This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
As the next harvest season dawns, it’s time to think more broadly about the future of sustainable food. The CAPE (Cooperative for Ecological Local Agriculture) has looked into the issue and is presenting a manifesto to call on all levels of government to bring grist to the mill for local, diversified, organic and scale-up agriculture. human.
The picture of the situation
The most recent report of the IPCC clearly repeated it to us: to slow down climate change, the adoption of a sustainable diet is essential. It is still necessary to understand what it is about and that it is adapted to each environment and accessible to all.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), sustainable food is defined as having “low environmental consequences, contributing to food and nutrition security and healthy lives for current and future generations. [Elle] also helps to protect and respect biodiversity and ecosystems, [elle est] culturally acceptable, economically equitable and accessible, affordable, healthy and safe, and optimizes natural and human resources. »
Indeed, sustainable food goes well beyond agriculture. It takes into account farmers, ecosystems, different culinary cultures and geographic and economic access to this food model.
Farmers first
According to Émilie Viau-Drouin, president of CAPE and manager of the La Grelinette farm in Saint-Armand, the solutions to achieve sustainable food production already exist. “You just need to have the political will to do it,” she says.
In his opinion, if the profession of sustainable farming and ranching were more valued, it would help to move things forward more quickly in government.
However, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, André Lamontagne, announced in October 2020 the Sustainable Agriculture Plan 2020-2030 (PAD). The total budget of 125 million aims to “accelerate the adoption of responsible and efficient agro-environmental practices in order to respond to the concerns of actors in the agricultural community and citizens”.
At the same time, the number of certified organic farms has almost doubled in five years. It went from 1,592 in 2016 to 3,154 in 2021. Quebec also has the largest number of certified organic companies in Canada.
These statistics do not surprise Émilie Viau-Drouin. But she believes that the PAD has major shortcomings. “The biggest problem with this vision is that we don’t reward those who already have good practices,” she explains. Small rewards are given to those who now want to change their ways. She also wonders whether these subsidies will not primarily serve large soybean or corn producers who will switch to organic to export their production. Despite these questions, CAPE has several possible solutions to make food more sustainable and more accessible to all.
Hands-on solutions
In its manifesto, the CAPE wishes to “guide the State towards these concrete actions”. “For example, the government could reimburse the costs of organic certification to companies that obtain and maintain it,” says Émilie Viau-Drouin. At the provincial level, wage subsidies could be put in place to pay workers properly without affecting the price. She also suggests supporting the MRCs so that they can offer local producers a free place in the farmers’ markets of their municipalities.
“It’s not a return to the old days, but rather a way of inhabiting the territory, punctuated by the seasons, inspired by history and motivated by contemporary issues,” she concludes.