SASKATOON – When Canada’s agriculture ministers gathered July 6 to listen to an industry pitch for a national food strategy that would guide farm policy, industry representatives thought they saw political agreement.”There were a lot of heads nodding around the table,” Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Ron Bonnett said July 9. “I thought there was a lot of buy-in.”Yet when ministers emerged from their annual summer meeting two days later, there was no mention of support for a National Food Strategy.”I guess that’s a bit disappointing although they did talk about strategic investments,” Bonnett said from his northern Ontario farm. “It means we have to keep up the pressure to convince governments that you can’t have policies developed without looking at a broader goal. Where do we want to get to? Does this policy advance that goal?”The farmer roundtable that preceded the ministers’ annual summer conference was organized by the CFA but included representatives from many industry groups not affiliated with the CFA.It offered an unflattering assessment of how existing business risk management programs are working in the face of emerging farm economy problems.”AgriStability in its present form cannot cope with these new risks,” said a discussion paper presented to ministers. “Simply put, the fundamental criteria of the program are not being met.”But the broader pitch to the politicians was that existing programs with a five-year framework do not reflect a longer-term plan.”This policy suite may or may not adequately address issues of the day and may or may not be relevant over the course of the five-year horizon,” it said. “What is lacking in the policy process is a clear overall objective, a vision for the future of the food system and the sectors involved.”The CFA-led movement for a 15-year national food strategy includes a presumption that food production must be tied to research investment, smarter regulation, investment in infrastructure, connections to health issues and environmental concerns.”A national food strategy which its resulting policies support the development and maintenance of a sustainable and secure food system is critical in allowing governments, businesses ands communities to invest resources strategically and effectively,” said the blueprint presented to ministers.It said an effective national food policy will require that many government departments are involved.And while there should be national goals, policies flowing from the strategy “may begin to define subtle differences with provincial direction.”Bonnett said there was ministerial interest in a national food strategy that places food production within a national context of interests that are broader than agriculture.But the only mention of the farmer roundtable that made it into the communiqué at the end of the ministers’ meeting was the suggestion that the regulatory system in Canada must be science-based.The CFA president said the message about the need for a food policy was much broader and the lobby will continue.
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