The federal government has promised to spend $80 million over the next four years helping Canada’s farmers improve their on-farm food safety credentials.
The funding announced April 13 by agriculture minister Bob Speller will pay for educational workshops for farmers and provide up to $750 per producer to help them implement food safety programs on their farms.
The federal announcement is an important boost, said Ottawa consultant Albert Chambers, who works on the food safety issue for the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.
Most sectors have been working to develop strategies and design programs and manuals for on-farm application, he said. The crucial next phase is to speed up the implementation.
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“I’d say this is a significant investment in the implementation in Canada of a very successful partnership,” Chambers said. “It is $20 million a year and it will allow us to move forward in designing the tools Canadian farmers will need to be involved.”
He predicted that the money will not begin to have an impact at the farm level until autumn. The summer will be spent designing implementation plans, continuing to work on certification for the plans from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and organizing workshops where farmers can learn the details of what will be required of them.
“The next phase really is to educate farmers about the changes they will have to make in their own operations,” said Chambers. “Governments are not looking to regulate these plans into place. They are looking for markets to pull them into place.”
Speller said the new funding announcement, following on the heels of a $62 million commitment in December to help sectors design programs specific to their conditions and needs, is part of the food safety commitment under the agricultural policy framework.
He said it is to show domestic and international consumers that there is a seamless system of food safety in Canada, starting at the farm level and extending through the processing and retailing sectors.
Under the new funding announced last week, national farm organizations are slated to receive $8.2 million to organize and deliver educational workshops for farmers. An additional $61.5 million will be available to producers to help with implementation, whether to hire technical support for overseeing changes in farm practices or buying equipment needed.
Despite the government funding, farm leaders worry that implementing a national food safety system will cost farmers.
