Monday, December 18, 2017

Food policy gets a push

The Arrell Institute, formed earlier this year to study food policies in a number of nations and to advise the Canadian government, has recently sent its report to federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay.

But I haven't been able to find out what's in the report. Never mind, because it's just a lot of hot air. Yak, yak, yak forever about the need for a national food policy.

The institute, headed by geographer Evan Fraser of the University of Guelph, found many challenges in a complex situation for Canada.

“Some of these challenges include four million Canadians living in food insecurity, high levels of diet-related disease, and climate change mitigation and adaptation; while there are significant opportunities to build public trust and advance Canada's international trade objectives,” Maple Leaf Foods Inc. says in a news release today drawing attention to its participation in the institute.

The ad hoc working group includes the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Food Secure Canada, Maple Leaf Foods and the McConnell Foundation as founding members.

Maple Leaf says its proposal has garnered support from a broad cross-section of businesses, non-profits and sectoral organizations from across Canada in a letter sent to Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Lawrence MacAulay last week.

"Working with the academic and research community was a necessary part of the process," says Fraser.


"And through a rigorous research process, we were able to distill best practices from food policy councils from around the world to inform our recommendations to the Canadian government."