Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank the committee for the opportunity to speak today. So far, I'm quite pleased with the comments of my colleagues. I think we're in for a nice discussion afterwards.
Nationally and internationally, the food landscape is changing fast. Food security is a critical issue, not just for emerging markets but for a growing number of Canadians who are food insecure. Many around the world, including many Canadians, will live with a fixed income in years to come. Food price increases and the global economic downturn will make the concept of eating three healthy meals a day challenging for a great number of people, unfortunately.
The sustainability of agricultural production is by no means assured. In particular, the conservation of precious soil and water resources remains threatened worldwide. Climate change is having a significant impact on global food systems. Understanding both ends of the food continuum will be crucial for moving forward, especially when considering innovation and biotechnologies.
Food authenticity and provenance have been eroded by globalizing demands that threaten developing and ancient food cultures as well as choice for consumers worldwide. Many consumers feel uneasy and are reacting to a phenomenon that is barely comprehensible.
That is why we have seen a severe granulation or fragmentation of market demand. Organics, fair trade products, the 100-mile diet, and the ethical treatment of animals have all been getting significant market traction in the last five to 10 years. And who can blame this varied response to consumer demands? The trust between the food industry and consumers is slowly eroding in the minds of many consumers. Innovation in agriculture in our country has for many years been supply focused. Consumers have been barely part of the systemic equation when evaluating risks and perceptions.
Biotechnology, particularly the introduction of GMOs to our plates in the 1990s, is one of many examples in Canada. For years the biotechnology industry was obsessed with the idea of selling genetically modified seeds to farmers, without educating the consumers. We should have done things the other way around. We have no evidence that suggests that food with genetically engineered ingredients is a significant risk to the health of Canadians, but many believe it is so.
Innovation should also mean public awareness and education, and I believe universities, governments, and industry jointly have a role to play. As such, Growing Forward 2 should entice universities, governments, and industry to do the following things.
First, encourage partners, stakeholders, and communities to create a true relationship between industry and consumers—those who buy food in the end.
Second, develop a unique functional portal to food intelligence resources and research networks that would include farmers and consumers and allow them to better understand and appreciate longitudinal risks.
Third, leverage public engagement with intellectual property in our country and truly celebrate innovation and we should get a full understanding of what innovation means and what intellectual property means. As Canadians, we should embrace new biotechnology's intellectual property. As a nation, we currently don't value intellectual property, especially in agriculture and food, I'm afraid.
Significant changes in sources of research and development funding, in opportunities in science, in intellectual property rights, and in new technologies have been occurring since the 1990s. Some have large social impacts. As mentioned before, having encountered consumer resistance we need to look seriously at public-private sector linkages and their importance in generating value for agriculture, food, and research and development. A clear value proposition should be defined to allow consumers to embrace, value, and celebrate innovation and intellectual property generated in our country.
Canada is recognized as a nation that can design and create widgets, but we're not particularly good at selling widgets; that really seems to be the problem for us. Without this, the proper buy-in from consumers and global challenges in agriculture that will require innovative biotechnologies are going to be difficult to address efficiently and appropriately.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.