Advocacy groups wants to make farming a national issue

[Oscar]

Advocacy groups wants to make farming a national issue

By Jeffrey Carter - May 30, 2006

SPECIAL to Ontario Farmer

The chair of an organization representing a broad spectrum of
Canadian society hopes to help make food security issues - including farm income - a priority in Canada.

Mustafa Koc, a rural sociologist at Ryerson University in Toronto, has
been involved with Food Secure Canada since its conception in 2001.
There are now representatives from across Canada on the organization's
steering and advisory committees including a sprinkling of farmers.

Familiar with the farming sector through his work, Koc says that Canadian
farmers, through no fault of their own, have been unable to earn adequate
returns from the marketplace.

"When you go to talk to these people, you realize they are not your
stereotypical hillbillies. They are people that can teach things to academics in the universities," Koc says.

"We have the most sophisticated agriculture sector in the world . . .
If farmers are struggling, you need to realize it's the failure of the
system that's to blame. It's not their failure."

Koc does not advocate for a duplication of efforts to address food
security issues but feels there is a need for a consultative approach. In
the past, there's been a tendency for interest groups to work in isolation
of each other.

"We've created these false dichotomies of rural versus urban and
producers versus consumers. We need to go beyond that and look at it
(food security) as a national issue," Koc says.

"What we know is, if we can unite our forces and work collectively, not
as different interest groups and not as different sectors, we can have a
big impact."

Partners in this effort, Koc suggests, should include all levels of
government, consumer organizations, food bank representatives, health
care professionals, farmers and fishers and businesses with ties to farming
and agriculture. The federal government's Food Security Bureau that was
established several years ago would be a natural partner but is
currently inactive, he notes.

In regard to solutions, Koc doesn't feel Canada should walk away from
international markets. However, Canadians need to be encouraged to
consume more grown-in-Canada foods rather than to rely on imports.

Koc uses the example of apples to illustrate this point. They're currently being imported from around the world, with negative economic and
environmental implications.

From an environmental standpoint, the transport of apples over
thousands of kilometres burns fossil fuels. Economically, by removing apple producers from the Canadian landscape, the opportunity for wealth creation is lost, something that's important to all Canadians, whether they live in rural or urban areas.

"Why can we just consume a few more of our own apples?" Koc asks

Koc encourages farm markets and other relationships that put farmers
into direct contact with consumers. He says local or regional food systems
might also be encouraged if the various levels of governments, hospitals and other institutions establish policies to purchase Canadian-grown foods.

There are other possible solutions for the farm income crisis, such as
introducing a food tax that would be directed toward the farm community
or paying farmers for their environmental stewardship, Koc adds.

Food Security Canada would also like all Canadians to have access to
a safe, healthy diet for all Canadians.

"I don't think the solution is to make food even cheaper. I think the
solution is to increase the income of people who are most vulnerable."

Sadly, some farmers are among the vulnerable, Koc says. In his travels
across Canada, Koc of heard of farm families who go to food banks to
meet their own nutritional needs.

To learn more about Food Secure Canada, go to the their website at
http://www.foodsecurecanada.org. The organization will hold its annual meeting in Vancouver next October.