Maple Ridge, British Columbia - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada - British Columbia businesses are strengthening food security and food safety by adopting new traceability technology with funding from the governments of Canada and British Columbia.
Traceability systems help build consumer confidence, making it possible to track the movement of food through production, processing and distribution. This information can be used to protect public health by limiting the spread of foodborne illness, strengthen brand reputation and help businesses run more efficiently.
For sisters Emma and Jenna Davison, dairy farming is in their blood. Their family has been farming in Maple Ridge since 1902. To honour their agricultural roots while creating their own legacy, the Davisons created Golden Ears Cheesecrafters. Milk for their products is sourced from their uncle’s jersey cows next door and is used to produce 12 varieties of artisan cheese and butter for British Columbia consumers.
The journey of each variety of cheese sold in their store is captured through a traceability system. From the milk produced in their uncle’s farm to the cheese made and sold in store, this system helps document the journey.
The Davisons recently made the shift from a manual paper-based system to a real-time digital system with $6,500 in funding from the British Columbia Traceability Adoption Program. With the funding, the sisters were able to modernize their existing system, which has decreased paperwork, reduced labour costs and allowed them to focus on improving the quality of their products while looking at ways to expand their operation, all while building more confidence in their products with consumers.
British Columbia’s traceability programs are supported by the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, which is a federal-provincial-territorial initiative to strengthen the agriculture, agrifood and agri-based product sector.
Source : Canada.ca