VALOR participates in a seminar on food quality schemes
On 15 May, VALOR partners took part in a university seminar on food quality schemes and labels in the Canary Islands, organised by the Cátedra de Agroturismo y Enoturismo de Canarias at the Universidad de La Laguna.
The seminar brought together researchers, producers, and stakeholders from the agri-food and tourism sectors to explore how protected designations of origin (DOP), protected geographical indications (IGP), and other official certifications support sustainable, high-quality food production across the archipelago. Talks covered a very wide range of topics, including soil health and life cycle analysis in wine-growing regions, the sensory evaluation of Canary Island wines and the nutritional value of traditional local diets.
VALOR partner Rebecca Kropp contributed a talk on the role of wildflowers and pollinators in high-quality avocado production. Avocados are a protected agricultural good in the Canary Islands, meaning no foreign avocados may be imported into the Canarian market.
The presentation drew attention to how biodiversity underpins agricultural quality - a topic closely tied to VALOR's research on wild pollinators in agricultural landscapes. The central message was that protecting Canarian goods and the local economy requires protecting Canarian biodiversity, and pollinators in particular.