MARCH 2020 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC
Farm groups weigh in on climate change
National alliance aims to amplify farmers’ voice
by RONDA PAYNE VANCOUVER – A group of
farm organizations from across Canada banded together on February 11 to debut a new national alliance dedicated to giving agriculture a voice in Canada’s climate change strategy. Farmers for Climate Solutions is led by Ottawa- based SeedChange and partners including FarmFolk/CityFolk, the National Farmers Union, Canadian Organic Growers, Rural Routes to Climate Solutions, the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario and Equiterre. Supporting organizations include the Prairie Climate Centre.
The coalition is encouraging farmers to voice realistic and beneficial solutions to address agriculture’s needs in government policy. The campaign is specific to farmers and is designed to amplify the voices of farmers. “We’re still sort of working
through which parts of this we’ll bring through to the federal government or the provincial government,” says Anita Georgy, executive director of FarmFolk/CityFolk. “The main goal for the Farmers for Climate Solutions alliance is to work on federal policy.”
The first step is engaging with farmers, who are encouraged to sign a pledge on the organization’s site in support of its work. The pledge requires farmers to provide contact information and agree to be part of the solution as the coalition
begins formulating strategies for government conversations and next steps. More than 800 people signed within two days of the program’s launch. “We’re definitely going to be engaging with people,” says Georgy. “But exactly what that is going to look like is still being worked out.” Ultimately, the program seeks to drive actions that help farmers mitigate and adapt to climate change while also reducing their contribution to greenhouse emissions. Changing how agriculture
is regulated and shifting how farming is done is a lofty goal, but one that SeedChange executive director Jane Rabinowicz feels is necessary. “We can go so much
further together than any organization can go on their own,” she says. “Ever since the launch there have been a number of partners that have contacted us and want to get involved in the campaign.” SeedChange, the National
Farmers Union and the Prairie Climate Centre started working together last fall and quickly realized that other groups had the same objectives and plans to work on the agricultural piece of climate change. This led to the formation of Farmers for Climate Solutions. “A number of voices
around the table are farmer- led,” says Rabinowicz. “It’s their issue because they’re living it every day.” Shirlene Cote, co-owner of
Earth Apple Organic Farm in Glen Valley, is one of the farmers involved with Farmers for Climate Solutions. She knows developing climate change solutions for
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agriculture is a big project. Prior to becoming a farmer 10 years ago, she worked for the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions. “It’s a pretty big project
they are taking on,” she says. “Working with farmers isn’t the easiest thing. They’re going to need to be clever with how they engage with farmers.” Cote has already taken the pledge Farmers for Climate Solutions invites growers to make. She sees the farmer-led groups in Farmers for Climate Solutions as the right ones to lead the discussion on behalf of agriculture.
“In my opinion, that’s
what’s hugely been lacking,” she says. “These people making decisions and giving advice are too far away from [agriculture].” The group broadens a path
blazed by the BC Agriculture & Food Climate Action Initiative, established in 2008 through a partnership of the BC Agriculture Council and the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. Under director Emily MacNair, it aims for a proactive and pan- agriculture approach to climate change issues but is not part of Farmers for Climate Solutions.
“We are very proud of the
work being done in BC and are glad to hear of other groups starting work on the climate change file,” said Reg Ens, executive director of the BC Agriculture Council. “BC is a leader in making things happen.”
Ens noted that MacNair and her team have been invited to share the progress being made in BC with other groups across the country, including in Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Quebec, which modelled its regional adaptation planning with agricultural producers on BC’s programs.
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