The Alberta Pulse Growers (APG) collaborated with Chef Jamie Harling and the Alberta Culinary Tourism Alliance (ACTA) to produce an Alberta-based soup to take to market, with this soup available for sale starting tomorrow.

“This was such a unique partnership between the pulse sector and a talented local chef, who created a recipe we believe Albertans are going to love,” said Debra McLennan, APG’s Food and Nutrition Coordinator and a Registered Dietitian. “We are looking forward to seeing the reaction from consumers as they taste this delicious creation that is available for a limited time.”

Harling utilized one of Alberta’s locally grown pulses to create a unique recipe for this project, which was the result of a chef competition to create a pulse-based dish. Harling’s Moroccan Spiced Red Lentil Soup is made with hearty Alberta red lentils, tomato, red pepper, and rich with the flavours of North Africa.

The soup will be sold exclusively at the four Italian Centre Shop Cafes in Edmonton and Calgary starting tomorrow. The Italian Centre Shop Cafes are donating the proceeds from all soup sales to Edmonton’s Food for Thought lunch program and Calgary’s Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids charities.

The Alberta Pulse Growers Commission represents more than 6,000 growers of field pea, dry bean, lentil, chickpea, faba bean and soybean in Alberta. Our vision is to have Alberta pulses recognized by consumers as environmentally friendly, healthy, nutritious, and recognized by all producers as being an essential element in a sustainable cropping system.

 

For more information, please contact:
Rachel Peterson, Communications Coordinator
Phone: 780-986-9398 ext. 108
rpeterson@albertapulse.com
www.albertapulse.com

Memo to Alberta Farmers: NEW Provincial government changes requires you to register for your 2018 carbon credits now or risk not being able to participate in the program this year. Farmers interested in getting paid for their reduced tillage practices must contact an aggregation company as soon as possible.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Changes to the Alberta Carbon Offset System will impact how farmers use the Conservation Cropping Protocol. Farmers used to have some flexibility as to when they applied for their tillage credits; however, under this new system they are now required to forward plan. This means farmers must register with an aggregator as soon as possible to identify fields they are considering for the 2018 growing season. Actual emissions will still be reconciled at the end of the crop year. Aggregators are required to identify a list of all farmers and land locations that are planning to receive credit for generating emission offsets in 2018 to the provincial government by April 30, 2018. If farmers miss this deadline, then they will lose out on this revenue stream for 2018.

This new reporting requirement is aligned with the government’s shift from the Specified Gas Emitters Regulation (SGER) system to the Carbon Competitiveness Incentive Regulation (CCIR), which is a new output-based allocation system. Team Alberta will be advocating on behalf of farmers to ensure that systematic changes do not curtail the ability of farmers to be retroactively acknowledged for voluntary practice improvements, which have provided significant environmental benefit over the decades.

Farmers can contact the following aggregation companies for more information and to register for 2018 credits:

Carbon Credit Solutions www.carboncreditsolutions.ca
Agri-Trend https://www.agritrend.com/services/carbon-credits/service-overview.aspx
Farmers Edge https://www.farmersedge.ca/carbon-credits/

Farmers can also contact Alberta Environment and Parks for more information.

Tel: 780-427-5200 (for toll free access anywhere in Alberta, first dial 310-0000)

Email: AEP.GHG@gov.ab.ca

 

Media Contacts

Victoria Decker
Interim Communications Manager
Alberta Wheat Commission and Alberta Barley
vrussell@albertawheat.com
(403) 219-7906

Michelle Chunyua
Communications Coordinator
Alberta Canola Producers Commission
michelle@albertacanola.com
(780) 224-7970

Rachel Peterson
Communications Coordinator
Alberta Pulse Growers Commission
rpeterson@pulse.ab.ca
(780) 986-9398

 

Additional Background Resources:

A carbon offset is when one party receives credits for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and these credits can then be purchased by another party to “offset” their emissions levels. One option for large industrial emitters to comply with their reduction obligation under the Carbon Competitiveness Incentive Regulation (CCIR) is to purchase offset credits from other activities that have voluntarily reduced their emissions in Alberta.

Allowing regulated facilities to use market-based compliance tools such as offsets creates incentive for Albertans from all areas of the economy to innovate and invest in activities that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions – from farmers to municipalities to small industry developers. (Source: Alberta Environment and Parks, Alberta Carbon Offset System)

The Conservation Cropping Protocol is the most widely used ‘offset’ for the cropping sector and one of the only protocols currently available.

January 2018 Offsets Update

Overview of the Regulatory Program P. 12