Buffet of tasks

They gathered from thither and yon, from east and west. It was time for the annual editorial gathering at The Western Producer. The agenda, cleverly designed to resemble a menu, asked a burning question: What’s on your plate?
It turns out quite a bit is on our plates, but it paled in comparison to the enormous buffet of tasks that lie before one of our guest speakers. Neil Currie is co-chair of the National Food Strategy, a project initiated by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.

Regular readers of The Producer may be familiar with the strategy’s essentials, which we’ve reported upon, but Currie outlined its magnitude. Work started in February and he and his committee hope to gain consensus by July 2011.
Given that any three farmers in a room will have five different opinions, the optimism is breathtaking.
As farmers well know, Canada doesn’t have a food strategy. Many opine that it has a cheap food policy, but the jury is still out on that. Sudan, where there is only subsistence farming at best, has a food strategy, as do many other countries. Canada does not.
It has various agricultural policies developed in the political realm, but a strategy for the long term — 15 years — is lacking. Development of such is “the most important social policy since Medicare,” said Currie. “That’s what we’ve been saying, and nobody has challenged that statement yet.”

Read Also

Worrisome drop in grain prices

Prices had been softening for most of the previous month, but heading into the Labour Day long weekend, the price drops were startling.

Why is a strategy needed? Development and maintenance of a sustainable and secure food system “is critical in allowing governments, businesses and communities to invest resources strategically and effectively,” says CFA source material.
The goal is to position Canada as “a leader in providing safe and nutritious food through a vibrant, competitive, responsive and sustainable farming, processing, distribution and sales sector.”
Currie elaborated on the nine objectives of the strategy. They are all of interest to farmers but for many, number five is key: “The Canadian food chain will be driven by its diverse, innovative and profitable farm and food supply sectors.”
Canadian farmers have the diversity and the innovation figured out. It’s that third adjective that presents problems at their link in the food chain. You can read more about the national food strategy here.
Our thanks to Currie and to our other two food chain speakers, Dennis Laycraft of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and Bryan Kosteroski of the Agriculture Council of Saskatchewan.