Egg Industry Chair in Sustainability
Nathan Pelletier holds the NSERC/Egg Farmers of Canada Industrial Research Chair in Sustainability. This Chair contributes to a research chair network that includes endowed research chairs in Public Policy (Bruce Muirhead, University of Waterloo), Economics (Maurice Doyon, Universite Laval), and Animal Welfare (Tina Widowski, University of Guelph).
FOR A VIDEO INTERVIEW OF DR. PELLETIER REGARDING THIS RESEARCH CHAIR, CLICK HERE
The modern egg industry is exemplary of the challenges and opportunities of managing food systems for sustainability objectives. For most of us, when we pick up a dozen eggs from the grocery store shelf, we are largely oblivious to the story behind what we are buying. Of course, we know that the eggs were laid by chickens on a Canadian farm and subsequently transported to the grocery store. Yet that singular act of a chicken laying an egg is predicated on a much broader, much more complicated network of relationships. This network spans activities from extracting the fossil energy resources that are used to produce fertilizers and power farm machinery in order to grow and to process the crops that are fed to laying hens, to consumption of egg products and disposal of related wastes. It includes breeder farms, hatcheries, and pullet facilities, where chicks are reared to laying age before they are moved into layer barns. On egg farms, laying hens may be raised in a variety of housing systems. Each system - indeed, each farm - will be characterized by differing resource efficiencies and impact profiles. The egg industry also relies upon a complex network of transportation, grading, packing and processing systems. All of these activities are supported by flows of material and energy resources, with associated emissions, and they also involve a diverse cast of stakeholders. Managing egg production for sustainability absolutely requires that we be attentive to all of these relationships and supply chain stages. It requires that we seek to understand which of these relationships really matter for specific sustainability objectives, and that we seek to influence these relationships accordingly.
The overarching goal of the Egg Industry Chair in Sustainability, through Egg Industry Priority Research for Integrated Sustainability Management (PRISM) initiatives, is to develop and implement a broad-based program of research that will contribute the information and tools necessary to enable mainstreaming effective sustainability management in the Canadian egg industry.
Publications
Turner, I., Heidari, M.D., Pelletier, N.
2022 Life cycle assessment of contemporary Canadian egg production systems during the transition from conventional cage to alternative housing systems: Update and analysis of trends and conditions. Resources, Conservation, and Recycling 176
Li, Y., Allacker, K., Feng, H., Heidari, D., Pelletier, N.
2021 Net zero energy barns for industrial egg production: An effective sustainable intensification strategy? Journal of Cleaner Production 316
Rokundo, R., Bergeron, S., Bocoum, I., Pelletier, N., Doyon, M.
2021 A methodological approach to designing circular economy indicators for agriculture: An application to the egg sector. Sustainability 13(5), 8656.
Heidari, D., Turner, I., Arestani-Jaafari, A., Pelletier, N.
2021 Operations research for environmental assessment of crop-livestock production systems. Agricultural Systems 193
Heidari, D., Gandasasmita, S., Li, E., Pelletier, N.
2021 Proposing a framework for sustainable feed formulation for laying hens: A systematic review of recent developments and future directions. Journal of Cleaner Production 288.
Zargar, S., Heidari, D., Dutta, B., Dias, G., Pelletier, N.
2021 Comparative life cycle assessment of technologies and strategies to improve nitrogen use efficiency in egg supply chains. Resources, Conservation and Recycling.
Zargar, S., Heidari, D., Dias, G., Pelletier, N.
2020 Improving nitrogen use efficiency in crop-livestock systems: A review of mitigation technologies and management strategies, and their potential applicability for egg supply chains. Journal of Cleaner Production 265.
Kanani, F., Heidari, D., Gilroyed, B., Pelletier, N.
2020 Waste valorization options for the poultry industry: A review and recommendations. Journal of Cleaner Production 262.
Arulnathan, V., Heidari, M.D., Doyon, M., Li, E., Pelletier, N.
2020 Farm-level decision support tools: A review of methodological choices and their consistency with principles of sustainability assessment. Journal of Cleaner Production 256
Pelletier, N., Doyon, M., Muirhead, B., Widowski, T., Nurse-Gupta, J., Hunniford, M.
2018 Sustainability in the Canadian egg industry - Learning from the past, navigating the present, planning for the future. Sustainability 10:3524.
Pelletier, N.
2018 Social sustainability assessment of Canadian egg production facilities: Methods, analysis, and recommendations. Sustainability 10(5).
Pelletier, N.
2018 Changes in the life cycle environmental footprint of egg production in Canada from 1962-2012. Journal of Cleaner Production 176(1):1144-1153.
Pelletier, N.
2017 Life cycle assessment of Canadian egg products, with differentiation by hen housing system type. Journal of Cleaner Production 152:167-180.
Popular Press Articles
Egg sustainability expert wins prestigious award. Canadian Poultry. January, 2018.
5 Questions for Dr. Nathan Pelletier. Canadian Poultry. June, 2018.
Green Eggs: Sustainable Intensification. Canadian Poultry. June 2018.
To help fight climate change, we turn to Dr. Nathan Pelletier. Egg Farmers of Canada. February, 2017.
Modelling the Impact of Green Eggs and Hens. University of British Columbia - Okanagan. September, 2017.
It's sunny side up for the egg industry and environmental sustainability. Media Planet Industry and Business. March, 2017.
The digital farm and the impact of green eggs. Digital Journal. September, 2017.
Canada's eco-friendly eggs. eggfarmers.ca. April, 2017
Canadian egg sector going greener. Poultry World. July 2016.
Nathan Pelletier holds the NSERC/Egg Farmers of Canada Industrial Research Chair in Sustainability. This Chair contributes to a research chair network that includes endowed research chairs in Public Policy (Bruce Muirhead, University of Waterloo), Economics (Maurice Doyon, Universite Laval), and Animal Welfare (Tina Widowski, University of Guelph).
FOR A VIDEO INTERVIEW OF DR. PELLETIER REGARDING THIS RESEARCH CHAIR, CLICK HERE
The modern egg industry is exemplary of the challenges and opportunities of managing food systems for sustainability objectives. For most of us, when we pick up a dozen eggs from the grocery store shelf, we are largely oblivious to the story behind what we are buying. Of course, we know that the eggs were laid by chickens on a Canadian farm and subsequently transported to the grocery store. Yet that singular act of a chicken laying an egg is predicated on a much broader, much more complicated network of relationships. This network spans activities from extracting the fossil energy resources that are used to produce fertilizers and power farm machinery in order to grow and to process the crops that are fed to laying hens, to consumption of egg products and disposal of related wastes. It includes breeder farms, hatcheries, and pullet facilities, where chicks are reared to laying age before they are moved into layer barns. On egg farms, laying hens may be raised in a variety of housing systems. Each system - indeed, each farm - will be characterized by differing resource efficiencies and impact profiles. The egg industry also relies upon a complex network of transportation, grading, packing and processing systems. All of these activities are supported by flows of material and energy resources, with associated emissions, and they also involve a diverse cast of stakeholders. Managing egg production for sustainability absolutely requires that we be attentive to all of these relationships and supply chain stages. It requires that we seek to understand which of these relationships really matter for specific sustainability objectives, and that we seek to influence these relationships accordingly.
The overarching goal of the Egg Industry Chair in Sustainability, through Egg Industry Priority Research for Integrated Sustainability Management (PRISM) initiatives, is to develop and implement a broad-based program of research that will contribute the information and tools necessary to enable mainstreaming effective sustainability management in the Canadian egg industry.
Publications
Turner, I., Heidari, M.D., Pelletier, N.
2022 Life cycle assessment of contemporary Canadian egg production systems during the transition from conventional cage to alternative housing systems: Update and analysis of trends and conditions. Resources, Conservation, and Recycling 176
Li, Y., Allacker, K., Feng, H., Heidari, D., Pelletier, N.
2021 Net zero energy barns for industrial egg production: An effective sustainable intensification strategy? Journal of Cleaner Production 316
Rokundo, R., Bergeron, S., Bocoum, I., Pelletier, N., Doyon, M.
2021 A methodological approach to designing circular economy indicators for agriculture: An application to the egg sector. Sustainability 13(5), 8656.
Heidari, D., Turner, I., Arestani-Jaafari, A., Pelletier, N.
2021 Operations research for environmental assessment of crop-livestock production systems. Agricultural Systems 193
Heidari, D., Gandasasmita, S., Li, E., Pelletier, N.
2021 Proposing a framework for sustainable feed formulation for laying hens: A systematic review of recent developments and future directions. Journal of Cleaner Production 288.
Zargar, S., Heidari, D., Dutta, B., Dias, G., Pelletier, N.
2021 Comparative life cycle assessment of technologies and strategies to improve nitrogen use efficiency in egg supply chains. Resources, Conservation and Recycling.
Zargar, S., Heidari, D., Dias, G., Pelletier, N.
2020 Improving nitrogen use efficiency in crop-livestock systems: A review of mitigation technologies and management strategies, and their potential applicability for egg supply chains. Journal of Cleaner Production 265.
Kanani, F., Heidari, D., Gilroyed, B., Pelletier, N.
2020 Waste valorization options for the poultry industry: A review and recommendations. Journal of Cleaner Production 262.
Arulnathan, V., Heidari, M.D., Doyon, M., Li, E., Pelletier, N.
2020 Farm-level decision support tools: A review of methodological choices and their consistency with principles of sustainability assessment. Journal of Cleaner Production 256
Pelletier, N., Doyon, M., Muirhead, B., Widowski, T., Nurse-Gupta, J., Hunniford, M.
2018 Sustainability in the Canadian egg industry - Learning from the past, navigating the present, planning for the future. Sustainability 10:3524.
Pelletier, N.
2018 Social sustainability assessment of Canadian egg production facilities: Methods, analysis, and recommendations. Sustainability 10(5).
Pelletier, N.
2018 Changes in the life cycle environmental footprint of egg production in Canada from 1962-2012. Journal of Cleaner Production 176(1):1144-1153.
Pelletier, N.
2017 Life cycle assessment of Canadian egg products, with differentiation by hen housing system type. Journal of Cleaner Production 152:167-180.
Popular Press Articles
Egg sustainability expert wins prestigious award. Canadian Poultry. January, 2018.
5 Questions for Dr. Nathan Pelletier. Canadian Poultry. June, 2018.
Green Eggs: Sustainable Intensification. Canadian Poultry. June 2018.
To help fight climate change, we turn to Dr. Nathan Pelletier. Egg Farmers of Canada. February, 2017.
Modelling the Impact of Green Eggs and Hens. University of British Columbia - Okanagan. September, 2017.
It's sunny side up for the egg industry and environmental sustainability. Media Planet Industry and Business. March, 2017.
The digital farm and the impact of green eggs. Digital Journal. September, 2017.
Canada's eco-friendly eggs. eggfarmers.ca. April, 2017
Canadian egg sector going greener. Poultry World. July 2016.
