Sustainable Food Production, Consumption, and the Generation of

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2.) What is the state of the art of local food production in Victoria? 3.) What are the public’s perceptions and behaviours related to local production? 4.) What is the potential of local food production in Victoria? The chapter will begin with an overview of how Victoria residents feel about local food production. Following this, will be a discussion of the past and present of Victoria’s food system, with particular attention given to the state of the art in local food production in Victoria today. The chapter closes with a vision for the future of Victoria’s food system, with reference to the literature and to projections and vision statements provided by local key informants. 2.2 Why Victorian residents care about local food? Blessed with a mild climate and a year-round growing season Victoria holds an advantage matched by few places in Canada: the potential to be largely self sufficient with food production. However, at present Victoria is far from being self sufficient, importing nearly 90 percent of its food from locations off island, as far away as China and New Zealand (MacNair, Figure 1 2004; Ewanchuk, 2005). The present survey on food system sustainability in Victoria collected data from 60 consumers at three grocery stores in the Capital Regional District (CRD). The data shows that the vast majority of people (98 percent) feel it is important to buy locally grown produce. Among the reasons cited, supporting the local economy was the most common, followed by a belief that local food was fresher, of better quality, or better tasting. Concerns for the environment and for farmers and farmland were also significant among the responses. Other explanations related to a.) the health, safety and security of food, based on how things are grown, b) the benefits to the community and improved self sufficiency from increased local food production, c.) the cost and affordability of local food, and d.) concerns around characteristics of the globalized food system such as corporate control and exploitation of people and resources in developing countries (see figure 1). With such strong support for local food products, one wonders how local food 10
production in Victoria could really be an issue. This chapter will discuss sustainable food systems in the context of local food production in Victoria. 2.3 The history of food production in Victoria As a point of settlement at a time when transportation from the mainland was not such a simple matter and when refrigeration was non-existent, Victoria had to produce most of its own food locally. Just fifty years ago it is estimated that Vancouver Island farmers produced as much as 85 percent of the food supply for the Island (MacNair, 2004). In war times, the concept of victory gardens spread across the Atlantic from Britain to Canada and the US; “in England 1,300,000 urban gardeners saved their nation from malnutrition, if not starvation,” while the country was blockaded by submarines (Warner, 1987:17). After the war, technological innovations from earlier in the century began to take hold resulting in the expansion of mechanization in the production of many commodities, including food (Millstone and Lang, 2003). In Victoria and across North America, the connection that once existed between people, communities and food gave way to the connection between individuals, automobile and grocery stores, and between farms, freight trains and factories. The last half century has seen many changes in the way food is produced including the industrialization of farming, extensive loss of employment in the agricultural sector and massive growth of the food processing and distribution industries (Parrott et al., 2002). Today, Victoria imports nearly all of its food and farmers and agricultural land are becoming scarce (MacNair, 2004). Is Victoria on the road to complete dependence on the mainland and abroad for its food supply? Or, is it possible for the pattern to shift, for Victoria to rebuild the connection between its inhabitants and its food? 2.4 Victoria’s food system today From standard grocery stores, to farmers markets, to backyard gardens, Victoria’s population has a range of options when it comes to food choices. This section will discuss how personal attitudes, consumer choices and agricultural practices in Victoria come together to form a complex, multi-layered food system. Conventional agriculture, grocery store buying, alternative food distribution/access options, and alternative modes of production will be addressed. The goal is to give an overview of local food production options available in Victoria, and also to highlight obstacles faced by consumers, producers and retailers in building Victoria’s capacity for sustainable, local food production. 11
Page 1 and 2: an online series of research papers
Page 4 and 5: Table on Contents 1.0 Sustainable f
Page 6 and 7: Consumer perception and public poli
Page 8 and 9: 3. What are the policies in place t
Page 10 and 11: 1.7 Key informant interviews analys
Page 14 and 15: 2.4.1 Conventional agriculture As m
Page 16 and 17: 2.4.2 Alternative food distribution
Page 18 and 19: This research revealed that awarene
Page 20 and 21: esponses 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 4
Page 22 and 23: farmers markets, processors communi
Page 24 and 25: product quality, driven by consumer
Page 26 and 27: comparison of these rates from 2001
Page 28 and 29: variety of ways such as buying beve
Page 30 and 31: motivations to purchase food produc
Page 32 and 33: use a lot of their containers…buy
Page 34 and 35: Gerry Watson Abstract: In Canada po
Page 36 and 37: This focus on profit is strongly su
Page 38 and 39: incentives as it falls under provin
Page 40 and 41: some local produce cannot be bought
Page 42 and 43: Beyond the programs mentioned above
Page 44 and 45: 5.0 Conclusion The reader provides
Page 46 and 47: Awai, G. 2005: Correspondence with
Page 48 and 49: Jones, Andy. 2002. An environmental
Page 50 and 51: Pottier, J. 1999: Anthropology of f
Page 52 and 53: Appendix A Sustainable Food Product
Page 54 and 55: Sustainable Food Production and Con

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