Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I would first like to thank you for inviting us to participate in this study on agriculture in Canada.
I would like to introduce Laurier Busque, a former professor from the University of Ottawa. I am the President of Les AmiEs de la Terre de l’Estrie and the president and founder of markets for regional solidarity. We are both volunteers. Neither of us receives any money from anyone for this.
The mission of Les AmiEs de la Terre de l’Estrie is as follows. Sherbrooke’s Marché de solidarité régionale was established out of respect for the earth and humankind, and offers numerous quality local products from area farmers. The market advocates food self-sufficiency by developing products and jobs locally.
To achieve its mission, the Marché de solidarité régionale has adopted a unique approach that blends the flexibility of e-commerce with the pleasure of buying locally.
Let us talk about knowing where our food comes from. Currently, the greatest challenge in the food industry is the lack of information on where food comes from. That is why farmers' markets are so popular in Quebec. Farmers' markets are growing; there are about 20 in the Eastern Townships. Agricultural methods vary significantly from one country to the next; knowing where a product comes from is essential in determining whether a product is socially acceptable. In Canada, the equitable food supply chain is hampered by the simple fact that corporate research on transgenesis is kept secret.
By making local products available, we know where our food comes from and often get to meet the producers. We can ask questions about production and processing methods, if applicable. This direct contact between producers and consumers creates a relationship of trust, and as a result, consumers are willing to make a certain amount of effort to maintain a relationship with the people who feed them. Communities are based on human ties, not financial ties. These days, the food supply chain tends to place more emphasis on the latter rather than the former.
What do we want for our future? Development based on capitalism with all its familiar impacts, like social alienation, or a community in which the economy serves the people instead of the other way around? People-centred development is not only a social obligation but an inevitable obligation. The system as we know it will no longer have the energy or resources to continue on its current path; it will falter in the short or medium term. Therefore, we must replace it with a system that consumes less energy. Short-channel distribution networks are a very interesting alternative.
The Marché de solidarité régionale recognizes that the only way to save the planet is to buy locally. Historically, agriculture has been the linchpin of community development. Rethinking agriculture based on feeding one’s community is part of the desire to reconnect with the communities in which we live. Despite the tendency for people to migrate to urban centres, there has been a growing trend across Canada to buy local products.
With the depletion of oil resources, we will no longer be able to count on regular access to agricultural products from faraway places. Consequently, we will have to restructure food distribution around both urban and rural communities. Oil is a limited, non-renewable resource, and our society is only just beginning to feel the impact of its depletion.
Let's look at fair deregulation. Given the deregulation taking place around the world and especially in Canada, we must review the systems that have brought deregulation to our own agricultural system. If we deregulate on the one hand, but continue to subsidize the major corporations that control the market on the other hand, nothing will change in terms of local product development. These major corporations are involved in seed genetics, processing and distribution.
They must be stripped of their protected access to the free market so that they are on the same footing as community-based businesses. Here is a simple and convincing example: during the listeria crisis, inspectors took a very heavy-handed approach to the raw milk cheeses produced by Quebec’s artisan cheese makers, but did not touch the raw milk cheeses imported by companies like Agropur and Saputo. If the two systems were on an equal footing in terms of deregulation, we would begin to have a fair arrangement.
Let’s now look at the food supply chain serving the people. We would like to share with you our vision of a food supply chain based on four parameters that can be arranged in a way to help guide the public: self-sufficiency, democracy, diversity and fairness.
The challenge for the public and for our leaders is to implement these four parameters interdependently. Making a community food self-sufficient means giving it the ability to meet its food requirements in the face of any disaster that may arise.
At present, Canadian cities do not have adequate food self-sufficiency beyond a two-week period. The democracy we hold so dear can be truly achieved only if we have a say in what we eat. It is certainly not democratic to import garlic from China and cucumbers from India when these two products are traditional elements in our diet and agriculture. We have no democratic input with producers from outside Canada.
The relationship we have to rebuild with our own producers is based on participatory democracy in which the members of a community have a say in what they eat. We must trust the collective wisdom of our fellow citizens when it comes to feeding ourselves.
In terms of diversity, history offers an excellent example of what happens when there is a lack of plant diversity. The famine that struck Ireland in 1822 was caused when insufficient varieties of potatoes were planted and the crop was devastated by disease. Diversity brings balance. The industrialization of agriculture has led to a reduction in the varieties of nutritional plants and an emphasis on the most popular species—hence a lack of diversity—with the result that we are facing imminent danger. The advent of genetically modified foods works against biological diversity.
Last but not least: fairness. Only short-channel production can bring back fair prices for producers’ work. With the globalization of the agri-business, we have lost contact with local producers, who are no longer able to compete. Major supermarkets refuse to display local produce, saying that the food supply chain must be consistent in all of their stores across the province. There will always be a link between the principles of fairness and democracy.
Should revenue benefit a single person or the community? That is our justification for sustainable development, and experience has shown that, if we ignore these four parameters, we will end up undermining our resources. What will be left for future generations?
Thank you.