GC Blockchain Codefest

Farm to Table Traceability

Use your knowledge and expertise to build and showcase your creative and innovative ideas about blockchain and how it could contribute to the CFIA’s mission of safeguarding Canada’s food, plant and animals.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is the regulatory body responsible for overseeing the safety of Canada’s food supply and protecting animal health and the plant resource base.  The risks to food, animal health and plants have changed considerably in recent years and continue to change rapidly. At the same time, Canadian industry has to be more efficient and innovative to compete in a global economy.

Rapid and dramatic increases in the speed, volume and complexity of production have introduced new risks and hazards, and forced industries and regulators to rethink conventional approaches to prevention and oversight.  Today’s highly efficient mass distribution and supply networks mean that problems can quickly become widespread.  Human, animal and plant ecosystem issues are increasingly intertwined as the movement of people, plants, animals and food heightens the risk of transmitting pests and diseases.  Foodborne illness and animal health diseases require significant CFIA resources to respond, while plant pests, such as Emerald Ash Borer, can become almost impossible to eradicate once naturalized in our ecosystem.

At the same time, technological advances are creating tremendous opportunity for Canadian industry.  Our highly skilled and technologically savvy workforce offers a potential competitive advantage in a global marketplace that is hungry for innovative products and processes.  The opportunities provided by globalization depend heavily on the ability of exporters to maintain existing markets, and to gain access to new markets. More than ever, exporters rely on governments to bring consistency, best practices and fairness to international trade.

Within this context, the CFIA would like to explore blockchain technology and the contribution it can make to the management of risk for food safety, food fraud, animal health, plant protection or supporting market access by enhancing trust, transparency, and traceability of agriculture and agri-food goods from the farm to the table.

Build an app, define a data standard, you’re the expert – tell us what we need.  Anchor your idea in a place that is relevant to the knowledge and skills of your team within the CFIA’s mandate.

Maybe you and your team are located in Atlantic Canada and would like to work on a fish farm to table traceability app or maybe you grew up on a grain farm, and you have an idea about how a blockchain could help bring Canadian grain to export markets.  Come up with your own or take your pick.

When developing your showcase video – talk about the journey from the farm to the table, how blockchain offers a unique advantage, and how everyone along the chain, from consumer to regulator to business owner, can benefit from your solution.  We look forward to seeing your ideas!