Healthy food is hard to come by in northern Manitoba. Food shipped from the south is prohibitively expensive and is often stale, and the climate and soil in the region don’t support much traditional outdoor farming.

This issue disproportionately impacts northern Indigenous communities, many of which have moved away from traditional food practices, creating a supply problem with far-reaching health consequences.

The 10-year First Nations Food, Nutrition and Environment Study, funded by Health Canada and published in 2018, found that one in four First Nations people in Manitoba is affected by diabetes. Those living in Manitoba’s vast but sparsely populated portion of the Boreal Shield Ecozone experience poorer health outcomes compared to their southern neighbours.

Read the story here. 

He has been awarded a Canada Foundation for Innovation, John Evans Leadership Fund grant to investigate the potential of natural gut compounds to replace the conventional antibiotics given to livestock. This research plays a crucial role in addressing growing concerns about antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and drug resistance pathogens in livestock.

Foodborne illness and antibiotic resistance

Foodborne illnesses caused by E. coli, Salmonella and other intestinal pathogens often lead to product recalls and serious health concerns for consumers. These pathogens are also common causes of intestinal infections in farm animals, resulting in diseases that can decrease farm productivity and profit. To control harmful bacteria, the livestock industry uses common antibiotics and antimicrobials to help keep their livestock healthy. However, researchers and producers are increasingly concerned because more animals, like humans, are growing resistant to these treatments, raising concerns for animal and human health.

Gut microorganisms, commonly referred to as the microbiome, help animals digest their food and produce natural compounds essential for maintaining healthy digestive and immune systems. A healthier animal gut microbiome will help maintain healthier herds.

“Good gut health is vital for overall wellness – both in humans and animals,” says Dr. Derakhshani. “Our goal is to advance sustainable livestock production and address the critical issue of antimicrobial resistance, while contributing to UM’s efforts to advancing sustainable livestock production systems.”   

This work is particularly important with the global population projected reach 10 billion people by 2050. There is a corresponding need to increase global food production by 60% and meeting this target will be challenging unless livestock health and food security are addressed.

Next generation probiotics

Derakhshani will integrate cutting-edge techniques from microbiology and biochemistry to understand the mechanism within the gut that can enhance health and improve cattle’s ability to fight diseases naturally.

Once the mechanism within the gut is identified and understood, he will work to design the next generation of probiotics and other natural microbial products. He will devise strategies to integrate the new products into livestock herds, with the goal of improving herd health and reducing reliance on traditional antimicrobials.

This research aligns with the One Health approach that recognizes the deep connection between humans, animals and environmental health. Derakhshani plans for these new therapies to be environmentally friendly and cost effective to prevent infectious diseases in livestock and provide sustainable and healthy food for humans.  

“Congratulations to Dr. Derakhshani on his new funding to help accelerate this important research program,” says Dr. Mario Pinto, UM Vice-President, Research and International. “His work will enhance UM’s commitment to long-term economic and environmental sustainability of the livestock sector in Canada and will help assure food security into the future.” 

“The impact of climate change on food production is a critical concern around the world and addressing it requires global expertise and cooperation,” says Olivia Wilkins. 

The Global Centre is one of six international collaborative research centres included in the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) competition jointly funded by agencies in the United States, Canada, Finland, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom, which awarded nearly $82 million. By partnering with collaborators across several continents, the resulting research will address the critical challenge of stabilizing global food production amid unpredictable weather patterns by finding sustainable solutions for worldwide food challenges.

“The Global Centre is an exciting opportunity to deepen collaboration between leading scientists and early career researchers from North America, Europe and Asia along with other local and international stakeholders as we work to meet this challenge,” says Olivia Wilkins.

The Centres support global cooperation with projects that bring together multidisciplinary teams from around the world to address challenges through the bioeconomy that integrate public engagement, workforce development and closely tracks community impact. The grant will provide support over 5 years to fund the Canadian portion of the centre’s research into the discovery and synthesis of natural products from plants and microbes that will sustainably enhance plant and soil health in agriculture. This project will help to solidify UM’s place in the sustainable research landscape as an important pillar within the Global Centre.

The centre will have tremendous impact on achieving Canada’s goals of the Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act and will provide additional benefits to the economy, environment and training pipelines. Canada is at the forefront of development and application of spatial and single cell transcriptomic technologies in plants and of machine learning (ML) tools and artificial intelligence for biomolecule discovery. This work aims to improve sustainable agriculture and food security in an uncertain climate future marked by environmental stressors.

“Plants are amazing. They produce a huge diversity of potent biomolecules with roles in agricultural resilience and pharmaceutical development,” says Olivia Wilkins. “The Global Centre will train the next generation of leaders to harness this diversity to improve the sustainability and stability of food crop production in Canada and across the globe.”

The global nature of the centre establishes a training program to promote opportunities for researchers to work in different countries to help share and enhance global knowledge and train future scientists, who will be equipped to solve future climate-related food security problems. The exchange program will provide excellent opportunities for students and post-doctoral fellows to train in diverse settings and will play a pivotal role in training the next generation of scientists and leaders in sustainability research. 

“UM is excited to play a key role in this global initiative investing in the power of the bioeconomy to solve the biggest challenges in agriculture,” says Dr. Mario Pinto, UM Vice-President Research and International. “UM is a leader in research in water and food security and I am grateful for NSERC’s support for Dr. Wilkins as she leads the Canadian team in their important research contributions to the Global Centres.”

But what if our food system offers solutions beyond just the food on our plate? We’re facing a climate emergency, and Canada’s declining levels of innovation mean we are dead last amongst OECD countries in real per capita growth in GDP. Our agriculture and food system could be the answer.

To read the full story, please visit The Hills Times article Agriculture can do more than just put food on our plate