Alberta (Rural Roots Canada) – Canada’s Food System believes it’s time to rethink what it really takes to get food on our plates, and recognize the people and the work that goes into every bite.
That’s the goal of a new national campaign, positioning our food system as a critical part of our country’s identity, economy, and future.
“People need to understand not only where their food comes from, but the number of people and the nation at work that’s working to bring them the food that they love,” says Lisa Bishop-Spencer, Executive Director at the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity (CCFI), adding the campaign was developed in response to growing demand from the sector to better explain the importance of the country’s agri-food value chain, from farm to fork and everything in between. “The purpose of this initiative is to elevate Canadian agriculture and food to the point where it is as important as health care and education.”
Bishop-Spencer says part of the challenge is that “people take it for granted, I think that’s a big part of it.” She also noted that recent research points to a dip in public trust.
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“People weren’t sure whether it was headed in the right direction,” she explains. “All of a sudden, the trade talk started, and the ‘Buy Canadian’ and ‘Elbow’s Up’ movements began. So we realized that that was a really good opportunity to seize that opportunity to use that to elevate the system, to really talk about the system in ways that we haven’t talked about it before, in honest ways, telling the stories that make sense to people.”
Stories, she says, that go beyond farming.
“People don’t understand that you can be a lawyer and work in agriculture. You could be a drone operator and work in agriculture. So, we’re developing all of these different channels to tell those stories. And it’s not meant to replace any of the work that’s already been done because there’s so much quality work that’s being done throughout the system in all of the provinces, but to elevate their work as well.”
She says, so far, the campaign has uncovered powerful stories from often-overlooked parts of the food system, like aquaculture, animal nutrition, and processing.
“I think we need to come under this Canada Food System umbrella,” says Bishop-Spencer. “There have been so many voices telling the stories of agriculture, and we need to come under one voice that says, ‘Hey, Canadians, the food system is important and you need to pay attention.”
She emphasizes that the plan isn’t to reinvent the wheel with this campaign, but to take the stories already out there and push them to the forefront. She highlights manufacturing as an example. “When people think about manufacturing, they think about cars. But, food and beverage is Canada’s largest manufacturing sector. People don’t know that. When I tell people, they’re always astounded to hear that.”
For Canadians wishing to learn more, you can visit canadafoodsystem.ca and sign a pledge. By signing the pledge, your name will be entered into a contest, a monthly draw from now until the end of the year, where you can win a $500 gift certificate to a Canadian grocery store of your choice
“We know that contests aren’t going to deliver the message, but they are a little bit of a help in driving engagement,” Spencer acknowledges. “The pledge is really just saying ‘I Support Canada’s Food System’, a little message to Canada’s Food System that we’ll be happy to impart to everyone.”
