Grant: Alliance Grants

Rural and remote Canadian communities are some of the most food insecure in Canada, with a lack of local food production capacity and robust food distribution channels. Our overall objective is to develop a reliable, low-cost and sustainable geodesic dome system for carbon-neutral year-round production and supply of berry harvests in rural communities. Our initial focus will be on Vaccinium berry species including cranberries and blueberries, which are nutrient dense and economically important speciality crops, and will expand our research to encompass traditional and wild berry species in consultation with communities. Conventional indoor protected food production systems are energy and resource intensive. Our proposed system is substantially different. We will integrate novel and emerging technologies, including semi-transparent photovoltaic solutions, which allow some wavelength of light to pass to plants while generating electricity; use genomics approaches to select varietals and species most likely to thrive under these conditions; and develop standard operating protocols for management of pests and pollinators. Integration of biogas will allow for energy production when the sun is not available, and help to power supplemental lighting regimes. We will also integrate carbon neutral, upcycled and organic fertilizers and amendments. The holistic footprint of our system, including reductions in GHG associated with reduced transportation and storage emission from local food production, alternate energy and input sources, will be assessed through an interdisciplinary research approach, involving life cycle sustainability, cost-benefit, spatial and qualitative analysis. We will examine the potential to scale up through spatial mapping and analysis of other potential sites and examine outcomes related to local food access and supply, food transport, and yield and land-use and through development of an interactive tool and focus groups enhance understanding of sociocultural, economic, and political barriers to adoption. This project will support a circular carbon economy for indoor and local food production.