I would say that when it comes to the food processing industry we don't duck our responsibilities, and we're certainly aware of some of our image problems particularly. We're also aware of some of the responsibilities we have to help not just correct image problems but actually be part of the solution.
As everybody on this committee will be aware, obesity is probably one of the great epidemiological issues in today's society: we live in a society of excess. The question, and I think I spoke to you folks a little bit about it, concerns the need for innovation. We are only going to get out of this problem if we innovate the food supply. Over a period of five, ten, or fifteen years, the food supply in Canada is going to change; it's going to undertake some remarkable transformations.
As I said, health is the future of food. The ability to take the innovation that's coming out through all of our great research institutions and commercialize it, so that we can help Canadians deal with a lot of the health issues they experience as a result of aging, as a result of obesity, is something our industry takes very seriously. If you're asking specifically what we can do about it, we can very much help be part of the solution.
When it comes to global supply chain issues, such as the spinach issue you talked about, BSE, or a number of others, those are things that are also going to require cross-jurisdictional cooperation. The BSE question is actually very apt.
I know one of my colleagues from the meat industry is in the audience. I hope I don't misrepresent, but I know that closer collaboration between Canada and the U.S, particularly on inspection practices and certain regulatory practices around food safety, would go a long way towards addressing some of those issues as well.