Brian Whitwham, Guelph Mercury via Agnet Feb. 1/05 - II

Every once in a while, Jeff Wilson, a Hillsburgh, Ontario, farmer, gets a phone call from a secretive Toronto man looking to make a purchase of 1,500 pounds of aging potatoes.

Wilson was cited as saying the man only says he is extracting starch from the potatoes for research, adding, "I don't know what he's up to and I don't ask. My sense with these guys is when they want you to know, they will let you know."

Wilson was further cited as saying he figures the man is just one of many entrepreneurs looking to make it big in the emerging world of life sciences and biotechnology, adding, "And I'm in the camp that says our future will embrace this kind of thinking, simply because it has to. We're in survival mode. I think we've had a year where no matter what agricultural sector a producer has been in, there has been no money. There has been no profit this year. sBut maybe if farmers can get their minds around the word 'innovation' with some commitment from the government and private sector, I think we've got a future we can all stand up and be proud of."

The story says that many local experts envision a future in which soy beans are used to create diesel, cars are fueled with corn starch and Guelph is a major hub in the global economy.

Gord Surgeoner, president of Ontario Agri-Food Technologies, was cited as telling the Mercury it's time for a colossal mind shift in the local agricultural community, adding, "I think we have a global responsibility in our agricultural fields. We have to change this thought process in that all we were doing was feeding people. Now, we've gone ahead and met that challenge. Now, we can look at reducing pollution, building car parts and improving health care. We have this whole new world where the basic building blocks come from plant oils and plant starches."

Surgeoner was further cited as saying that with the resin harnessed from corn starch, people are making clothing, T-shirts, plastic cups, carpets and "anything else you can imagine. It's just a question of how far you want to go."
Carol Zweep, a research scientist at the Guelph Food and Technology Centre, was quoted as saying, "There's lots of basic research going on and industries that want a product but there's a gap in between. We have to bridge that gap. A lot of basic research can be very obscure. It's like 'what is this going to do for the real world?' That's what we are looking at."

Similarly, a lot of biotechnologies focus on being environment-friendly using renewable resources, which is great, Zweep said, but a new technology won't be successful if it doesn't perform or isn't cost effective.