Canada ill-prepared for food disaster

While Canada is generally well prepared for disasters, the food sector is not, according to a report prepared by the Economist magazine in England with assistance from Corteva.

One of Canada’s weaknesses is a lack of research, according to the Global Food Security Index.

The lack of preparation also weakens the country’s ability to recover when disasters happen, the report said.

“On measures of sustainability and adaptation there’s a lot of room for improvement,” said Sardar Karim, one of the researchers who developed the report.

While countries such as Canada have strong rules protecting food quality and programs that limit malnutrition, they fall down in areas such as research, extension services and sustainability, the report said.

The report did not address government preparation for specific disasters, such as the heat dome, that affected British Columbia last year, wildfires and floods or responses to avian influenza and African Swine Fever.