A highly productive mixed vegetable farm from Cochrane, Ontario has won the Northern Food Security Challenge on the strength of its innovative temperature mitigation technology. Grey Wolf Gardens receives a $10,000 cash prize for its cutting-edge carbon-neutral system that extends the growing season and can help provide northern Ontario with fresh, nutrient-dense food year-round. 

“We consider it an incontrovertible truth that having access to abundant high-quality food is an essential component of maintaining good health. This temperature mitigation technology uses wood fibre - a locally abundant resource that is currently underutilized,” says Luke Dinan, owner and operator of Grey Wolf Gardens. “The results of implementing this solution are thriving rural landscapes, healthier Northern communities and dramatically improved food security in the North.” 

The People’s Choice Award went to Northern Sustainable Farms from Killarney, an aquaponics facility that grows sustainable fish and vegetables for local communities 12 months of the year. It received a $5,000 cash prize. 

Runners up were Ferme Agricole of Opasatika, a for-profit community food security project using hybrid-hydroponics to develop systems that grow early-season crops such as strawberries and asparagus, and Lacroix Aquaponics of Thunder Bay, a producer of organic baby greens and fresh rainbow trout. Lacroix has recently received funding to expand its operations from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation. Runner up businesses receive $1,000 in in-kind services from Bioenterprise, Canada’s Food & Agri-Tech Engine. 

The Challenge was powered by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario (FedNor) and Bioenterprise Canada. Finalists participated in a virtual pitch competition hosted in partnership with Ingenuity, Lakehead University’s business incubator space. 

Source:  Bioenterprise July 17, 2023 news release