Vigilance needed to ensure our future food security, expert says

Vigilance needed to ensure our future food security, expert says

While COVID-19 remains top of mind, the ongoing pandemic is exposing a host of other issues, including food security.

And that’s something John Jamieson says needs to be addressed, especially in the light of Canada’s future.

“We’re certainly in challenging times now with COVID and the impact COVID has on people’s incomes,” he said. “And we know from the organization I work for that Canadians are very concerned about the cost of healthy foods and the cost of food overall, and having access to healthy food.”

The Prince Edward Island resident is part of a panel discussion called The Food We Eat, which is part of the Midland Cultural Centre’s Straight Talk series.

Now available to watch online and on Rogers TV, the discussion also features Simcoe County Agricultural Hall of Fame chair Paul Maurice and Simcoe County Federation of Agriculture president John Morrison.

Jamieson is president and CEO of a not-for-profit charity called the Canadian Center for Food Integrity.

“What we do is essentially try to connect the food system with the consumer,” said Jamieson, who also previously led the Prince Edward Island Federation of Agriculture.

“We’re kind of that bridge between the two; a lot of what we do is research.”

While some still have nostalgic images of their grandfather’s red barn when they think of food cultivation, Jamieson said many consumers are more interested in how their food is grown, processed and brought to market than ever before.

“Our job is kind of to bridge that gap between the food industry and the consumer. But it’s also not a one-way flow of information. It’s got to be two ways. And, you know, in some ways, the sector has to adapt to meet consumer demands and interest.”

Jamieson said there’s no easy answer when people’s income plays a factor and, thereby, creates a wall between themselves and having access to healthy foods along with the ripple effects that wall creates.

“When people are struggling to have a healthy diet and financial insecurity, it affects food security and that can affect a child’s learning. It’s a challenging topic to discuss, and certainly a challenging one to help alleviate.”

And the type of food available has also changed dramatically over the years with consumers readily expecting a wide range of produce throughout the year.

“In a grocery store, on average, there are 50,000 different items that you can choose from,” he said. “A lot of those items are imported because we don’t eat local as much as we used to.

“A lot of that food coming into Canada right now is going to be impacted by climate change as we move forward. In California, for example, they’re having challenges and running out of water. A lot of our lettuce comes from there.

“If we don’t do a really good job of protecting the agricultural resources available to us in Canada, then then we are going to find ourselves in trouble as the years go on.”

That also means ensuring municipalities aren’t readily changing rural/agricultural zoning to residential, commercial and industrial for future development.

Jamieson, who previously served as a deputy minister in Prince Edward Island’s government responsible for rural and regional development and agriculture and fisheries, said that remains a very real issue to ensure food can continue to be grown close to home.

“Protecting farmland is extremely important and that is something that I think governments and municipalities and communities are starting to recognize,” he said. “We have to be very conscious about protecting it.

“I read a study where it talked about when you have a piece of farmland and you transform it into residential, for example, all of a sudden you have houses for taxes. But that also costs the municipality because its costs have increased. When you allow that sprawl in the rural areas, you do see that increase in taxation base, but you also have to provide busing, and road maintenance, and policing, and lighting and all those other kinds of things.”

In the cities, meanwhile, Jamieson said the issue of food insecurity is also very real since there aren’t as many sources to acquire goods in high-rent downtown areas.

“Because of the cost of real estate, there are not many food stores,” he said. “So we see some inner-city people struggle with getting proper and appropriate food.”

Published at Tue, 09 Mar 2021 18:26:00 +0000