Against a backdrop of blue skies and autumn leaves that would make an Instagram filter blush, a group of agricultural postgraduate students at a New Brunswick farm are tinkering with technology they hope will one day help solve an existential crisis: how to save the world’s potatoes.
The Canadian farm in Florenceville is owned by the McCain family, heirs to a 65-year-old frozen food business that is now the largest manufacturer of frozen potato products in the world and supplies restaurant giants including McDonald’s. The company claims one in every four fries in the world is a McCain fry.
