Food safety

• This award recognizes influential individuals in the industry whose achievements, hard work, and vision have shaped the global cold food supply chain.
• SALEM, Ore., Feb. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Food Logistics , the only publication exclusively dedicated to covering the movement of products through the global cold food supply chain, named Emma Killough , director of professional services at Trustwell as the winner of a "Rising Star" award at this year's Rock Stars of the Supply Chain awards, which recognizes influential individuals in the industry whose achievements, hard work and vision have shaped the global cold food supply chain.
• "Supply chain rock stars are the backbone of the cold food chain.
• These winners continue to go above and beyond to improve food safety, enhance efficiency and disrupt supply chain disruptions."

• Since 1996, a deadly neurodegenerative disease of cervids (deer, elk, moose, caribou, reindeer) has been spreading across Canada.
• On Jan. 31, 2024, chronic wasting disease (CWD) was detected for the first time in British Columbia in two deer.

Disease-causing proteins

• The protein is similar to other normal proteins in the body, except it’s abnormally shaped.
• The abnormal folding of these disease-causing prion proteins — which are found most abundantly in the brain — leads to brain damage that makes the brain appear like a sponge.
• Other TSEs include Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in people, bovine-spongiform encephalopathy (“mad cow disease”) in cows, and scrapie in sheep and goats.
• This means that early detection and management is critical for reducing the impact of this disease.

British Columbia’s preparations

• has established a surveillance program to detect CWD as soon as possible.
• Our research suggests that a robust approach to such a difficult disease will require rapid, collective and collaborative action across sectors.
• This approach must involve wildlife managers, hunters, local communities, First Nations and researchers to integrate a number of approaches.

Surveillance and management

• Many CWD management programs rely on removing infected animals from the landscape.
• While it is mandatory to submit the heads from hunted cervids in select management units in B.C., in most regions, submission is voluntary.
• Hunters can participate in CWD management and surveillance by removing the head of the animal and submitting it to a local testing station or freezer for CWD testing.

• The public can also participate in CWD surveillance and management by reporting signs of sick animals and vehicle collisions with cervids.
• This is why testing cervids that have been killed by vehicles is also a critical component of CWD surveillance and management.

Curbing the spread

• CWD can spread between animals through contact with bodily fluids.
• Legal restrictions on carcass transport and the use of urine-based scents in hunting can also reduce the unintentional spread of CWD.
• Research has shown that community-focused communication and engagement are essential for the success of CWD management efforts.
• In the days ahead, fostering open dialogue and collaboration will be paramount towards an effective and sustainable effort against CWD.

Kaylee Byers is the Regional Deputy Director of the British Columbia Node of the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative and collaborates with the Wildlife Health Program, which leads Chronic Wasting Disease surveillance in British Columbia. Sarah Robinson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• Mr. Jim Kras, Chief Executive Officer of Edible Garden, stated, “We are pleased that Scott has been asked to participate in this roundtable event.
• We view it as a testament to Edible Garden being recognized for its leadership position in CEA.
• This collaborative effort focuses on examining the effects of nanobubble technology in a Controlled Environment Agriculture setting.
• Moreover, Edible Garden is involved in a partnership with the high-tech firm, BRISEA Group Inc, to deploy BRISEA’s nanobubble generator demo unit at the Company’s Belvidere, New Jersey facility.

• SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hippo Harvest , a controlled environment agriculture (CEA) startup developing advanced greenhouse systems that produce sustainably-grown produce, today announced the close of its $21M Series B funding round led by Standard Investments .
• The funding will be used to scale the company's greenhouse operations and to expand its product offerings into new categories of leafy greens.
• Founded in 2019, Hippo Harvest operates a first-of-its-kind repurposed greenhouse facility in Pescadero, CA that out-competes traditional greenhouses in scalability and unit economics and is comparable to traditional outdoor-grown produce prices.
• "We're excited by the opportunity to scale our production and reach more consumers with high-quality, sustainable produce," said Hippo Harvest CEO Eitan Marder-Eppstein.