MAY 2018 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


5


Farmers should embrace First Nations model Growers should be feeding people, not the market


by PETER MITHAM The province’s interest in


supporting a nation-to-nation relationship with First Nations


a highly unsustainable path around the whole world.” Farmers need to honour their connection to and responsibility to care for the land.


Kent Mullinix, Overheard


through acknowledgment of their rights, title and stewardship responsibilities, including in the Crown tenure process, has rightly caused concern in the agriculture and aquaculture sectors. When the recommendation to this effect appeared in a long-awaited report to the BC Minister of Agriculture at the beginning if April, the BC Salmon Farmers Association rejected it. But taking care of the land is fundamental to agriculture, and many groups are encouraging BC farmers to learn from and partner with the province’s First Nations in an effort to achieve a more sustainable food system. Dawn Morrison,


co-ordinator of the BC Food Systems Network working group on Indigenous food sovereignty, told the Certified Organic Associations of BC conference in Abbotsford at the end of February that food isn’t a commodity and shouldn’t be treated as one. “It’s sustenance first and


foremost, and we must remember that,” she said. “The agri-food system has charted


director of the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in


Richmond, echoed Morrison’s comments in his own remarks. “Our food systems are far


from sustainable,” Mullinix said.


While “industrial”


agriculture has been “unusually successful” at producing enough food to give everyone 32,000 calories every day (about 12.5 times the recommended daily intake), 1.2 billion people are food-insecure and 3.5 million children a year die of hunger. This because large-scale


systems yield food that just isn’t as nutritious as what other systems produce, he said, and is geared to feeding “a population that is sufficiently affluent” to afford it.


The cost isn’t just borne by the hungry, but also by growers. Those who adopt new technologies or try to scale up only deepen their debts, Mullinix said, pointing out that net farm income has been flat for 75 years as input and marketing costs devoured margins. “The cost of production is just going off the charts,” he said “Typically, BC farmers net


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system that’s doomed – if not by its inability to keep pace financially then by the environmental disaster it’s helped to create. While others see


opportunities for agriculture as climate change opens new areas to production, Mullinix is less optimistic. The six-degree Celsius rise in temperatures forecast by 2100 will lead to a decline in Canada’s production of staple crops, especially in the breadbasket of the Prairies. It all leads him to one conclusion. “In my mind, the industrial


food system has no credibility,” he said. “It is an abject failure.” Where he does see hope is


in the renewed attention to Indigenous worldviews, which he described as “right and good,” with “a lot to contribute going forward.” The attention feeds into


for farmers, the linchpin in the food system. But for sustainable systems


to work in a world weaned from fossil fuel, Mullinix said 20% of the population will have to farm.


Who will do the work?


nothing. … The industrial agriculture system has placed farmers in a position of risk that is absolutely untenable.” The result, he said, is a food


interest in bioregional food systems as well as a renewed understanding of food as medicine. People are also demanding greater support


“In my mind, the industrial food system has no credibility. It’s an abject failure.”


The future of farming is


female, said Mullinix, if the young, neo-agrarian female cohort he sees embracing the new paradigm of agroecology – a term coined in 1928 – is any indication. “We’ve got to include


KENT MULLINIX, KWANTLEN POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY


everyone in a sustainable food system because if we don’t, it’s not sustainable,” he said. “It’s going to take a new worldview to be broadly adopted. … We are here to care for Mother Earth.” Have something to


say? We offer Page 5 as a platform for producer organizations, farm industry leaders, our readers and even politicians to express their opinions about the agriculture industry in BC. For more information, contact editor@countrylifeinbc.com.


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Meet our BC Agriculture Services Team


We know that farming is more than a business – it’s a way of life. We are committed to serving Canada’s farm communities by providing flexible financial solutions that let you get on with the business of farming. We’ll take the time necessary to understand your unique needs. Together we can meet today’s challenges and anticipate tomorrow’s opportunities.


Jeremy Siddall District Vice President - Pacific Agriculture Services British Columbia 250-681-4656 jeremy.siddall@td.com


Karen W. Taylor PhD, MBA, P.Ag


Relationship Manager Abbotsford & Fraser Valley 604-870-2229 Karen.W.Taylor@td.com


Ted Hallman Account Manager BC Interior


250-763-4241 ext. 333 Ted.Hallman@td.com


Lynda Ferris BBA, CAPA Account Manager Abbotsford & Fraser Valley 604-870-2222 Lynda.Ferris@td


Mark Driediger, CFP, Senior Wealth Advisor Assante Financial Management Ltd. www.MarkDriediger.com | (604) 859-4890


Raine Weiterman Account Manager BC Interior


763-4241 ext. 307 Raine.Weiterman@td.com


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Michelle Curcio Account Manager Vancouver Island 250-246-0859 Michelle.Curcio@td.com


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