(Sainte-Germaine-Manneville) Schools and hospitals should offer Quebec food in a proportion of 70% under a PQ government. A necessary shift to support Quebec farmers and achieve GHG reduction targets, according to the political party.
Posted at 11:49
The COVID-19 health crisis has highlighted the need for a self-sufficient Quebec, believes Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. “If we are not able to guarantee that we can feed our people regardless of international circumstances, we are taking a huge risk on the essentials,” he argued in an interview with Radio-Canada Abitibi-Témiscamingue, on the sidelines of its announcement on food independence.
“It’s a moral duty because if we don’t do that, we won’t be able to be self-sufficient if there ever comes another crisis, another pandemic,” he added.
The PQ leader, who stopped Monday at the Mirolait farm in Sainte-Gertrude-Manneville in the riding of Abitibi-Ouest, revealed that 70% of the food served in schools, hospitals, departmental cafeterias and all other public institutions will come from Quebec. In 2018, the Parti Québécois proposed imposing a 50% target on public bodies.
It is the environmental issue that explains the increase in this target in 2022, explained Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon during his press conference. “If we do not achieve an economy based on short circuits, a circular economy of proximity, the achievement of the objectives in our plan on climate change is not achievable”, he argued.
The Parti Québécois environmental plan calls for a 45% reduction in GHG emissions from 2010 levels by 2030. consumption of food, be based on local food,” he argued.
The first player to set an example must be the Quebec state.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, leader of the Parti Québécois
In September 2020, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, André Lamontagne, presented the first strategy to promote the purchase of Quebec food in public institutions. Currently, these institutions buy between 30% and 50% of Quebec products while there are no rules in place, reported The Canadian Press..
Moreover, Minister Lamontagne did not specify what percentage of purchase was acceptable to him. Ultimately, the government has set itself the objective that at least 60% of Quebec products be offered in institutions by 2025. This would represent 180 million more for producers or 3,000 jobs, wrote The Canadian Press.
The Parti Québécois has not quantified its commitment, but estimates that the initiative would be approximately at zero cost due to the increase in supply, group purchasing and savings on short circuits.
MAPAQ’s 2019-2023 Strategic Plan aims for 85% of Quebec public institutions in the health and social services sectors as well as those in education and higher education to adopt a purchasing target for Quebec foods.