Ontario farmers and the CFIA differ on what's 'local'

Thursday, June 6, 2013

The Canadian Food Inspection defines 'local food' as coming from within 50 kilometres of the place where it's sold. That's far too restrictive say Ontario farm groups and producers, and it has got to change

by SUSAN MANN

Toronto caterer David Farnell can drive to the farm of his beef supplier, Ed and Shirley Faul, in Ayr, south of Kitchener, in about an hour and 20 minutes. But, as of now, according to a Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) policy, he can't refer to 'local' beef in his product advertising.

Farnell and his wife, Lulu Cohen-Farnell, own the Toronto-based Real Food for Real Kids business that makes lunches for daycares, schools and camps. They've been in business since 2004. The distance from their Dovercourt Road premises to the Fauls' farm is 115 kilometres one way.

According to a CFIA policy in place since the 1990s, a product that's advertised as local must come from within 50 kilometres of the place where it's sold. But that may change. Elena Koutsazakis, CFIA media relations officer, says there are discussions at the agency about how they're defining local.

Chantal Jacob, CFIA senior media relations officer, says by email that Health Canada's Food and Drugs Act and regulations states that "local food" means food that's manufactured, processed, produced or packaged in a government unit, such as a city, town, village or metropolitan area, can only be sold as such.

CFIA enforces all health and safety standards under the Act, along with food packaging, labelling and advertising.

The agency investigates 2,000 consumer complaints a year on a variety of topics, including food safety and labelling concerns. But there hasn't been a spike in enforcement of local food policies, Jacob says. In fact, there have just been two: Alliston-area restaurant chef and owner Jay Klausen in March 2013 and the Farnells in December 2012.

Klausen, who operates two restaurants, Bistro Burger Joint and Bistro 77, says he received a registered letter in March from the CFIA saying he had to remove references to "local" in his materials. As of the end of April, Klausen says he hadn't yet changed any of his materials. He says he tries to buy as much local product as he can. Even in the winter, he serves Ontario root vegetables at Bistro 77.

Ontario Premier and Agriculture Minister Kathleen Wynne said at Queen's Park on April 29 that she has talked with federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and "he's moving to modernize the regulation."

Don Mills is president of Local Food Plus, a non-profit agency which certifies farms and processors for environmentally sustainable practices and provides a link between local farmers and consumers. He says the CFIA policy on local food is workable "when you're talking direct relationships, but as soon as food goes into any sort of distribution system, then it's going to get more kilometres on it."

In addition, the policy doesn't work that well for some farmers' markets, such as those in Toronto. For example, farmers with operations farther away than just past Milton to the west, Ajax to the east and Newmarket to the north and attending markets in downtown Toronto wouldn't be able to say their product is local.

Farnell says their first priority is to use local ingredients for their healthy lunches. "We believe in buying raw materials to make our own foods so that we're not relying on some big brand."

They feed about 8,000 children every day and 60 per cent of the food they use in a week comes from southern Ontario. As for the amounts they use, "there's an awful lot," he says, noting for example that they "go through about 3,000 kilograms of carrots (mostly from the Holland Marsh) in a month."

Using CFIA's 50-kilometre policy, Farnell can't say those Holland Marsh carrots are local, even though the marsh is just 70 kilometres from Toronto.

In December, in response to a complaint, the CFIA investigated the Farnells' business and told them they had to remove references to "local" and "natural" in their materials. Farnell assumes it was one of his competitors who complained. "There you have government acting like a blunt instrument between competitors."

Still, Farnell isn't bitter or resentful. "All we really needed to do is flip out the word 'local' in favour of the word 'Ontario' and switch the word 'natural' for 'real,'" he explains.

Mills says the Farnells make an extra effort to ensure that their food is local and their farmer suppliers use sustainable practices. "Is that really the sort of folks we want to target here?"

CFIA has a number of tools at its disposal to deal with companies that don't comply with the rules, including sending a letter informing them of the non-compliance, seizure and detention of a product or referral to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada for prosecution. Jacob says the agency can select the appropriate response "based on the gravity of the non-compliance," including factors such as potential or actual harm, the compliance history of a company and intent.

If convicted, the penalty for a summary conviction is a maximum fine of $50,000, six months in jail or both. For conviction by indictment, the fine is a maximum of $250,000, three years in jail or both.
The CFIA enforcement seems like a kick in the teeth for the local food movement. Gabrielle Gallant, spokesperson for Premier Wynne, says by email that "the scope of their definition may be too narrow and could work contrary to the interests of supporting local food and Ontario farmers."

Beef farmer Shirley Faul agrees. The policy is unreasonable, she says. "They're just giving small businesses and farmers that are trying to survive a hard time and we really don't appreciate that."

The Fauls have a 300-head herd on their 500-acre farm, where they produce natural, grass-fed beef. Ed Faul's grandfather started the business in 1957. They sell their beef privately and also have an on-farm retail store where their beef is featured, along with products from other area farmers, including chicken, eggs, turkey, pork, plus fish from Georgian Bay, meat and fruit pies, organic flour and jams and jellies.

They have been farming together for 18 years and this is the first time Faul says she's heard that local means it must be within 50 kilometres. Many of her customers like the idea of supporting farmers within 100 miles of their residence because they've read "The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating" by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon.

Defining "local" as coming from within 100 miles would be a better guideline for CFIA to follow and that would make it much easier for everyone, she says. "I don't know why they have to be so sticky about 50 kilometres. I think that's ridiculous."

Ontario Federation of Agriculture president Mark Wales is more blunt than Gallant and Faul in his assessment of the situation. "The CFIA should mind its own bloody business," he says. He encourages the agency to "go back to Ottawa, do what it's supposed to do and get out of Ontario's local food."

Mills says the CFIA policy is tough to swallow "in terms of where the local food system has gone in the last 10, 15 years and the progress we're seeing in terms of getting more production from within the province."

Earlier this year, the Ontario government reintroduced its Local Food Act, which supports the agri-food sector by encouraging more people and institutions to buy food grown or made in Ontario. Gallant says the act defines local food as being produced or harvested in Ontario. "It includes food and beverages made in Ontario if they include ingredients that are produced or harvested in Ontario."

The definition of local food coming from all over Ontario is one that other groups accept, too. Wales says that, while the word "local" means different things to different people, the Ontario government's definition is the best one "we can get at this time."

Mills says there has been a lot of progress made on the local food front and "if it's restricted to within 50 kilometres, it really then means that it's only about that sort of direct sale and perhaps farmers' markets, depending on where they're located."

But if people are serious about provincial farmers getting a bigger chunk of the Ontario food market, "50 kilometres obviously isn't workable," he says.

Wales says another word that is problematic is "natural." "If you look at the CFIA's definition of 'natural' you really have to go out and argue with the grizzly bear over those berries and that fish. That's about all you can call natural using their definitions. We raise our beef all on grass, don't feed them anything else and that's natural, grass-fed beef in my definition."

Farnell says they, too, define local as coming from Ontario, but for them it's mainly southern Ontario. "If we can drive there in a couple of hours, to me that's local." The CFIA's 50-kilometre number for local is arbitrary and makes no sense, he adds, noting the agency's enforcement action "handcuffs us from talking about where things come from in a term that everybody understands."

Still, Farnell says it's not the end of the world. His optimistic view is that reasonable people will get together and come up with a new rule to replace the CFIA's outdated policy. BF