Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and committee members.
On behalf of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, which represents over 840 companies growing, packing, shipping and selling fresh fruit and vegetables domestically and globally and supports roughly 249,000 jobs across the country, I'm happy to present today on global food insecurity.
We all recognize that the topic of food insecurity is complex. Agriculture and agri-food play a key role in addressing solutions. The question we must ask is how agri-food can work across multiple jurisdictions and ministries, both domestically and globally, to ensure at-risk populations have the appropriate housing, employment, education and money to access food. Then there is the question of healthy food production and availability, and how agriculture can meet global challenges.
The pandemic is but one factor influencing global food insecurity; in many ways, it has further highlighted an already significant issue. Supply chains continue to be strained. Climate change has impacted our markets in Canada and globally. The war in Ukraine has added additional strain to an already fragile food system. As we know, war and other factors have led to a price increase in essential production inputs and commodities such as oil and associated fertilizer. This has directly resulted in price inflation, which has directly influenced food insecurity.
CPMA feels that food needs to be seen as essential and perishable food as a priority in all policy and programs, with consideration of fast lanes for both import and export models globally.
According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, nearly two-thirds of businesses said that a mandatory reduction of nitrogen-based fertilizer would decrease the profitability of their business and 42% said it would be challenging, as they have already reduced their nitrogen fertilizer use.
Instead of a nitrogen fertilizer reduction, given the difficult times that farmers are in, the CPMA suggests what Canadian researchers are encouraging farmers to do, which is to implement best practices to control or reduce nitrogen emissions. Some of these practices include conservation tillage, annual soil testing for nitrogen and rotating nitrogen-fixing crops.
The numbers don't lie. The Food and Agriculture Organization reported that an estimated 720 million to 811 million people in the world were food insecure in 2020. Similarly, in Canada, 2021 statistics show that 15.9% of households in the 10 provinces reported being food insecure. This is a grim reminder, but also an opportunity for Canada to drive change domestically and be a global force to address international needs.
As the only G7 country without a national school food program, we edge closer to the reality of investing in children's nutrition. The CPMA is a member of the Coalition for Healthy School Food, which is a non-partisan organization working to advance and support a national nutritious school food program, which would allow Canadian children to receive nutritious food at school using a cost-sharing model. By doing so, we would work towards achieving the United Nations' sustainable development goal number 2: ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition.
Domestically, I feel there are two key areas of focus, which are community change and industry support. How do we enable social programs that enable Canadians to buy the food they need and enable programs that support agri-food production and innovation? Examples like the surplus food rescue program and the local food infrastructure fund had an impact, but the withdrawal of funds from these sources left many NGOs without the ability to be sustainable within a perishable food system. As a recipient of surplus food rescue program funds, I saw first-hand the invisible food network, which is 61,000 charities and non-profits that support our efforts to address food security. All rely on a complex system of donations, logistics and funding. Second Harvest has reported that with $25 million in funding last year, they had requests for over $84 million for food that they were trying to support, which shows a dramatic need in the communities across the country. I will commend Second Harvest, as 71% of the funds were distributed to BIPOC community networks.
Food security is complex and requires aligned policies and programs to support the ability to produce, access and pay for food. The Canadian government has an opportunity to strengthen our supply chain to meet the dietary needs of Canadians and the rest of the world.
I greatly appreciate this opportunity to speak to the committee and to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you.