Clean Plate: Innovations That Can Help Shrink The Food Industry’s Carbon Footprint
By Victoria Foote
December 11, 2025
The nine ventures in the newly launched Mission from MaRS: Food and Agtech are optimizing logistics, harnessing the power of robots, tackling waste and ensuring our food is as fresh as possible.
At the core of our food supply system is a complex web called the cold chain, a network of storage facilities, transport routes and distribution networks that move produce across this vast country. It’s what ensures perishables last longer and remain shelf stable by keeping produce refrigerated or frozen from the farm gate to food manufacturing facilities and to point of purchase.
The miracle of the FSCC means Canadians can eat mangos in winter, but many things can go wrong on the journey from farm to fork and the environmental cost is steep. Gas or diesel-powered farm equipment, fertilizer production and livestock make the agricultural industry the source of 10 percent of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions — the fifth largest emitting sector in the country. Transport is another big polluter and is highly vulnerable to disruptions due to extreme weather events, power outages or refrigeration mishaps.
Then there’s the issue of food sovereignty. Due to Canada’s short growing season, close to 80 percent of fruit and 60 percent of vegetables are imported. “We are wholly reliant on a global food supply chain that is no longer sustainable, reliable or efficient,” says Katherine Festeryga, the food and agriculture lead at MaRS. “It’s paramount that we change the way we produce, distribute and consume food in Canada.”
To that end, MaRS has launched the Mission from MaRS: Food and Agtech Accelerator, a comprehensive initiative that aims to speed up the commercialization of solutions that can help shrink the carbon footprint of the food industry, and improve food security and sovereignty. “This inaugural Food and Agtech venture accelerator is so exciting because it covers the entire food supply chain: growing at source, cold chain storage, optimizing transportation and warehousing,” says Festeryga.
Meet the nine startups working to change how we feed ourselves and our communities.
“The best way to protect ourselves against global shocks is to have farmers close to home without having to rely on others,” says Growcer CEO Corey Ellis.
Growcer is transforming the supply chain
In 2016, Growcer installed its first modular, vertical farm in Churchill, Man., where food security can be precarious. Growcer’s team trained the local community how to operate and maintain the hydroponic farm that is housed inside what looks like a shipping container where plants grow on stacked shelves under LED lights. Within weeks, the community saw the cost of vegetables plummet by 50 percent simply because the locally grown produce replaced leafy imports. Today, 1,000 of the Growcer’s smart farms have been installed in 40 countries; of the 135 farms in Canada, 50 have been set up in First Nations communities.
How it helps: Growcer farms are especially well suited for places where food can’t be grown year-round; they have been installed in hurricane zones and regions prone to drought.
They take up less space and require less water than conventional growing. “By bringing the farm closer to people, you get all these benefits: higher nutrition, better shelf life,” says Ottawa-based co-founder and CEO, Corey Ellis. “With this technology, they’re eliminating imports and bringing all of the supply chain into their community.”
What’s next: Growcer farms supply 500,000 people around the world with fresh greens daily. The startup has now mobilized sufficient capital to support its goal to feed 10 million people a day by 2029.