The House of Commons agriculture committee is expected to report back before Christmas on a bill that would designate Food Day in Canada.
Bill S-227 is a single clause bill asking that the Saturday before the first Monday each August be a day to nationally recognize food and food production.
Senator Robert Black, who chairs the senate committee on agriculture and forestry and introduced the bill, told the Commons committee that food is at the heart of the Canadian economy.
“It’s important for our future generations to understand that our farmers, producers, processors, and agri-food retailers work hard to produce good food,” he said. “Canadians, young and old, need to see for themselves that our agricultural communities care about the land, the commodities they grow and animals they raise.”
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Black said a food day could increase knowledge, understanding and public trust.
John Nater, Conservative MP for Perth-Wellington, is the bill’s sponsor in the Commons. Both he and Black said the bill is really the legacy of the late Anita Stewart, who established the first Food Day in 2003 to support Canadian farmers. Stewart was also the University of Guelph’s food laureate. She died in October 2020.
Nater read from a letter from Stewart’s four sons, who said she was their mom but also a central figure of the nation.
“It is our dream, Mom’s dream, to have at least one day nationally when it is impossible to ignore the culinary, agriculture and cultural food contributions that sustain and enrich our lives in our bountiful north,” he read.
Food Day would be a call to action to shop for, prepare and eat Canadian food, they said, and deepen the conversation about agriculture and food.
Conservative agriculture critic John Barlow observed that it was “catastrophic” BSE that led Stewart to the first food day, which began as the world’s largest barbecue.
Nater said one of the goals of a national day would be to increase food literacy and educate people about where their food comes from.
Black and Nater both said Food Day can be as simple as sharing a meal with family, friends or even complete strangers to create a bond.
Committee members argued good-naturedly about whose riding was the best agricultural riding, but also agreed Food Day would be an opportunity to experience cuisine from the different cultures that make up Canada.
The committee will do clause-by-clause assessment of the bill on Dec. 14 before reporting it back to the House of Commons.
