Watch the video to learn from four entrepreneurs who are developing innovative products & processes in agriculture and aquaculture in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia.
Soil, climate and geography make the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia an ideal location for diverse agricultural enterprises. Our valley is also rich in agricultural ingenuity, thanks to the knowledge and practices handed down and refined over generations of farmers.
A new generation of entrepreneurs is building on all these advantages to take innovative products and processes to market.
The Valley Regional Enterprise Network (Valley REN) recently partnered with Devour! The Food Film Fest to present an engaging panel discussion with four “agri-innovators” in the Annapolis Valley.
Patricia Bishop of TapRoot Farms has been developing small-scale machinery to make linen from flax. Her family’s farm is also a pioneer in community shared agriculture (CSA), which markets crops directly to local shareholders.
Mike Lightfoot of Lightfoot & Wolfville Vineyards is part of a family-run destination winery that combines a strong placed-based aesthetic with biodynamic practices.
Andrew Rand of Randsland Farms has been instrumental in creating a new table-ready, value-added bagged salad to diversify his family’s vegetable production.
Led by CEO Kirk Havercroft, Sustainable Fish Farming (Canada) Ltd. – which does business as Sustainable Blue – is demonstrating its world-leading, land-based, zero-discharge fish-farming technology in the Annapolis Valley region.
The Valley REN would like to thank the panel members, the panel host (Ted Grant, Chair of Taste of Nova Scotia) and close to 60 guests who attended the October event at Wayfarers’ Ale riverside taproom in Port Williams.
There were two other key ingredients in this successful event.
First, Michael Howell, the festival’s executive director, and Lia Rinaldo, managing director, proposed the inspiring idea to showcase innovative agricultural enterprises during the 2017 edition of Devour! Thank you both – and your team who helped plan the event.
Second, Brian Cottam of Wild Lupin Media in Kentville filmed and edited our video coverage of the panel discussion.
Watch the video of the event to learn valuable lessons from these agri-innovators and discover why Innovation Grows Here … in the Annapolis Valley.
As research analyst for the Valley REN, Rachel Brighton brings 25 years’ experience as a journalist, editor, publisher, manager, consultant and not-for-profit director in Canada and Australia.