Thank you.
I'm going to jump right into a discussion of one of the pillars, improving health and food safety.
Improving the health of Canadians should, in my mind, be the lead statement in a Canadian food policy. In the past, government has been particularly fixated on introducing regulations as the primary way to improve health. Regulations to reduce salt or sugar content in foods do not change the use of the salt shaker or the sugar bowl.
Government can play a bigger role in educating consumers about a dietary approach to food choices. Communicating the positive nutrition and health attributes of foods on food packaging is a way to educate consumers and incentivize the food industry to innovate and reformulate to feed the demand for healthier and more sustainable products. A greater presence of credible information sources, such as government-issued dietary guidelines, will be critical in establishing the benchmark that ensures consumers are educated about healthy diets. The food policy presents an opportunity to take action against obesity and diet-related diseases among Canadians, and judge the success by measurable reductions in diet-related disease.
Food safety is important enough to be included both in the pillar of improving health and food safety and in the pillar of access to affordable food. Access to safe food and water is a fundamental human right. What has to be clear in any discussion of food safety is what the exact problem is that needs to be addressed. Canada already has very good food safety rules in place. More rules and higher standards are not a substitute for ensuring that the current rules are being addressed. We all need to question whether more rules will make food safer. Perhaps the focus ought to be on consumer education for safety at home, and working with the food industry to ensure that the current rules are being followed along the entire value chain.
In the pillar of increasing access to affordable food, I would like to differentiate between food and diets. Individual foods can help meet nutrition needs, but overall dietary patterns have the greatest impact on long-term indicators of health. The objectives of a food policy can have a bigger impact if the focus is on ensuring access to an affordable balanced diet, rather than access to individual foods.
The next pillar is conserving our soil, water, and air. Let me spend some time on what is emerging as the biggest shift in global food innovation and the area that needs the most policy attention to ensure that we get it right in Canada and around the world. All of us recognize that the global production of food has a big impact on the planet. I'll save you the statistics. I am supportive of the need to be focusing on food as part of our environmental sustainability plan.
The policy discussion that is needed is about food consumption and ensuring that consumers understand the implications of their decisions. Dr. Jason Clay, of the World Wildlife Fund, raised a very interesting question at the recent Canadian Centre for Food Integrity meeting when he asked, “Should people have a choice about sustainable products, or should all choices be sustainable?”
In my view, we are overly fixated on farming and commodities, when we should be measuring the ecological impact of diets. It will not be enough to simply make incremental improvements to what we already do at the farm level. Thinking inside the box, or whatever the food is packaged in, will give us the opportunity to look at diet, formulations, and innovations in processing and food storage that can reduce water use, food loss, and a range of environmental impacts. You miss all of this when you focus solely on sustainability at the farm level.
The food policy for Canada has to focus on food and the choices that are made by consumers. At a minimum, the focus on sustainability within the food policy has to ensure that it gives consumers the sustainability information they need to make informed choices about which food item they take off the grocery store shelf and take home. Focus first on what goes into the grocery cart, not what goes into the grain cart.
We need dietary metrics for human health and ecological sustainability. The Swedish food policy, which I have a copy of here, opens with this statement:
When it comes to food, it's easy to concentrate on individual nutrients or foods to the exclusion of everything else. But all aspects are interlinked, so it's important to maintain a holistic approach.
This statement emphasizes that a new approach is needed, and many nations have already made the shift. We have to make sure that Canada takes a holistic approach, and not a simple rehash of the easy, old approach.
I can't leave sustainability without mentioning the role that Canadian agriculture plays in feeding the world. The food policy for Canada must recognize that we are an exporting nation and our decisions will have global reach, impacting consumers outside of Canada.
The current approach to environmental policy and food fails to address critical success factors, such as consumer education, a direct link between the policy and a measurable outcome of reduction in greenhouse gas, the need for affordable food, and how it positions Canada for attracting investment necessary for economic growth in food production and processing. This is clearly a scorecard that says we don't yet have the right approach to food and the environment.
Canada's food policy must align with the goals of economic growth and job creation. Government can foster competitiveness and innovation by providing incentives to place food that meets the health and sustainability goals in front of consumers. Think first of how tax policies and regulations can provide positive motivation for change. Governments, too, can think more about carrots and less use of the stick.
As a relatively small market, Canadian businesses must look beyond our borders for areas of growth. The Canadian government should, therefore, understand how its policies and regulations align with those of our trading partners, such as the U.S. and Europe. Between nations, our goals in health and sustainability are not dissimilar. One can then ask why our approach to tackling these challenges should be different.
There are 36.7 million Canadians, and every one of us has an opinion on food. The success of our food policy will be tested every time one of us goes to the grocery store to shop or looks at a restaurant menu. Clearly, education is needed to reshape a consumer's approach to food. The needed change in consumer behaviour should form the basis of how government chooses to regulate what a company can do and what it can say to keep food safe and ensure that consumers are informed of a bright future. Finally, a Canadian food policy must create economic opportunities and, at the same time, provide a healthy diet to Canadians that's within reach of the food insecure in Canada.
Therefore, the three elements of food policy success will include education, progressive regulation, and action to foster innovation.
Thank you.