Sustainable Food Production, Consumption, and the Generation of

policy is in place that forces people to recycle, there are incentives in the form of the bottle
deposit-refund program enacted through the provincial government. This form of stewardship
transfers responsibility for food wastes to the consumers and producers of the products and has
resulted in high capture rates on applicable materials. The policy was created in response to the
Litter Act of 1970 to give an incentive for people to return their beverage containers instead of
throwing them away, creating a highly successful stewardship program that evolved into the
Beverage Container Stewardship Program Regulation in 1997. This newest policy incorporates
all ready-to-drink beverage containers aside from milk products and has culminated in an 85%
return rate (MWLAP, 2004).
Another part of the local food waste reduction effort is the development of composting facilities
and services in the CRD. At the moment the major effort in the area consists of the Greater
Victoria Compost Education Center, a local not for profit organization, but the CRD is in the
process of implementing a new composting bylaw. The CRD has recognized “that over 30% of
the material entering the landfill is organic material that could be composted,” and this new
bylaw will be designed to divert this organic waste from the Hartland landfill. The bylaw will
govern the licensing of composting facilities and regulate how composting is conducted. It will
not implement a pickup service, but is a step in the right direction. The Bylaw will supplement
provincial policy enacted in the Organic Matter Recycling Regulation and work to improve
enforcement of the policy and support for local initiatives (CRD: Compost Bylaw, 2004;
MWLAP: OMRR, 2002).
4.5 Conclusions
The preceding discussion, while in no way comprehensive, outlined parts of the present
policy framework as it relates to food security, sustainable food production and waste
management in Canada. The creation of food policy is rife with difficulties and intricacies that
permeate all levels of government. The aim of this chapter was not to criticize government at any
level, but to objectively outline present legislation and future policy that is in the works in an
attempt to illustrate the role policy from all levels of government can play in local food systems.
At present it seems that much of Canada’s food policy is focused on optimizing the economic
value of the agriculture sector, but there is a sense that change is in the air as more people
become concerned with issues of food security and sustainable agriculture. As they build policy
frameworks for the food systems of tomorrow, policy makers must realize that legislation from
all levels of government has an important role to play at the municipal scale.
41