FSTI applications hit limit

Thursday, April 7, 2011

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

Close to 1,100 applications for the Food Safety and Traceability Initiative (FSTI) program were received by the end of the day April 5, enough to allocate all the funds available for the federal-provincial program.

The final number of projects that will be funded will be determined once ministry staff assess applications to ensure they meet program criteria and remove any duplications. FSTI is administered in Ontario by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

FSTI provides cost-share funding to a maximum of $25,000 per operation to assist agri-food producers and processors to:

• support the implementation of written food safety programs;
• support the implementation of a working traceability system;
• assist in the purchase and installation of equipment to improve food safety or traceability; or
• train staff increasing the adoption of food safety and traceability.

FSTI is part of the Best Practices suite of Growing Forward, a five-year, $1.3 billion  federal-provincial-territorial initiative cost-shared on a 60:40 basis between the federal, provincial and territorial governments. BF