The future of food through agricultural technology

This ground-breaking research explores the potential of cellular agriculture – food created in a lab – to create a year-round supply of nutritious food and develop jobs in an exciting new field.

COVID-19 has revealed multiple vulnerabilities in food systems and supply chains. An emerging set of technologies known as cellular agriculture could enable local, reliable production of dairy and meat alternatives with a low environmental footprint. Cellular agriculture enables people to produce food products using cell cultures and tissue-engineering or fermentation-based techniques.

Led by the Food and Agriculture Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley in BC, this initiative could improve food security by providing a constant supply of nutritious food while also increasing job skills and employment. However, technology alone cannot comprise a food systems solution, and the creation of an effective, resilient food system strategy requires the technology to be viewed through a comprehensive social, cultural, economic, and environmental sustainability lens.

Future Skills Centre is investing $234,859 in this 2-year project. Using the region of BC’s Fraser Valley for a case study, this research explores the potential of cellular agriculture to enhance food security, economic development, and sustainability in Canada. The research uses a community-based approach to engage local government, stakeholders, and community members and to collaboratively explore opportunities and challenges around the development of a local cellular agriculture industry. The results of the project will provide a plan and roadmap for developing such an industry in the Fraser Valley, and the findings will provide details on initiating a local pilot project.

Evaluation Strategy

This project is evaluated using tools and approaches aligned with its goals, context, and stage of development. The evaluation focuses on generating the right evidence at the right moment to move the intervention forward. Read more about our evaluation strategy.

Featured Projects

Research

Understanding the Future of Skills: Trends and Global Policy Responses

• January 2020
• Public Policy Forum, Diversity Institute

Studies on the future of work tend to focus on the jobs at risk of automation, with projections varying widely from 6% to 59%. Sunil Johal and Michael Urban take a different approach in reviewing eight expert reports and the actions taken by nine countries to prepare for the challenges ahead. They distill key lessons for Canada to ensure workers are equipped with the skills they need to thrive in tomorrow’s economy, whatever shape it takes.

1 Related Reports

• Full research reportPDF
  Understanding the Future of Skills: Trends and Global Policy Responses

Project

Shock-Proofing Postsecondary: Digital Transformation in Applied Learning

• October 2024
• Saskatchewan Polytechnic

This project, initiated by Saskatchewan Polytechnic, aimed to address the challenges in online education exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Tech and Automation

2 Related Reports

• Learning BriefPDF
  Learning Brief for “Shockproofing PostSecondary: Digital Transformation in Applied Learning”
• Insights ReportPDF
  Download Insights Report

Project

Workplace Inclusion Charter Expansion

• January 2025
• City of Kingston

This report outlines the implementation of the City of Kingston’s Workplace Inclusion Charter, which was launched in partnership with KEYS Job Centre in 2019. The goal of the City of Kingston’s Workplace Inclusion Charter was to serve as a system that would guide employers, service providers and equity-deserving groups in the labour market in creating more inclusive work environments and facilitating access to new talent among local businesses and employers.

• Inclusive Economy

1 Related Reports

• Insights ReportPDF
  Download Insights Report

View more