Sustainable Food Production, Consumption, and the Generation of

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Gerry Watson Abstract: In Canada policy is directed at the agricultural sector from multiple levels of government and tends to favour the industry. There are signs that perceptions of food are changing from a focus on the economic value of the agriculture industry to a concern for food security and sustainability. Policy should play an integral role in the restructuring of Canada’s food systems. This research examines policy at the federal provincial and municipal level, focusing on Victoria, British Columbia. This exploration of policy as it relates to food security, sustainable food development and food waste management will show the present state of food policy and policy developments of the near future. This overview will demonstrate the importance of policy at the local level. Keywords: food policy, food wastes management, food security, and food systems. 4.1 Introduction There is growing concern across Canada regarding the transnational origins of food supplies, the disappearance of local producers and the rampant waste generation that coincides with the food system, as we have seen in the previous chapters. Of further concern is the back seat role that policy is playing in confronting these issues, though there are numerous and diverse initiatives from Non Governmental Organizations working towards a more sustainable food system in the Victoria Capital Regional District (CRD) and across Canada, the need for supportive public policies has not yet been met. The policy that does exist is mostly regulatory in nature and economic in focus, and in some cases out dated. With new policy implementation forming at all levels of government it becomes important to understand how policy can hinder or promote food security, sustainable food production and food waste management at the local level. Though it is not possible to make a comprehensive evaluation of all food policy in Canada in the space allotted here, this chapter will attempt to illustrate how certain policy at all levels of government can play a role in support of sustainable food systems at the local level, with a specific focus on its impact within the CRD of Victoria, British Columbia. This chapter will proceed with a brief overview of scholarship on food policy and waste management, especially that which focuses on Canada. Once embedded in such an academic framework, the chapter will turn to an exploration of policies from the federal, provincial and municipal levels, concluding with a discussion of waste management policy and final remarks. The aim of such an outline is to pursue the following research question: 1. How does policy hinder or promote food security, food production and food waste management at a local level? 32
4.2 Policy Concerns from Global to Local Policy implementation in Canada has yet to play an active role in creating a strategy to address the growing concern regarding food security, sustainable food production and food waste management in Canada (McRae, 1997; 1999). While the focus of this chapter is most specifically on the impact policy has at the local level in the CRD, it must be recognized that these issues extend to the global scale. The globalization of food has become an increasingly serious issue as people have begun to realize the role international relations has to play in complicating food systems (Lang, 1999). Lang points out that the food system has long been a part of international trade, but it is only recently that it has taken on “a new pace and scale of change” (1999: 169). This ‘new pace’ has been spurred on by transnational corporations’ focus on the developing world, the progression of agricultural technology and the control of the food market resting with a handful of multinational companies (Harriss-White, 1994). However, this pace of development has not been matched by policies and regulation on a global level. “The right to food” is still unattainable to many across the globe and, though there is a need for strict policies enforcing food security as a basic human right, there are many obstacles to overcome in the pursuit of such a goal (Alston, 1994; O’Neill, 1994; Pottier, 1999). Though there are international organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization whose mandate includes “providing food security for all” and international agreements like the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which provides some guidelines for exchange of agricultural goods, the major focus of international food systems is making a profit (FAO, 2004; Lang, 1997; Friedman, 1994). The economics of food is a booming industry worldwide, which is perhaps why food security takes a back seat to the bottom line in global food policy issues (Lang, 1997). Though a global food security policy may be elusive, there seems to be more opportunity for progress on the national scale. In Canada a growing awareness of food security issues has culminated in a need for new policy reactions to present day problems (McRae, 1997: Koc and Dahlberg, 1999). Mirroring the global food system in its focus on profit, policy at the federal level has been primarily regulatory up to this point. There is concern that the federal government should be playing a more cohesive and unifying role in food security issues on the national level, but at present the various arms of the Canadian government are bent towards issues of food and health standards, drug and modified food regulations and labelling and packaging concerns (McRae, 1999; Koc and Dahlberg, 1999). 33
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 12 and 13: 2.) What is the state of the art of
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 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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