b'As electric vehicles slowly take over, there will be reduced demand for fossil fuels and even biodiesel, attendees of the GrowCanada Conference heard.AS WE FEEDIN A WORLD ROCKEDby political conflict, economic uncer-tainty and rapidly progressing technological innovation, the bioeconomy is one of many sectors coming to the THE WORLD OFrescuebut restrictive regulation threatens to hamper it if the ag sector doesnt work to ensure plant scientists can innovate.THE FUTURE,That was one message delivered at the 2022 GrowCanada Conference in Ottawa, Ont., by Andrew Busch, futurist and economist based in the United States.REGULATORYBusch was the first chief market intelligence officer for the U.S. government at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. According to Busch, Canadas seed sector BARRIERS MUSTis one of many industries poised to play a major role in the economy of the futureeven more so than our own industry may sometimes think. He used the protein economy as a major example.BE BROKEN DOWN Everybodys going to laugh that I put protein up here on the screen, because it really hasnt taken off the way most people thought it would. But I just want to tell you that I have a crystal ball, and its called venture capital If Canadian ag is to succeed on the worldmoney. Theres a company in Singapore that just raised stage, we need to ensure red tape doesnt get$100 million for what I would call faux lobster. All sorts of money is being dumped into this. Companies in this in the way. It was a major theme of the 2022space have really struggled, no doubt about it, he said.GrowCanada Conference. Marc Zienkiewicz These products are going to get a lot better; the more time they spend time doing research and using AI and massive amounts of data, theyre going to get better and better at growing this stuff. As a matter of fact, in the Netherlands right now, laboratory-grown foods are actu-ally the same price as regular meat.Indeed, while challenges always exist in food systems of any kind, the global food system is working wonders to feed the world. While its the challenges that make headlines, things are not bad and getting worse. In fact, theyre good and getting betterjust not fast enough. 10GERMINATION.CAJANUARY 2023'