Mr. Speaker, it is my turn to rise and say to my colleague from Kootenay—Columbia that his idea to designate the Friday before Thanksgiving each year as national local food day is an excellent one. I am quite certain that each and every one of us in the House has a very personal story to tell about food, whether it be local or from somewhere else. When we talk about local food production, we are talking about people in our everyday lives. We are talking about the restaurant owners who feed us when we are visiting our ridings. We are talking about the crops growing in rows that we drive by as we visit our ridings. Local food is about much more than just what we eat; it is about how we live in the regions.
As I mentioned to my colleague in a previous question, the term “local” is very broad. We can eat “Canadian” and, since Canada is such a huge country, local food can come from a long way away. I assume my colleague from Kootenay—Columbia means « very » local, in other words, close to home, from a field that he can drive to in his car and then go to a brewery and taste a local beer. He mentioned the many local breweries in his riding. Let us assume we are talking about very local food, then. I imagine that is his meaning.
Agriculture is an excellent way to stimulate not only our appetite, but also the regional economy. It has a positive impact on population growth, the vitality of our towns, and the businesses and services in each of our regions.
Agriculture is the main source of income for thousands of people in Mégantic—L'Érable. I am proud of the people who devote their lives to the quest for innovative ideas about agricultural production and are passionate about finding ways of getting their products onto local people's plates. Ninety-six percent of the RCM of L'Érable is agricultural land. In 2017, the RCM decided to make the most of unused agricultural land that major producers have no interest in farming. One thing the RCM did was let young people who are interested in agriculture but who do not necessarily want to pursue it as a career use the land for new kinds of unconventional farming and livestock operations. That aligns very well with the national day the member for Kootenay—Columbia wants to celebrate each year. It is the same idea.
I did some research to prepare for this speech on national local food day. I happened to come across an article on the website for Enfin!, a Lac-Mégantic company that is passionate about our grandmothers' recipes and that promotes local food through its catering company and sugar shack. That is a plug, and here is why. Sophie Dorval takes care of the website. Here is part of what she wrote to promote local food:
Did you know that, out of all the age brackets, Quebeckers 65 and up are most likely to make the effort to buy local?...I'm not going to go on about the benefits of buying local, because you've probably heard it all before. No, I want to share my thoughts on what it looks like. From the inside, I want to say that I'm proud of your choices.
...
You forget your lunch, so you head over to Marché Lavallée to pick up a sandwich (thanks, by the way!). You see the HUGE display of Quebec beers and tell yourself that you'll come back tomorrow night with your buddy to pick up some homemade sausages and bbq potatoes for your Oktoberfest party.
You don't realize it, but in buying your lunch, you helped support families in our region and in Quebec. The Première Moisson bakery uses local, chemical-free flour for all of its breads (your sandwich). Your onions and garlic scapes (pesto) were organically grown this summer by Angélique and Manuel in St-Romain. The onions in your onion preserve were delivered with a smile from less than 30 km away and were mixed with the finest maple syrup (France and Sylvio also bought their separator in St-Ludger at Lapierre Equipment) and LEO (beer from La Gare'nison). The ham and turkey were bought at Marché Lavallée and were labelled “Aliment Québec”. Your cheese comes from the Fromagerie La Chaudière, where the young single mom who lives next door works, and your uncle too. Your lettuce, zucchini, and peppers come from the community garden where Sophie and Vincent toiled long and hard to grow all kinds of tasty organic veggies.
People have no idea that something as simple as choosing a local product at the grocery store can support jobs and bring about real change in the lives of folks back home. She goes on:
Some days this summer, you even ate veggies that Sophie harvested in the field a few hours before I put them in your sandwich. In the winter, food comes from elsewhere in Quebec or from Ontario.
It is an impressive piece of writing. I came across it by chance. I congratulate Sophie on writing such a magnificent text to let people know that unremarkable, everyday actions can change the lives of many people. These are such easy things to do. People just have to be aware and choose to buy foods produced close to home by people they know. That includes medium-sized businesses like Fromagerie La Chaudière, which has about 100 employees. It includes all the people we know and people in our communities who can make a living because consumers make the simple choice to buy local.
The day before Thanksgiving weekend, there could be an awareness campaign to encourage people to make additional efforts to ensure that they are eating locally produced food. Obviously, not all the turkeys could come from Kootenay—Columbia. People spend a little more, they have family and friends over, and they could also be doing something to help their local economy.
There is also a difference in taste. The less food has to travel, the fresher it is. These farms tend to be smaller, so people take greater care with their products. I am not saying that products from major producers are not good. I am just saying that people put a little more love into the products they grow, harvest, and deliver themselves to local markets. I am convinced that this love makes a big difference in the taste and in the palates of those who consume local products.
I did some more research and found Docteur bonne bouffe, a small website in France that explains why it is important to eat local. What does it mean to buy and eat local? What are the advantages of local food? Food is eaten when in season. In other words, if we really want to reap the benefits of local food, we will eat strawberries when in season. When maple sap is running, we will definitely visit a producer to buy a tin of fresh maple syrup, that sweet golden syrup from Mégantic—L'Érable. That is a plug people are hearing a little more often.
As I mentioned, the products are full of flavour. If they are organic and we know the producers, we know how they were produced and we do not have to worry about the use of different products.
These goods sometimes command a higher price, but not always. It just depends. Sometimes, they cost a little more, but we are doing our part to support the local economy. It is also an environmental choice, if we consider that this food does not have to be shipped by plane or boat across thousands of kilometres. It makes sense to choose local food.
Canada is a major agricultural producer. I was listening to the parliamentary secretary talk about the importance of agriculture in Canada since 1884. Even before that, when the first colonists arrived, the first thing that happened was that they were given some land to farm. They knew very well that the food sent from France or England would no longer be very good when it arrived in Canada. The first colonists chose to eat locally and to make the country prosper with local products. We should always keep that in mind.
I would address one last message to everyone living in big cities. Sometimes, people make quick decisions without really thinking about what they are putting on their plates. They should take the time to see where these products come from. This small gesture of choosing quality products to put in their grocery carts would create hundreds and thousands of jobs in Canada.
I hope that we will celebrate the first national local food day together next Thanksgiving.