest organic-conventional comparison study, which provides an unprecedented opportunity to study economic, environmental and food security questions of organic and ecological agriculture. Martin leads a national USC Canada–Agriculture and AgriFood Canada funded “Farmer participatory plant breeding” project that tests the role of farmer-breeders in genetic improvement of wheat, oat, and potato for organic production.  Martin is grateful for a supportive family, his educational experiences, the abiding support of the Plant Science technical staff, his terrific and outstanding graduate students, and his many collaborators.

ABOUT THE KNOWLEDGE SHARING SERIES

Each month during the regular session we will hold a presentation and discussion session so that as a research community we can learn from each other about the breadth and diversity of food systems research happening across our campus. The location of the session will vary depending on the host Faculty. The session consists of a 30-minute presentation followed by 30 minutes of discussion which will begin at 3:00 unless otherwise noted.

UPCOMING SEMINARS

• Feb 27 – An offering: Lakota Elders contributions to the future of food security– Mary Kate Dennis, Assistant Professor, Indigenous Knowledges Program (MSW-IK), Faculty of Social Work  (409 Tier Building)
• Mar 27 – Protecting Canada’s crops using next-generation molecular fungicides– Mark Belmonte, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science (205 Armes)

The Food Systems Research Group – a joint initiative by Agriculture, Environment, Science, and Arts Faculties – is an umbrella group fostering the creation of multi/trans-disciplinary collaborative research to advance the UofM signature research theme of Safe, Healthy, Just, and Sustainable Food Systems.

 Faculty and students are welcome to join the FSRG. Email foodsystems@umanitoba.ca to join our mailing list to be informed of future events and activities of this diverse group.