One of the main things that limits direct marketers' and small-scale farmers' ability to grow is food safety regulations that are designed for industrial scale production and processing. What we would like to see, ideally, is some flexibility in that system and a recognition that a one-size-fits-all regulatory approach does not work. Somebody selling eggs to their neighbour or to people down the street should not have to adhere to the same expensive and onerous regulations as somebody who is producing 10,000 cartons a day and shipping them all over the country.
A lot of conversation is coming up now with the Safe Food for Canadians Act, in that direct marketers are really concerned because it will very much limit their ability to market across provincial boundaries, especially in areas like Atlantic Canada where a farmer in New Brunswick would likely sell into New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Even with just something like vegetables, they are no longer going to be able to do it unless they invest in a wash station and a processing station that will probably cost them more than their annual income from the vegetables they're selling.
We would like to see more diversity in the regulatory environment.