I think the pending nominations, hopefully soon, of the Canadian food policy advisory council will help connect the dots federally. There's a silo approach not just within Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, which is one department where the food policy is small potatoes. The programming money is small potatoes, if you'll pardon the analogy, compared to the CAP, the Canadian agricultural partnership.
The whole food system needs to be viewed horizontally, as I said. It can't just be seen as agriculture and agri-food. You have to look at the health dimension, you have to look at the economic and social development, and you have to look at the environment.
I know it's hard to do. I used to work in government, too. It's hard to work horizontally. The structures are so vertical, but that is absolutely what's needed. If we're going to meet our climate change targets, if we want a healthy population, if we want economic resilience and true economic development that doesn't just benefit a few, if want real cross-cutting opportunities across the board for women, minorities and indigenous peoples, then we're going to have to operate systemically.
I think the program envelopes are going to have to adapt. Other countries have tried this. France has its new EGAlim law, although things can flop at the programming level. We have to integrate the policies and the program objectives.
I do have some criticism of the local food infrastructure fund. I thought the first round of those grants was too.... Why is the federal government making $25,000 awards? The cost of administration is higher than the actual award.
We have to look at transformational change in our system. That's where the federal government, with the provinces, the territories, indigenous leaders and others, have to have a role.
It's about everybody working together. It's hard to do, but we have no choice. All of these international reports have said the same thing: The time is now. We are not going to make it as a planet or a species if we don't redo the way we think about food and food systems.