'Buy local' not our priority, Ottawa says
Thursday, January 2, 2014
The latest announcement by the federal government – that diplomacy henceforth will be all about trade and exports – merely underlines its lack of interest in local food campaigns
by BARRY WILSON
In late November, during the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture (NFSA) annual meeting in Truro, Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) second vice-president Humphrey Bannack posed an intriguing question.
Where is the federal government in the debate about encouraging local food markets, domestic food campaigns and "buy local?"
Does the federal agricultural marketing vision extend beyond a focus on international trade?
After all, the Canadian market is a high-value reliable market not subject to the costs and uncertainties of world prices and foreign rules for access.
As the domestic emphasis on local food expands from anti-corporate food campaigners, foodies and natural food advocates to a broader group of consumers, economic analysis – including a study by the Conference Board of Canada – suggests there is a huge potential boost for farmers if local markets are expanded and the growing appetite for local healthy food is fed.
Consumers are increasingly uneasy about imported food and suspicious that safety inspections of imports are not as rigorous as they are with domestically produced food.
Many politicians and farm organizations are reacting. The Ontario government has passed a local food act and premier/agriculture minister Kathleen Wynne is a major champion of the potential agricultural benefit of zeroing in on a growing consumer appetite for local and organic produce.
The new Nova Scotia agriculture minister promoted local production and consumption in his first speech to the NSFA on Nov. 29. The CFA has been developing a National Food Strategy that includes local, home-grown food as a key component.
So where, asked Alberta farmer Bannack, is the federal government in all this? The simple answer is: almost nowhere.
Ottawa resisted pleas from a national organization of farmers' markets to renew funding for organization and promotion. Local food opportunities and a domestic food market received almost no attention in last year's national Growing Forward 2 policy framework launched April 1.
There is sparse mention of it in federal agricultural messaging. In fact, for years under this trade-oriented government, trade policy largely has become Canada's agricultural policy. A late November announcement by trade minister Ed Fast and foreign affairs minister John Baird solidified that perception.
They announced that, henceforth, Canadian diplomats abroad will be expected to promote Canadian commercial interests as much as they promote the nuances of traditional diplomatic policy.
The Global Markets Action Plan (GMAP) is a shot across the bow of anyone who thinks Canadian diplomacy is about peacekeeping or mediation. It is to be about opening markets.
"By concentrating on core objectives within our priority markets, the (GMAP) will entrench the concept of 'economic diplomacy' as the driving force behind the government of Canada's trade promotion activities throughout its international diplomatic network," said Fast.
"This new focus represents a sea change in the way Canada's diplomatic assets are deployed around the world (and) in doing so, we are ensuring that Canada's long-term economic success becomes one of our priority foreign policy objectives."
It is a sea change indeed. And it is the clearest answer possible to Bannack's question. The federal government imagines that the future of the Canadian economy, including agriculture, is in exports.
A domestic market of 35 million can't compare with a European market of 500 million. Besides, promotion of local food is a provincial or local responsibility.
Get used to it. BF
Barry Wilson is a member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery specializing in agriculture.