Wishart is president of Keystone Agricultural Producers.
Earlier this month, Keystone Agricultural Producers attended a research and development conference for agriculture and food traceability.
Trace R&D was hosted by the University of Manitoba and focused on examining traceability technology and looking into a national traceability research strategy.
Traceability systems can increase productivity and profitability related to farm operations, processors and distributors. Though traceability does not guarantee food safety, it does provide a tool to help prevent food safety hazards from reaching more people when a problem occurs. Traceability is important to producers because it can offer market access, with buyers in many countries demanding it.
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Consumers have different reasons for wanting to know where their food comes from. They may be fearful over food recalls and disease outbreaks. They may be looking for value added, or want to buy local, organic or non-genetically modified food. They may be willing to pay for a material or non-material value endowed in food, such as food associated with a particular growing or production region.
The question on how the costs and the values are shared with producers is yet to be answered, but it is clear that we need co-operation from all members in the value chain. However, so far this has been difficult to achieve.
We know identity preservation is important, but Canada lacks the ability to trace all food from farm to fork. Around the globe, developed and developing countries are further ahead of us in establishing traceability programs.
Producers and farm organizations must work with the government to develop a system that is rapid, complete, internationally recognized and nationally integrated. A nationally integrated system is necessary for us to open up new markets and maintain existing ones.
We must also help direct research and development in the field and be willing to fully participate in traceability.
