The Pas, Opaskwayak, Kelsey Manitoba


Town of The Pas, Opaskwayak Cree Nation, Rural Municipality of Kelsey, Manitoba

Challenge Statement

Our community will utilize LED Smart Farm technology to support local nutritious food growth and promote food security, create a smart phone distribution system and integrate wearable technology to achieve a 40% reduction in the number of imported vegetables and a 20% reduction in community diabetes rates by 2023.

Summary

Our challenge centres around food security and reversing the escalation of the occurrence rate of diabetes by leveraging the local LED Smart Farm technology. The Smart Farm produces fresh fruits and vegetables within weeks without the use of pesticides and with low impact on land resources. The quantity of food that can be produced is flexible and based on demand. The region will be able to depend on a stable, nutritious local food supply with a concurrent reduction in the requirement for long distance transportation resulting in fresher food, reduction of food waste and a reduction in the carbon footprint due to fewer long distance truck deliveries.

Food distribution will be aided through the development and use of a smart phone app and the use of electric vehicle and drone delivery technology. The health benefits realized from increased consumption of healthy foods will be monitored through data collection via wearable technology. Bio-metric data such as blood sugar levels, heart rate and blood pressure can be utilized for individual feedback or aggregated to support ongoing education and incentives to encourage continued lifestyle changes among the population of the region and for other communities who wish to adopt similar strategies.

strategies.