Canadian fruit and vegetable growers had a lot on their plate when they met last week in Winnipeg.
The Canadian Horticultural Council discussed ways to deal with tough new United States pesticide laws, new food safety requirements, and gaps in safety nets.
Outgoing president Dave Jeffries, a vegetable grower from Portage la Prairie, Man., said his term was “bittersweet” because of the daunting issues facing the council.
“I’m not sure if we can see daylight at the end of the tunnel yet,” said Jeffries.
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The new Food Protection Quality Act in the U.S., slated to take effect this August, would prevent Canadian farmers who export produce from using many common pesticides.
But the alternative replacement pesticides have not yet been approved by Health Canada.
Jeffries, who sits on the advisory committee for the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, said the approval process has improved during the past two years, but still has a long way to go.
“There’s so much to do and it takes so long to do it,” he said, adding that environmental groups have made headway in fighting the use of pesticides.
“We’ve got a real enemy out there that we’ve got to deal with,” he told farmers at the meeting.
Meanwhile, on-farm food safety programs designed to prevent outbreaks of microbial diseases are moving ahead more rapidly than growers are prepared for. These programs will formalize many common sense practices already used by growers, he explained, such as washing hands before touching produce.
Growers thought they would have a few years to establish on-farm systems. But recently, the vegetable marketing co-operative in Manitoba found out one of its customers wants audited systems in place by July.
Peak of the Market received a letter from a major U.S. grocery chain stating that farmers supplying lettuce will require on-farm food safety audits, said Jeffries.
Yet the chain has not established the criteria for the on-farm audits, he said. Growers have no details to work from.
Five major chains are considering similar requirements, noted Jeffries.
Members of the CHC want to determine a way to certify farmers who follow on-farm programs.
Jeffries told the meeting despite intense pressures on growers, government bureaucrats always seem to assume farmers will adapt.
“It’s great to export production, but you need to pay the bills.”
Council members also discussed safety nets, which many say are inadequate for some sectors in some provinces.
Jeffries pointed out the lack of young horticultural farmers in the crowd.
“Where are they? There’s not that many of them here,” he said.
