Miriam Tshimanga Maenhout (left) and Hippolyto Tshimanga of Creation Care Farm are building a passive-solar aquaponic greenhouse in Kings County. | Valley REN photo
Four winners of the AVCC Agriculture Innovation Accelerator Award share their strategies.
The Valley businesses featured here are all winners of the Agriculture Innovation Accelerator Award ─ offered each year by the Annapolis Valley Chamber of Commerce. To help promote this community-sponsored award, the Valley REN interviewed four winners to share their inspiring stories.
Click each green link to read the full story.
Creation Care Farm is building a passive-solar aquaponics greenhouse to produce salad greens and fish, year-round. By combining aquaculture and hydroponics, the business partners behind the new venture will produce food for local consumption, in a way that replaces imports, reduces the carbon foot print, reduces the amount of water needed for production, and cuts out chemicals. Hence the business name: Creation Care Farm.
Barrelling Tide Distillery is poised to expand its export markets through a planned investment in new instruments to analyze alcohol content in spirits and fruit liqueurs. The move also promises to increase the distillery’s purchase of locally grown fruit, which currently stands at more than 11.5 tonnes a year.
FoodByte is simplifying food safety compliance for business. The software start-up has developed a business-friendly tool to help food processors and food exporters comply with new federal food safety regulations that came into effect in January 2019.
TapRoot Fibre Lab is developing small-scale machinery to process long-line flax fibre into yarn. This is just one enterprising step toward their ultimate goal of a complete, local value chain – extending from their farm-grown flax to linen clothing.
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.
