Planting the seeds for a sustainable future - City of Kamloops

TRENDSGLOBAL TRENDSDistribution systems worldwide have developed to the extent that perishable agricultural products can be competitivelyshipped anywhere in the world without a significant loss in product quality.Rising incomes in India and China are leading to increasing global demand for food. Billions of dollars have beeninvested in farmland in Africa and South America to produce food for Asian countries.Rising energy costs and climate change policy are increasing demand for biofuels causing land to be converted from foodproduction to energy production."Good Agricultural Practices" (GAP) are being developed to create a global standard of sustainable farm practices thatwill lead to safe and healthy food and non-food farm products.CANADIAN AGRICULTURAL TRENDSThe "foodie" movement is probably the most significant consumer trend related to agriculture. All over North America,there is a shift towards buying local food. The challenge with this is that there is still "cheap” food around and it is ofbetter quality than it has been historically because of improvements in distribution. There is stronger demand for localand organic but it comes from a small portion of the population.The Canadian population is aging which will have implications on the type and quantity of food consumed. There isincreasing discussion about the health benefits of foods. Environmental awareness and public perceptions will affectfood choices in the future.Consumers are more conscious of food ingredients. More people are reading the packaging to reduce choose foods withzero trans-fats, low sodium, reduced sugar, etc.Federal policy is addressing food safety and biosecurity types of issues in ways that tend to be challenging for small lotoperators.CITY OF KAMLOOPS 41