Thank you very much for the questions.
I'll start with the latter. We acknowledge that targets can be difficult things to set and to enforce. We're all supposed to be eating five to ten fruits and vegetables a day. Sometimes that doesn't happen, so targets can be inspirational as opposed to mandated.
On the other hand, targets can be highly effective. The Canola Council of Canada, for its sector, set a target of increasing canola production by 65% by 2015. They'll hit it. What they've done with that target is they've galvanized their supply chain—crushers, processors, growers, and others—in order to create a catalyst for productivity and profitability.
Should government be setting targets? That's perhaps part of your question. I think that's a discussion we need to have. I think we need leadership on the government side to try to reveal where it would like to go.... On the other hand, this is not to absolve the supply chains of responsibility. The supply chains need to galvanize amongst themselves to decide what they're going to do together. So there's a shared leadership here.
Also, frankly, researchers have a role. They need to integrate into the supply chains even more than they have. This is not a top-down approach that is necessarily from government. It is a collective approach as to how everyone can figure out how we can best serve the consumer, how we can improve their health, and how we can create jobs and profitability in the areas you're responsible for. I think that's the way we should do it.
I think you started with a question about food strategies, if I may take that on.
I'm originally from Nova Scotia. A rising tide lifts all boats, and the more that people are talking about strategies, plans, and our future—and we actually talk about a destination, not necessarily a vision—I think that's good, because I think the calibre of the discussion is actually starting to change.
The Conference Board had an event not too long ago that was called a food summit. What was fascinating was the constant reference to the need to nurture food systems. We're starting to talk about food systems rather than just supplier value chains. I think the language is starting to change, which is reflecting an understanding of the complexity of what's out there.
I think ultimately it's probably important that we all try to get together and come up with some common principles. We can't micromanage every single supply chain. That would be impossible. But common principles with metrics and objectives to drive behaviour? That's what we're shooting for.