Ottawa's action plan - a ray of hope for vegetable producers?

Monday, February 28, 2011

Food processors were ecstatic at the announcement of a federal action plan to help their industry and farmers may come to see the benefits, too

by BARRY WILSON

After listening for the better part of two days to academics, researchers and some farm leaders talk about future challenges for farmers trying to feed a ballooning world population, farmer Eric Allaer wanted his say.

He had listened as speaker after speaker at a January conference organized by food research networks argued for more research funding, better trade rules, the embrace of biotechnology, regulatory reform and a reversal of declining agricultural productivity.

It was very much a message about the need to embrace science, trade and globalism as the world tries to feed an additional two billion mouths over the next few decades in a time of climate change uncertainty and a decline in water resources available for food production.

At the end of the conference, the audience was invited to comment and Allaer, a vegetable producer from southwest Ontario, lined up to tell the speakers that their prediction of a world desperate for Canadian food if only Canadian agriculture became more productive did not reflect what farmers face on the ground.

While talk of efficiency and competitiveness is fine, Ontario vegetable processors are going out of business because of cheap imported product. And that means farmers, no matter how competitive, are losing local markets.

"I don't like to sound like a whining farmer but the reality is the vegetable production business in Ontario is all but over," he said. "I'm growing corn for ethanol, so we can put fuel in our cars. The food we eat will come cheap from overseas."

Farmers, he said, are suffering because of the "hollowing out" of the Canadian food processing industry.

Interestingly, within weeks the federal government responded, although to be fair, the plan had been in the works for two years. In late January, veterans affairs minister and secretary of state for agriculture Jean-Pierre Blackburn announced an industry "action plan" promising 12 months of studies and programs aimed at strengthening the sector that has been in decline in the face of a strong Canadian dollar and cheap food imports.

Blackburn committed the government to developing policies that will encourage research in the sector, make affordable credit available for investment, simplify the regulatory process for approving novel foods and put more emphasis on processed food in market access deals.

The government recognized that while food processing and manufacturing is Canada's largest manufacturing sector with 300,000 employees, it has been in trouble.

"The food processing industry, like other manufacturing sectors in Canada, has struggled over the past few years," said the action plan announced by Blackburn, flanked by industry leaders. "This difficult business situation resulted in the closure of a number of plants and, for the first time in almost 20 years, a trade deficit in 2009."

Nothing that Ottawa does will restore the southwest Ontario vegetable processing plant that Allaer is losing. But food processor industry officials were ecstatic that someone in  government actually was listening to them and proposing solutions that may help in the future.  Blackburn is their new best friend and farmers who try to make a living selling to domestic processors may come to see him that way as well if this works out.

At least he is trying. BF

Barry Wilson is a member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery specializing in agriculture.