8. International Food Policy

Executive Summary

Canadian aid and trade policies remain stuck in a policy paradigm, pursued by most governments over the past few decades, that privileges free trade, industrial agriculture for export, and corporate control. This has come about through policies which promoted the production of cash and non-traditional export crops at the expense of domestic food production; and that removed subsidies for staple food production; dismantled commodity price controls on staples; and reduced the availability of credit (where it existed) to local farmers. This was achieved through such measures as structural adjustment programmes, trade agreements, and agreements that apply intellectual property rights to life forms.

Policy options include:

• Remove agriculture from the negotiations for free trade and investment agreements. Seek broad alliances with groups in other countries and other sectors struggling against these agreements.
• Take a strong stance against the global land grab and develop a solid and coherent policy in Canada to prevent foreign investors and national financial speculators from acquiring agricultural land.
• Ensure that trade and aid policies contribute to real solutions to climate change.
• Pursue policies that safeguard small producers' rights to save and control seeds and adopt legislation to prevent patents on life.
• Work to strengthen the Convention on Biological Diversity and ratify the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
• Consider the positive impact of agro-ecological approaches to food production on local economies, ecosystem health, and social equity.
• Implement the recommendations of the Canadian Civil Society Organizations' strategy called “Pathways to Resilience” that outlines ways to promote ecological farming that builds resilient food systems.

Download Discussion Paper # 8: International Food Policy (482.5 KB)