Thank you, Mr. Chair.
On behalf of the Canadian Association for Food Studies, I want to thank you for inviting us here today. We are a network of about 600 individuals across Canada who conduct scholarly research on food. Our members come from a wide array of disciplines, from nutrition science and environmental science to cultural studies and geography.
In existence for over a decade, our network is a web of current and rigorous knowledge and practices regarding food systems and social conundrums related to food. Many of our members work in and with communities that are the most affected by various challenges associated with the contemporary food systems in Canada, so our collective body of knowledge is very practical as well as theoretically sound. The challenges we identify greatly reflect the four themes that are guiding this policy consultation and we thank you for taking such a comprehensive approach to this undertaking.
We call on the standing committee to consider the following three recommendations that we have, which are related to innovation, adaptable policy, and food exports.
The current economic agenda in Canada rests on the view that our secure economic and democratic future hinges on innovation. Investments in the agri-food sector pay a great deal of attention to innovation. Innovation is crucial to pillars two, three, and four of the food policy as proposed by the government. We welcome this but we implore you to take a wide view of innovation, a view that looks beyond technology and profit and that includes social and environmental innovation. This entails holistically valuing the work of small and medium-scale producers, processors, and harvesters, whose revenues obscure the type of social, natural, and community capital they generate through their work.
It also entails valuing the work of countless civil society initiatives across the country that are already addressing nutrition, food access, environmental sustainability, and the livelihoods of those who bring food to our tables. Innovation can mean thinking creatively about engaging citizens in food activities to increase food literacy. It can mean running a social enterprise that helps build skills and social networks for persons who experience social isolation and marginalization. It can mean reviving agro-ecological practices that build soil and regenerate our ecosystems with old technologies and practices.
As a nation, we invest millions in new technologies. Social and environmental innovations require the same kind of deliberate and substantial investment. Supporting community-led initiatives that are already creating better food environments and improving food literacy will be key to making this policy effective, so will supports for new farmers, fishers, and processors, as well as supports for farmland protection and transitioning to ecologically sustainable practices.
In the long run, an improved food system will generate substantial savings in health care costs and environmental remediation, making such investments wise, even from a monetary standpoint.
Next, we ask you to ensure that the policy is adaptable so that it encourages place-based and scale-appropriate solutions. This point was raised repeatedly at the June food summit, but we want to reiterate how important this is for all four proposed pillars. Different communities have different ideas about health, and for many of us, cultural and social well-being is as important as physical health. Our researchers find over and over that when those dimensions of health are ignored, physical health suffers as well. While evident across urban, rural, and remote locations, this is most evident in northern and indigenous communities, as we know you have already heard from others who have testified before this committee.
We also have plenty of evidence that the regulatory frameworks have difficulties accommodating agri-food enterprises that operate on different scales. In general, regulations err on the side of working for industrial-sized operations and they present significant barriers for small businesses, social enterprises, and community-based initiatives.
Lastly, we heard at the food summit that part of Canada's role on the global stage is to ensure that we help feed the world. This underpins proposed pillars two and four. There is an abundance of evidence that the world produces more than enough food, and that hunger and malnutrition are not a result of food scarcity but of uneven distribution. While food exports are essential to our economy, we ask you to ensure that the export agenda is not advanced at the expense of the most vulnerable in Canada or elsewhere but rather in line with the sustainable development goals and the global commitment to leave no one behind.
In other words, it is imperative that this agenda not overshadow the first proposed pillar: access to affordable, nutritious, and safe food. We ask that the growth of exports does not further jeopardize our environment or Canada's capacity to sustainably feed all who live here now and in the future. We urge you towards ensuring that the right to food is fully realized for everyone who lives in Canada, and that this agenda is prioritized over export expansion.
In closing, please allow me to reiterate our recommendations. First, include social and environmental innovations equally with technological innovation. Second, engage policies that can adapt to place and small-scale enterprises. Third, ensure that we consider the needs of people in communities with vulnerabilities over the desire to grow our exports.
Our recommendations are broad, as we represent a wide range of research. We are not submitting a brief as some of our members are already testifying and delivering more specific recommendations on behalf of their research teams and organizations. However, we invite you to continue to call on us and our research as you develop the various components of this policy and roll out the resulting programs.
Thank you for your time today.