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Cultivating Trust Conference
November 18, 2021 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Saskatoon, SK
2021: The Future of Food
Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan is pleased to host an annual conference that brings people together from across the agriculture and food system each November. Several presentations are available for viewing from the 2021 conference.
Recorded Presentations
Shawn Colborn: Welcome to Cultivating Trust
Welcome & Opening Address – Presented by Shawn Colborn, Chair of Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan
Clinton Monchuk: Year in Review
Unsettled times call for new approaches. Collaboration continues to be our key strategy for punching far above our weight. Learn how, over the past year, FFC SK has found new ways to deliver programs that meet and exceed our goals while reaching new audiences.
Year in Review – Presented by Clinton Monchuk, Executive Director of Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan
Ian Affleck: The Un-Scary Truth About GMOs and Gene Editing
Most everything you see on the grocery store shelves is a marvel of human innovation. The bananas of today look nothing like the inedible bananas that nature first created – thankfully! From the early days of agriculture through to modern-day where genetic engineering and gene editing are helping create crops that are more resilient to climate change, more efficient and healthier, we have been working with nature to create better food. How can we talk with consumers about how these technologies are helping improve food production – and how we know they are safe?
Un-Scary Truth About GMOs and Gene Editing – Presented by Ian Affleck, Vice-President of Plant Biotechnology, CropLife Canada
Alison Van Eenennaam: Genome Editing Opportunities in Livestock
The gene-editing technique CRISPR earned the 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry. This tool offers an opportunity for geneticists to precisely introduce useful genetic alterations into animal breeding programs. Will breeders be able to use this technology, or will it become politicized as happened with genetic engineering in certain crops?
Genome Editing Opportunities in Livestock – Presented by Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam, Cooperative Extension Specialist in Animal Genomics & Biotechnology, University of California at Davis
Matt Ridley: What Innovation Needs to Thrive
Innovation is the main event of the modern age, the reason we experience both dramatic improvements in our living standards and unsettling changes in our society. Yet innovation remains a mysterious process, poorly understood by policy makers and businesses. Matt Ridley argues that we need to change the way we think about innovation. It’s not orderly or top-down or according to plan. It is incremental, fortuitous and a direct result of the human habit of exchange. So what do we need to do to position ourselves for the future?
Presented by Dr. Matt Ridley, author, journalist and policymaker – Northumberland, UK
presentation no longer available
Clinton Monchuk: Farm & Food Care Champion Award
Each year, Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan works with a selection panel to recognize a person who strives to engage consumers about agriculture and helps farmers to build public trust in our province and beyond. Join us as we reveal this year’s award recipient.
Farm & Food Care Champion Award – Presented by Clinton Monchuk, Executive Director of Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan
Tiffany Martinka: What Have We Learned Today?
A brief summary of the afternoon presentations – Presented by Tiffany Martinka, farmer and past winner of the Farm & Food Care Champion Award
Speakers
Ian Affleck
Vice-President, Plant Biotechnology – CropLife Canada
Presentation – The Un-Scary Truth About GMOs and Gene Editing
Ian Affleck is the vice-president of plant biotechnology for CropLife Canada. In this role, Affleck works with domestic and international agricultural stakeholders and governments on the development of policies, regulations, and science related to plant biotechnology.
Prior to joining CropLife Canada, Affleck worked at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for 10 years. His work there focused on the regulation of novel plants and new varieties.
Affleck holds a bachelor of science in agriculture from the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, concentrating on agronomy and pest management. He also holds a master’s degree in agriculture from the University of Guelph, specializing in horticulture and plant breeding.
Affleck has been involved in agriculture from an early age, having grown up on a potato farm in Bedeque, Prince Edward Island.
Alison Van Eenennaam
Cooperative Extension Specialist in Animal Genomics & Biotechnology – University of California, Davis
Presentation – Genome Editing Opportunities In Livestock
Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam is a Cooperative Extension Specialist in the field of Animal Genomics and Biotechnology in the Department of Animal Science at University of California, Davis. She received a Bachelor of Agricultural Science from the University of Melbourne in Australia and both an MS in Animal Science, and a PhD in Genetics from UC Davis. Her publicly-funded research and outreach program focuses on the use of animal genomics and biotechnology in livestock production systems. Her current research projects include the development of genome editing approaches for cattle.
She has given over 700 invited presentations to audiences globally and uses a variety of media to inform general public audiences about science and technology. She frequently provides a credentialed voice on controversial scientific topics and has appeared on national media, including The Dr Oz Show, NPR, Science Friday, and the Intelligence Squared debate series. She appeared in the 2017 documentary Food Evolution, narrated by science communicator Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson. A passionate advocate of science, Dr. Van Eenennaam was the recipient of the Borlaug Communication Award from the National Council for Agricultural Science and Technology and the Rockefeller Prentice Award in Animal Breeding and Genetics.
Twitter: @BioBeef
Matt Ridley
Journalist and Author
Presentation – What Innovation Needs to Thrive
Matt Ridley is a writer and businessman whose books have sold over a million copies, been translated into 31 languages and won numerous awards. His TED talk When Ideas Have Sex has been viewed more than two million times.
Matt Ridley joined the House of Lords in 2013 and has served on the science and technology select committee and the artificial intelligence select committee. He was the founding chairman of the International Centre for Life in Newcastle. He created the “Mind and Matter column” in The Wall Street Journal and was a columnist for The Times from 2013-2018.
He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Shawn Colborn
Farmer/Board Chair, Farm& Food Care Saskatchewan
Presentation – Welcome & Opening Address
Along with other family members, Shawn Colborn manages a fifth-generation family farm at Delisle, Saskatchewan, which oversees over 9,000 acres of grainland, a 550-head Red Angus/Charolais cow-calf operation, and a 45,000-layer poultry operation. He enjoys playing and coaching competitive fastpitch softball and has been active in the Delisle Crops for Community project helping raise funds toward community initiatives. Shawn serves on the Board of Directors for both the Saskatchewan Egg Producers and Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan.
Clinton Monchuk
Farmer/Executive Director, Farm& Food Care Saskatchewan
Presentation – 2021: Year in Review
Presentation – Farm & Food Care Champion Award
Clinton Monchuk grew up on a mixed dairy, beef and grain family farm outside of Lanigan, Saskatchewan. He received his Bachelors of Science in Agriculture majoring in Agricultural Economics from the University of Saskatchewan and a Masters of Business Administration in Agriculture from the University of Guelph. Clinton has enjoyed numerous roles across North America as a researcher, educator, manager, economist and director of trade policy.
In late 2016 Clinton accepted the role of Executive Director with Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan to promote farming and ranching to consumers. Clinton understands the value of increasing public trust in agriculture and actively promotes engagement between the agriculture industry and consumers.
Clinton, Laura and their children Jackson and Katelyn, continue to be active partners on their family grain and layer farm in Saskatchewan and cattle ranch in Oklahoma.
Tiffany Martinka
Farmer/Board Member, Farm& Food Care Saskatchewan
Presentation – What Have We Learned Today?
Tiffany Martinka resides in northeast Saskatchewan where her family owns and operates a grain and broiler chick farm. After receiving her degree and working 10 years in the agriculture industry, Tiffany shifted focus to her farm and family. When she’s not spending time with her three children or on the farm, Tiffany enjoys being active on social media and sharing the beauty of farm life. Tiffany was selected as 1 of 5 young farmers across Canada to participate in the Chicken Farmers of Canada young farmer program which has presented many unique opportunities to learn and grow as a farmer in Canada’s chicken industry. She was the recipient of the Farm & Food Care Champion Award in 2020.
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