Canadian Centre of Agri-food Research in Health and Medicine (CCARM)

Video Transcript

Female narrator:
There was a time when most Canadians lived on farms. Today, it's three per cent.

The rest of us live in urban areas such as Winnipeg.

As you might have guessed, the agriculture industry has become more sophisticated, allowing high-quality Canadian food to be produced more efficiently.

The industry is also using agriculture materials for medical and industrial purposes.

Let's take a brief look inside some of the innovative work that's being done in agriculture, one of Manitoba's most important and vibrant industries.

The Canadian Centre for Agri-food Research in Health and Medicine (CCARM) is dedicated to understanding the health-related benefits of nutraceuticals, functional foods and natural health products, or health foods.

Dr. Peter Zahradka is the centre's Team Leader.

Here are some pulses, or legumes.

Dr. Peter Zahradka:
Here are some pulses. You might recognize them as beans, peas, and lentils, but in the agriculture industry they're better known as pulses; and they're grown right here in Manitoba.

Here at CCARM we've conducted clinical trials which scientifically prove that pulses like these can play an instrumental role in fighting diseases like atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.

Our scientists are also conducting a clinical trial to see if flax has beneficial effects for people suffering from heart disease.

When food has a health-promoting or disease-preventing property, we say it's functional. And discovering the functional properties in food is a big part of what we do.

Our work helps farmers make science-based claims about their crops which, in turn, adds value to what they produce.

We can then work to develop new products that improve the health quality of life of Canadians.

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