Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the invitation.
Good afternoon.
My name is Christopher White. I am the president and CEO of the Canadian Meat Council, and to my right is my colleague Ron Davidson, senior vice-president, international trade and public affairs.
I'll start by telling you, very briefly, a bit about the Canadian Meat Council, and then I'll go into our specific remarks about what a food policy for Canada means to us, based on the four parameters that you've set out.
The Canadian meat packing and processing industry accounts for $28 billion of sales within Canada, $6 billion in exports, and 66,000 jobs, making the meat industry the largest employer in the food processing sector. Meat packers and processors provide a market outlet to feed grain and livestock farmers; support the economies of local communities in all regions of Canada; offer consumers an unequalled source of safe and high-quality protein; and export high-demand, value-added consumer products.
I'll take the four themes that you have outlined. Let me start with “increasing access to affordable food”. From our perspective, this encompasses two fundamental components: first, the ability of farmers and processors to produce food, and second, the ability of consumers to acquire food.
The two objectives, in our mind, are quite distinct. Adequate food requires a policy framework that permits farmers and processors to obtain a positive economic return on investment and labour. Affordable food requires a policy framework that includes access for that segment of the population which is unable to purchase food at a price that sustains production. The pursuit of affordable food should not be allowed to impede the production of sufficient food.