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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • NOVEMBER 2017


Food system confidence growing but costs still bite Survey shows Canadians want healthy, affordable local food


by MYRNA STARK LEADER


CALGARY, AB – The latest annual survey of public perceptions of Canada’s food system by the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity (CCFI) indicates greater confidence in Canada’s food system than a year ago, but rising prices are a concern. The survey found that 43%


of respondents feel the country’s food system is headed in the right direction, up from 30% in 2016. But it’s still not half. And 43% just aren’t sure. Moreover, the biggest concern expressed in the survey is about rising food costs.


The past five years have seen the proportion of Canadians concerned with food costs rise to 62%, up from 57% in 2012. This was even with last year. Moreover, 61% are concerned with keeping food affordable. From the hierarchy of human needs perspective, it makes sense. We need food. But the 2016 survey coincided with bad weather in the US Southwest that saw Canadians, many for the first time, refuse to pay steep prices for fresh produce such as cauliflower. CCFI president Crystal


Mackay says the June 2017 survey results – which gathered opinions from 1,307 Canadians about Canada’s food system, trust and


transparency – prove that food costs are a key consumer concern. “Whether you are a farmer


or a food company executive in this country, do not underestimate the importance of the cost of food and the need to keep healthy food affordable. They rated greater than healthcare, energy and the economy in terms of level of concern,” Mackay emphasizes. She says these issues aren’t necessarily top of mind among producers, and may even be forgotten. “Canadians just want


healthy, affordable food for their family, grown in Canada; this is what our data shows,” she says. Created in June 2016, CCFI is an industry-led not-for- profit group that aims to help Canada’s food system earn more public trust by co-ordinating research, discussions and training to address issues in food and agriculture. The group’s research and trend analysis is significant because it examines US and Canadian data back to 2002 from predecessor groups like Farm and Food Care, the Ontario Farm Animal Council as well as the US Centre for Food Integrity, an affiliate of CCFI that launched in 2007. “The importance of this


work is to get a pulse from an average Canadian – not a critic, not an activist or


someone advocating for something specific,” Mackay says.


The depth of the research


will allow food producers to engage with consumers from a position of strength. “If you work in agriculture, whether you are a farmer or anywhere in the food business, you are in the business of feeding our country and keeping healthy food affordable,” Mackay says.


“We’re not just 2%, we’re providing the most important thing to country. We get caught up on hot topics like trade or health and we forget about the very base thing that the public is telling us.” CCFI’s survey yielded


significantly different results than a similar survey of American consumers in 2016. Americans were far more confident and definite in their opinions than Canadians, with


55% saying the US food systems was heading in the right direction and just 23% saying they were unsure. Mackay feels this leaves less


room for discussion than in Canada. “As a trend watcher, it means that we are well- positioned to have a conversation and influence things because people in Canada are in the middle,” she says.


The cost of food isn't the only issue for Canadians. Social concerns also matter, CCFI reports. COUNCIL champions public trust


annual budget of $1.5 million, to which government partners have contributed $100,000. Groups like the BC


Agriculture Council are on board. BCAC representatives attended a summit in Calgary on September 19 to hear and discuss the results of CCFI’s latest survey. BCAC has also welcomed Sharon Eistetter in September on a one-year contract to manage public trust initiatives. She’s focusing on creating a short-term and


a longer-term plan to help get the 28 commodity groups BCAC represents to better share and communicate with the public. “My role is to bring a group of industry leaders together to see how we can share best practices,” Eistetter explains from her home office. “Farmers are doing the right thing but we need to demystify information for consumers. It’s a massive undertaking. The end goal is to improve consumer


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confidence in the food system in BC, in the areas of environmental care, animal care, farm worker care, food safety and quality.” A national public trust steering committee headed by Myrna Grahn is working to bring together industry stakeholders like grocery stores, restaurants and farmers. Grahn is working with the value-chain round tables, groups that are amplifiers of agriculture and food promotion, CCFI and representatives of the provincial farm organizations. “We want producers across the country to have more consistent messages to share with the public and we want to avoid siloed work,” Grahn explains from Winnipeg. “We know that actions must be taken to build and regain public trust and we know that we need to do this in a more collaborative way.” Glen Lucas, general


manager of the 520-member BC Fruit Growers Association, says the issue of public trust is on the radar. “There’s a lot of work to do,


but we are seeing more interest in public trust,” he says.


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create the forums, it’s up to all those involved in the food system to lead. “When we look at who the public holds accountable for food safety, it is the whole food supply chain. And to be meaningful on public trust, it includes doing the right thing and telling people about it. It’s not just an ad campaign,” Mackey says. “If it is viewed as a government program by the industry and they don’t own it, it won’t be successful.”


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