Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute says Canada would benefit from the type of collection and analysis done in the U.S.
Canada requires data collection and analysis similar to that of the United States to better understand food price inflation.
Tyler McCann, managing director of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, said the diversity and complexity of food and food production demands research and analysis. He told the Commons agriculture committee members they would benefit from the type of work by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The committee is currently studying rising food prices.
He said in 2021, the USDA’s food dollar research program found that the farm share of the food dollar averaged 14.5 cents. That is split by the farmer and agriculture businesses.
Read Also
Poilievre promises EV action and calls for canola compensation
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre promises EV action and calls for canola compensation
He said there is a wide range in that share depending on the product.
“It’s worth highlighting that the 7.4 cents for farm production was the lowest number recorded by the USDA. The share for retail, though, also fell in 2021,” he said. “The USDA analysis shows farm production, food processing and packaging costs have all gone down. It also shows the share for wholesale trade, food service, accounting and advertising costs have gone up over the last 20 years.
“We simply do not have this level of credible, meaningful analysis in Canada.”
McCann said the committee could recommend the government take the steps to collect this information, analyze it and make it publicly available.
He said the global food price index has fallen from its peak and is about the same as it was a year ago, but it is higher than in 2019.
Food inflation is hitting lower-income people more severely and policy solutions should be directed to those who need it, he said, but those actions would be better informed by more data and analysis.
McCann also said the debate around food price inflation shows that need.
“In particular, it’s highlighted how much room for interpretation there is, how much disagreement over the facts there is, and how much need there is for a more rigorous, more compelling, more objective set of analysis around what is actually happening with the cost of food,” he said in response to a question.
Liberal MP Francis Drouin asked if CAPI has talked to organizations such as Statistics Canada about its capacity to collect data.
McCann said the USDA has more power to compel and collect the information and to analyze it.
“Statistics Canada makes an effort to do analysis based on the information they have, but I think it often leaves something to be desired,” he said.
He said the government decides how to spend its money.
“I think producing public, credible, objective analysis is a good way for government to invest the resources that it has.”
