By Alice McFarlane

Agriculture Roundup for Thursday December 23, 2021

Dec 23, 2021 | 1:54 PM

MELFORT, Sask. – The Emergency Food Security Fund got a $30-million top-up.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said the money will be used to address the increased demand of food banks and local food organizations, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The money will be divided between Food Banks Canada, Second Harvest, Breakfast Club of Canada, Community Food Centres Canada, the Salvation Army, and La Tablée des Chefs.

These groups will work to distribute thousands of local food organizations across Canada. Local groups will use the funding to purchase and distribute food and other basic necessities to meet the emergency needs of the most vulnerable people.

They may also hire temporary help to cope with volunteer shortages and adapt operations to help keep workers, volunteers, and recipients safe.

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A portion of the funds will be used to purchase surplus PEI potatoes and redistribute them to local food serving organizations who have expressed a need.

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Canada’s food safety watchdog said it has confirmed cases of high pathogenic Avian Influenza at an exhibition farm in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in a release that the farm on the Avalon Peninsula does not produce birds for sale.

The birds infected with H5N1 were located on an exhibition farm, and no other cases have been reported in the vicinity, Canada’s status as ‘free from Avian Influenza’ remains in place.

As a precaution, the agency has placed the farm under quarantine and established a 10-kilometre zone with movement control measures and enhanced biosecurity to limit the potential spread of the disease.

Avian Influenza circulates naturally in birds and recent detections in Europe indicate an even higher risk of the disease in North American poultry flocks this year.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW