Conference Board of Canada's Food Strategy - What do you think??

Citizen
Wednesday, February 27, 2013 - 4:46pm

Read comments and analysis from Food Secure Canada and others.

Comments

Submitted by Citizen on Wed, 2013/02/27 - 4:55pm.
NOVA SCOTIA EXPERTS SERVE UP ADVICE FOR FOOD STRATEGY IN CANADA Regional representation is the key to creating an inclusive, meaningful national food strategy, say a group of Nova Scotia stakeholders who shared their insights with the Conference Board of Canada. About 25 business owners, farmers and industry experts gathered Wednesday morning in downtown Halifax to discuss the board’s intent to create a co-ordinated, long-term Canadian food strategy. The board’s Centre for Food in Canada is gathering feedback online and through public consultation sessions across Canada to draft a framework for a long-term strategy. Read more ... http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/584109-ns-experts-serve-up-advice-for-food-strategy-in-canada

Submitted by Citizen on Wed, 2013/02/27 - 5:01pm.
MORE VOICES NEEDED ON NATIONAL FOOD STRATEGY Who’s setting the table for the food that Canadians are eating? And who should be involved in establishing a national food strategy for this country? Between 2008 and 2011, more than 3,500 Canadians participated in “kitchen table talks,” a process that culminated in the publication of Resetting the Table: A People’s Food Policy for Canada. The report was adopted by Food Secure Canada, a national network of people and organizations mobilized around zero hunger, healthful and safe food, and sustainable food production and distribution systems. In stark distinction to this grassroots process, and to its priorities, the Conference Board of Canada hosted a Canadian Food Summit in Toronto earlier this month, and is purporting to be leading a process to create a Canadian food strategy. Not only was the conference board’s agenda critically limited in scope, but a strategy aimed at solution-finding that sidelines small- and medium-scale businesses and broad-based citizen input will only reinforce the practices that undermine healthy and sustainable food systems. Although the people’s food policy is the most comprehensive policy document to date, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute have recently released their own strategies. The lack of collaboration between these initiatives will make it difficult for the conference board to claim its new Centre for Food in Canada as the most legitimate convener for another Canadian food strategy. And the agenda of this two-day food summit was dominated by viewpoints of the chief executives of Loblaws, Maple Leaf Foods and the like. No one involved in the People’s Food Policy Project was permitted to be on the agenda. And only in much smaller breakout sessions could participants hear perspectives from the Toronto Food Policy Council or researchers on social and environmental determinants of the emerging obesity epidemic. Read more ... http://www.therecord.com/opinion/columns/article/674510--more-voices-needed-on-national-food-strategy

Submitted by Citizen on Wed, 2013/02/27 - 5:06pm.
CONFERENCE BOARD STRATEGY CONSULTATION A SMOKESCREEN For those of us who care deeply about locally based food systems and who recognize the role food can play in strengthening our communities, ecosystems and economies, it can be tempting to jump at each and every opportunity to get a piece of our vision mentioned in larger discussions about food and agriculture. As part of its Canadian Food Strategy project, the Conference Board of Canada is inviting organizations and individuals to public consultations across Canada this winter. The National Farmers Union received such an invitation. Some local food activists have suggested it is important to attend. Others have turned down invitations, citing concerns that the strategy is a Canadian Food Industry Strategy, not a strategy to provide sufficient, healthy, safe and culturally appropriate food to all Canadians. The Conference Board of Canada’s food strategy work is funded by private companies and government bodies. The Board describes itself as an applied research organization. The Canadian Food Strategy it is developing is really just another private-public partnership project whereby private interests benefit from public research dollars. Given that the project is being funded by companies such as Loblaw (Canada’s largest food retailer), Maple Leaf Foods (one of Canada’s largest food processors and agri-business companies), Nestlé (the world’s largest food processing company) and Heinz (a US-based multinational food processing giant), it is not a surprise that the focus of the strategy is to create more profit opportunities for these research ‘investors’. Calls for the Canadian government to adopt a national food strategy are coming from a variety of places including Olivier De Schutter, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, and the Peoples Food Policy, a project led by urban and rural food and farming advocates. No doubt the Conference Board of Canada hopes that by including public consultation in its research project it will build support for its own vision for our food system. Instead of harnessing the widening public energy and interest in food to create a food strategy for the public good, the government has invested in the Conference Board of Canada’s project, once again putting the interests of corporate Canada ahead of the interests of Canadian citizens advocating for a just and ecologically sound food system. Read more ... http://agridigest.com/2013/02/24/conference-board-food-strategy-consultation-a-smokescreen/

Submitted by Citizen on Wed, 2013/02/27 - 5:12pm.
AN INCLUSIVE CANADIAN FOOD STRATEGY, NOT A CORPORATE FOOD STRATEGY The TFPC has written an open letter to the Conference Board of Canada, expressing concern about their development of a Canadian food strategy. Not surprisingly, the Conference Board’s food strategy (recently circulated through a survey) reflects the interests of food industry investors that are funding the process. For example, building a market for Canadian agri-food exports is favoured over building local and regional markets; large scale agri-food businesses are favoured over small and medium sized businesses; and corporate economic prosperity is favoured over community-based businesses, health, environmental sustainability, and citizen participation. This narrow focus has potential social, economic, cultural, health, and environmental implications. The TFPC is asking that the Conference Board join the call for a government-coordinated Canadian food strategy. Diverse national policy and advocacy groups have devoted a wealth of resources to developing and drafting Canadian food strategies, including organizations like Food Secure Canada, the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, and the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. By seeking to build its own food strategy, and purporting to represent all Canadians, the Conference Board of Canada is overlooking the value of these prior efforts. This lack of acknowledgement of past work is problematic and indicative of an exclusive, corporate focus. Who has a stake in the future of food in Canada? All Canadians. Given this fact, how do we move forward with the development of an inclusive Canadian food strategy? Read the entire letter below or download it here to modify and send yourself. Add your voice to the call for an inclusive food strategy. Download letter from http://tfpc.to/uncategorized/an-inclusive-canadian-food-strategy-not-a-corporate-food-strategy

Submitted by Citizen on Wed, 2013/02/27 - 5:16pm.
Drs. Michael R. Bloom and Charles Le Vallée Centre for Food in Canada The Conference Board of Canada Dear Drs. Bloom and Le Vallée I have received and carefully read the document you provided for the upcoming CBoC Canadian Food Strategy consultation. I originally agreed to attend the consultation because it seemed as if the CBoC was genuinely trying to address some of the serious issues associated with food in Canada: growing hunger, escalating food-related health problems, ongoing environmental destruction associated with conventional food production and increasing control of the global corporate food system. Instead, your consultation primer indicates just the opposite: no mention of hunger, no connection between food-related health problems and the corporations who peddle the ‘edible food-like substances’ that cause these conditions, little recognition of the globally recognized suite of negative environmental consequences of conventional farming, and a call for increasing the scope and scale of the global corporate food system. Indeed, the primer should be titled “Canadian Food Industry Strategy,” to honestly indicate to the public that this consultation process not only involves the promotion of the Canadian food industry (as is clear from your first pillar), but also constitutes a vehicle for the food industry to move into the other four pillars – areas that reflect “Canadians’ concerns and needs around safety, health, security and sustainability.” A true Canadian food strategy would be focused on, first and foremost, making sure everyone gets fed, much as the Canadian health-care strategy makes sure everyone gets healthcare. In contrast, your strategy aims to promote the visibility and growth of the food industry and to treat Canadians’ concerns and needs as private profit opportunities, not public moral obligations. In addition, your prescriptions represent a virulent form of neoliberal economics that has been acknowledged as responsible for the ongoing global economic crises and clearly only benefits about 1% of the population – in this case the owners, senior managers and shareholders of large multinational food corporations. Instead of putting forward innovative alternatives to this discredited economic model, the Conference Board of Canada wants to • promote competition over co-operation • advocate free trade over fair trade • reduce or eliminate supply management (one of the only economic models that has made farmers successful) • increase the scale of production and exports (instead of considering small and medium sized, regionally-based production to ensure every Canadian is fed) • eliminate “unfair” regulations (unfair to whom?) • incorporate public and private industry standards (which consolidates private oversight of public issues such as food safety) • frame healthy food choices as new commodities (not behavioural changes such as eating more basic fruits and vegetables) • promote private, voluntary environmental standards (which do little, if anything, to ensure our environmental future is protected) I am surprised that the Conference Board of Canada is asking the public to support its promotion of the food industry. While corporate lobbying of government is a regrettable reality, masking such lobbying as a national food strategy and a “shared national vision for food that can promote collaboration and common purpose” is dishonest, self-serving and morally corrupt. Needless to say, I will only attend your “consultation” if it changes from a one-sided advocacy for a special-interest group to a dialogical endeavour to build a Canadian food strategy that focuses on the concerns and needs of all Canadians, not just the food industry. Sincerely, Jennifer Sumner, PhD Director, Certificate Program in Adult Education for Sustainability Adult Education and Community Development Program OISE/University of Toronto 252 Bloor Street West Toronto, Ontario M5S 1V6 jennifer.sumner@utoronto.ca

Submitted by Citizen on Mon, 2013/03/18 - 7:19pm.
A FOOD POLICY FOR THE PEOPLE, NOT THE CORPORATIONS In his report to the United Nations last week, Olivier de Schutter, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food called on Canada to implement a national food policy, something that organizations such as Food Secure Canada and the P.E.I. Food Security Network have been advocating for many years. The need for action on this issue is urgent. According to the UN report, nearly 900,000 Canadians use food banks each month. One in 10 families with at least one child under the age of six and 55 per cent of households that rely primarily on social assistance are food insecure. Among the provinces and territories, P.E.I. has one of the highest rates of food insecurity in Canada. At the same time, the capacity of farmers and fishers to provide the food we need is under pressure, from increased debt, higher costs of production and competition from cheap food imports. Changing this situation is the driving force behind the work of the P.E.I. Food Security Network. All of the major federal parties, even the Conservatives, have acknowledged the need for a national food policy. And in Prince Edward Island, during the 2011 provincial election campaign, in a letter to the P.E.I. Food Security Network, Premier Robert Ghiz stated that his party "is supportive of a national food policy and will continue to encourage the federal government to work on this initiative." Moreover, the premier expressed total agreement with the following building blocks (from Food Secure Canada's People's Food Policy, based on input from thousands of Canadians, including many who took part in a series of kitchen table talks in P.E.I.) for a food policy: • Localize the system so that food is eaten as close as possible to where it is produced, and so that food dollars support the local economy; • Support a widespread shift to ecological production and distribution of food; • Ensure adequate income for farmers and fishers; • Develop programs to help new farmers and fishers get started; • Enact poverty elimination and prevention programs to ensure that all Canadians can afford healthy food, and; • Ensure that the public is actively involved in decisions that affect the food system. In reality, however, the P.E.I. government's recent decision to invest in a corporate sector-led process convened by the Conference Board of Canada suggests an entirely different set of priorities when it comes to food policy. Read more . . . http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/Opinion/Letters%20to%20editor/2013-03-16/article-3200857/A-food-policy-for-the-people-not-the-corporations/1

Submitted by Citizen on Mon, 2013/03/18 - 7:23pm.
FARM POLICY PRIORITIES (excerpt from article reporting on the Canadian Federation of Agriculture's February 2013 Annual General Meeting) The delegates were pleased to hear from Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Gerry Ritz who provided details on the Outlook on Farm Income released later that morning, as well as answering a variety of producers' questions dealing with the winding down of the Shelterbelt program, changes in regulations of container size, research, succession planning and concerns related to Agri-recovery limitations in assisting those who experience severe drought in Eastern Canada. The delegates also appreciated the opportunity to have an open dialogue with NDP Agriculture Critic Malcolm Allen and Liberal Agriculture Critic Frank Valeriote. Representatives from the Conference Board of Canada, the National Food Strategy (NFS), and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada presented on the panel, "Uniting the Vision of Agriculture and Food in Canada". The panel highlighted the strong similarities between the Conference Board's Canadian Food Strategy and the industry led NFS and the need for government to move forward on building on the work done to date by industry in adopting a food strategy for the country. Read more . . . http://www.agannex.com/business-policy/farm-policy-priorities

Submitted by Citizen on Mon, 2013/03/18 - 7:27pm.
CAN WE COMPETE? A NATIONAL FOOD STRATEGY: PLANNING INTO ACTION So from my previous articles, I hope that you are in agreement that a National Food Strategy for Canada, or as I prefer to call it “Canada Food Inc.,” is necessary for us to be sustainably competitive over time. I also hope that you accept that the effort will pay off for us. Are you? Do you? Getting Started The strategic learning process now comes into play. It is composed of four steps: learn, focus, align and execute. What do we need to learn? Well, I’m sure that what we need to know is “out there” somewhere. But it needs to be pulled together in a few white paper-type reports that cover a few key points. These white papers should be undertaken as projects supported by the whole industry, or at very least the federal government with industry involvement from all levels. What should they look at? 1. Market Analysis White Paper One white paper should be looking at the global market place in total to understand what is happening and is likely to happen over the next decade or so with regard to food. It should be focused on the world’s food customers – both consumers and the trends involved – as well as the food retailing and foodservice industries and the trends emerging there. This should look at what is happening in Canada and other developed regions such as Europe and Japan; what is happening in developing markets such as Latin America, China, India and Southeast Asia; and what will happen in the lesser-developed countries where people often do not have enough to eat. It should then identify the trends that will affect the Canadian food industry, breaking it down by “business unit,” such as red meats, poultry, dairy, seafood/aquaculture, horticulture, grains/oilseeds/pulses, beverages, complex manufactured foods, and so on. It should also look at who our major competitor countries are in each of those areas, the overall industry dynamics globally, and what is happening in the broader environment – the political, economic, social and technological trends that may impact our food industry’s ability to succeed. And then, it should do a SWOT analysis for each of the Canadian “business units” referred to above. What are the opportunities for that sector, the challenges or threats? What are our strengths and our weaknesses within the context of the global market as defined above? Read more . . . http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/food/news/a-national-food-strategy-planning-into-action-97664

Submitted by Citizen on Thu, 2013/03/21 - 6:57pm.
CHOPPED AND STEWED: WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT TO HAVE AN HONEST DISCUSSION ABOUT FOOD SECURITY? Why is it so difficult to have an honest discussion about food security? The answer, put simply, is because there are a lot of interests eyeing up a pretty small pie. Recently, the Conference Board of Canada’s Centre for Food in Canada visited Vancouver and asked the Vancouver Food Policy Council, among other groups and food professionals, to participate in a food strategy consultation. (The Conference Board of Canada defines itself as a “not-for-profit applied research organization in Canada” that is “objective and non-partisan”.) The organization says it wants to formulate “a food policy for all Canadians.” It seems encouraging at first that food policy and food security are being examined from so many different angles. Until, that is, we start looking a little deeper at how this research is conducted and who and what might benefit from it. After the meeting, members of Vancouver Food Policy Council were disappointed enough to express their dismay in open letter to the Conference Board of Canada. Read more . . . http://megaphonemagazine.com/articles/640/chopped-and-stewed-why-is-it-so-difficult-to-have-an-honest-discussion-about-food-security For more fun facts on food security, follow me on Twitter @Elecia_C!

Submitted by Citizen on Thu, 2013/03/21 - 7:03pm.
CANADA'S FOOD FORTUNE The first part of an OpenCanada-Conference Board collaboration in advance of the 2nd Canadian Food Summit Canada is riding the wave of a commodity boom, including oil and gas, metals, potash—and food. The boom is transforming formerly have-not provinces like Saskatchewan, Newfoundland, and Labrador into ‘have’ provinces. Bright prospects are fuelling a culture of hope and enterprise, and plans for rapid growth. These provinces are shedding their old fortress-like mentality of protecting a shrinking population and economic base. Canada’s food sector—often viewed as an economic “have not”—is similarly transforming. As a result, we can expect to see a corporate attitudinal shift from defensiveness to confidence as companies willingly seek out global opportunities. As our recent report, The Sky’s the Limit: the Viability of Canada’s Food Economy, points out, this is an opportune time for Canada. One of a handful of major net exporters of food, the future promises to create even more customers for Canadian exports, as newly industrializing countries are demanding more calories and better quality food. Between now and 2050, the world will have 2 billion more mouths to feed, many of them living in the massive industrializing economies of China and India. These newly prosperous peoples have the money to pay for the food they want—and they are already demanding more processed commodities, especially proteins. Processed dairy and meat products are likely to show the greatest increases in demand—and offer the greatest potential rewards to companies that go international. Canada is among the world’s most sophisticated agricultural producers and food processors. In agriculture, Canada maintains a clear competitive advantage in almost 80 different food products. Recent increases in domestic agricultural land values are a sign that the market sees food commodity prices remaining high and that Canada will profit from increasing international demand. Read more . . . http://opencanada.org/features/the-think-tank/comments/canadas-food-fortune/

Submitted by Diana on Tue, 2013/03/26 - 7:32am.
Actually, the sky is not the limit, and a sustainable food future relies on food sovereignty, more local and sustainably produced food, more small and medium sized business and breaking down the monopolies of the very companies Mr. Bloom sees as models -- Walmarts and Targets. Lets hope the Conference Board is NOT writing Canada's food strategy because it will be horribly shortsighted and narrow. An export-driven policy has delivered inadequate food safety, an epidemic of unhealthy food and a dramatic decrease in the number of family farms. We need a real food policy, not more industry-driven laissez-faire shortsightedness.

Submitted by Cathleen Kneen on Sat, 2013/03/30 - 5:38pm.
Canada's food system is not broken. It works very well for the people for whom it was designed, and who control and profit from it. What it does not do, and what the food policies proposed by the food industry and big agriculture will not achieve, is a food system that does what food systems are supposed to do. The purpose of a food system is the optimal nourishment of the population in ways which are respectful, equitable, and sustainable economically and ecologically for the foreseeable future. In other words, support the health and well-being of Canada's land, water, and people. That's what CBOC's proposals don't do. In fact, given the general thrust which is more of the same, they cannot do what is needed.

Submitted by Citizen on Wed, 2013/04/03 - 11:24pm.
CANADA'S ROLE IN FEEDING A THIRSTY WORLD On April 9-10, my colleague Joanna Barrington (WWF’s manager of strategic partnerships) and I will be attending the 2nd Canadian Food Summit – an event hosted by the Conference Board of Canada to explore key challenges and opportunities in the agri-food sector. The Summit will feature some of the leading authorities and experts in the food sector in Canada and from around the world, and provide participants with a unique opportunity to help shape the development of a Canadian Food Strategy, slated to be launched at the end of 2013. As we get closer to the event I thought it worthwhile to share some perspective from WWF on water and food in Canada. Globally, agriculture is by far the greatest user of fresh water. On average, it takes about 1 litre of water to produce 1 Calorie of food. With the world’s population expected to surpass 9 billion by 2050 and food demand projected to increase by 70% during this period, managing water and other resources efficiently to ensure food security is without a doubt one of the single biggest challenges facing current and future generations. Given Canada’s vast land, water and resource base, it’s not surprising that our country is often included in the list of countries that could potentially boost its agricultural production to help feed the world. Read more . . . http://blog.wwf.ca/blog/2013/04/01/canadas-role-in-feeding-a-thirsty-world/

Submitted by Citizen on Sat, 2013/04/06 - 1:26pm.
FARMING MORE WITH LESS Part of an OpenCanada-Conference Board collaboration in advance of the 2nd Canadian Food Summit By 2050, there will be almost three billion people added to the world’s already bulging population of 6.5 billion people. Global food output will have to increase by 70 per cent. The pressure on land continues to grow–urbanization, erosion and climate change are all factors. By 2020, Canada will be one of only six countries worldwide producing a food surplus to feed a growing global population, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Worldwide, agriculture and food supply are at a critical juncture. The urgent necessity to maintain a sustainable global food supply has captured the attention of media, governments around the world, the United Nations, consumers, and farmers alike. Moreover, diets around the world are changing. Canada is becoming more ethnically diverse and internationally, emerging economies and expanding middle classes are demanding more varied protein. There is a general understanding that this is not just about agriculture – its about our food, fuel and fibre needs. And the solution must be comprehensive, taking in environmental, social, and economic concerns. So, where do we start? As a resource rich nation, Canada faces a huge challenge and responsibility, as well as an incredible opportunity. Read more . . . http://opencanada.org/features/the-think-tank/comments/farming-more-with-less/

Submitted by Citizen on Tue, 2013/04/09 - 4:02pm.
CONFERENCE BOARD'S FOOD STRATEGY SUMMIT MISSING IMPORTANT VOICES A ticket to the Conference Board's national food summit is about $1,000. Few eaters, growers or food activists, whose opinions matter, can afford that. Canada desperately needs a national food strategy. Our food system is broken. Farmers are now making less money off their farms than they did during the Great Depression. Our national food guide tells us to load up on fruit and vegetables, but we don’t grow them any more — 80 per cent of produce is imported. Just four companies control more than 70 per cent of food sales in the country! Around 2.5 million Canadians are constantly hungry, and a quarter of us are obese. Canada is the only G8 country without a nationally funded school meal plan …. These are big problems. So I’m glad the Conference Board of Canada is hosting its second Food Summit at the Metro Convention Centre this Tuesday and Wednesday to hammer out a national food strategy. But I have concerns. The tickets are around $1,000 a person. And most of the speakers represent Big Industry: Nestle, Cargill, Maple Leaf Foods. Shouldn’t a national food strategy include all voices, including the majority who can’t afford a $1,000 ticket to the table? Here are three voices you won’t hear at the conference, three who should be part of the conversation. They all spoke Monday night at an alternative summit in Regent Park. • Diana Bronson is the executive director of Food Secure Canada, which bills itself as the “voice of the food movement in Canada.” Two years ago her non-profit organization released its own national food policy. Volunteer animators criss-crossed the country, talking to 3500 people — often around kitchen tables — to develop the plan, which they call the “People’s Food Policy of Canada.” The people, Bronson says, want a completely revamped food system, one that puts health and livelihoods over shareholder returns. That means an emphasis on local, ecologically grown agriculture, as well as a living wage so people across the country can afford to eat regularly. "We have food system that is unfair, unhealthy and unsustainable. We need to turn those three things around together,” she says. “Industry can’t see food in any other perspective than a commodity. In our view, it’s also profoundly cultural, social and certainly sacred. It’s a public good.” Read more . . . http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/04/09/conference_boards_food_strategy_summit_missing_important_voices_porter.print.html