The past two and a half years have shone a light on how vulnerable Canada\u0027s food system is to climate change and other global factors.
Amid rising food and energy costs and more frequent extreme weather events, experts and sector insiders say the indoor agriculture industry has the potential to feed Canadians more reliably and maybe more sustainably by using greenhouses, vertical farms and hydroponic technology to grow food even in the winter, in remote communities, urban centres and everywhere in between.From our newsroom to your inbox at noon, the latest headlines, stories, opinion and photos from the Toronto Sun.
Greenhouses have a lot of potential to feed Canadians more than they already do, the researchers said, but face challenges including rising costs, labour shortages, and infectious plant pathogens. “If we do this right, from a food autonomy perspective, I could certainly see Canada being a huge supplier of produce to Americans in maybe a decade or two.”
Great Northern Hydroponics may have been among the first in Canada to start growing in the winter. President Guido van het Hof said they’ve been growing tomatoes year-round in the company’s hydroponic greenhouses for about a decade, and recently started growing strawberries, too. Hydroponic growing uses no soil, usually cultivating plants instead in a water solvent using a mix of nutrients.
“This is an area that’s moving really quickly,” said Charles, who is also the director of the Waterloo Centre for Microbial Research and CEO of Metagenom Bio Life Science. The goal is not only efficiency but also the best taste, he said.“I don’t know if you’ve eaten a winter strawberry, but they’re relatively flavourless,” he said.Article content
Urban agriculture has been gaining traction, often using hydroponic technology to produce hyper-local food.