Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance

Fair food for all Australians

Can Australia have a Local Food Act?

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Ontario passes Local Food Act

By Nick Rose, National Coordinator, Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance
A version of this article first appeared in the Coffs Coast Advocate on Saturday 8th February, 2014

At the beginning of November last year, the Parliament of Canada’s most populous province, Ontario, passed the Local Food Act 2013.

This is a highly significant measure, because it represents one of the first instances of a sub-national legislature not only recognizing, but institutionalizing and resourcing, the growing local food movement.

The local food movement has been pilloried by many and dismissed by others as little more than a ‘feel-good niche sector’, catering to the demands of the ‘worried well’ for ethical produce, but with little prospect either of feeding the hungry masses or of improving the bottom line of producers.

I have news for those critics. Local food is here to stay; and its significance and impact will only grow in the coming years.

Why? Let’s start with the preamble of the Canadian legislation:

Ontario has robust and resilient local food systems: a highly productive agricultural land base, a favourable climate and water supply, efficient transportation and distribution systems, and knowledgeable, innovative farmers, food processors, distributors, retailers and restaurateurs. These resources help ensure that local food systems thrive throughout the province, allowing the people of Ontario to know where their food comes from and connect with those who produce it.

The variety of food produced, harvested and made in Ontario reflects the diversity of its people. This variety is something to be celebrated, cherished and supported. Strong local and regional food systems deliver economic benefits and build strong communities.

Maintaining and growing Ontario’s local and regional food systems requires a shared vision and a collaborative approach that includes working with public sector organizations. The process of setting goals and targets to which the people of Ontario can aspire provides an opportunity to work with industry, the public sector and other partners to promote local food and to develop a shared understanding of what needs to be done to support local food in Ontario.”

The arguments for supporting local food are multi-dimensional. Certainly the economic case is emphasized, and rightly so, because the benefits of the type of economic development fostered by local food systems are widely spread amongst all the players along the food value chain. And if those businesses are locally owned, as they often are, then the economic multiplier effect is strongly enhanced.

But in addition to the economic case, local food systems promote healthier eating habits (think school kitchen gardens), can improve access to good food for low income and vulnerable populations, and can encourage producers to transition to more sustainable and ethical practices of land-use management and animal husbandry.

Conscious of this multi-dimensionality, the Local Food Act mandates the Minister of Agriculture and Food to set goals or targets with respect to:

  • Improving food literacy in respect of local food
  • Encouraging increased use of local food by public sector organisations, and
  • Increasing access to local food

The reference to public sector purchasing is of particular importance, as the adoption of procurement goals and targets has been critical in nurturing infant local food enterprises, such as Local Food Hubs. The Local Food Act specifies that the goals and targets set by the Minister may be ‘general or particular in [their] application’. This means that the Minister can set targets for particular businesses or public sector organisations (including hospitals and aged-care facilities); for particular geographical areas; and for particular food groups.

vote-on-1
The Vote ON Food campaign, which led to the Local Food Act 2013 — front of postcard.
The Vote ON Food campaign, which led to the Local Food Act 2013, back of postcard
The Vote ON Food campaign, which led to the Local Food Act 2013, back of postcard.

The Act also has a social justice intention: it creates a ‘community food program tax credit’ for farmers who donate produce to food banks and similar organisations, of up to 25% of the ‘fair market value’ of that produce.

In addition to the Local Food Act, the Ontarian Government has also created a Local Food Fund, worth up to C$30 million over three years to support innovative projects that enhance the purchase of local food and contribute to economic development.

The Fund’s outcomes are:

  • Increased awareness of and celebration of local food
  • Influencing Ontarians to demand and choose more local food
  • Ensuring local food is identifiable and widely available
  • Helping Ontario’s agri-food sector deliver products that consumers want
  • Strengthening local food economies from farm to fork

No Australian state has done anything similar. AFSA believes it’s high time that changed. This year is an election year in the State of Victoria, which has quite probably the most numerous and most cohesive local and fair food movement in Australia – during Fair Food Week 2013, out of 112 events around the country, over 42 took place around Victoria. The City of Melbourne became the first local government member of AFSA last year. Southern Melbourne, Mornington Peninsula and Geelong are amongst some of the LGAs adopting and implementing local and regional food strategies.

The time is right. The case for government support and resourcing of the growing local and fair food movement is overwhelming.  With the globalization of food and agriculture increasingly revealed as a zero-sum race to the bottom for all but the transnational corporations who control the so-called ‘free trade’ in food and agricultural products, the need for bold visions and new approaches to meet current and future challenges has never been greater.”

Campaign team needed

AFSA is actively looking for a campaign team to work on the project of a Local Food Act and Local Food Fund for Victoria, to culminate in Fair Food Week.

Who to contact

If you would like to know more and would like to get involved, please contact Nick Rose:

 

Food Sovereignty: A social movement for a fair food system

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In the April-May 2013 issue of Arena Magazine, AFSA National Co-ordinator Nick Rose discusses the importance of food sovereignty and the People’s Food Plan process for Australia.

[quote author=”” image=”https://afsa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Food_Sovereignty_banner1.jpg” w=”125″ h=”125″ image_align=””]AFSA’s research shows that most Australians want something different to a food system controlled by two giant supermarkets and a handful of other less visible mega-corporations such as Cargill and Archer Daniels Midlands. National opinion surveys carried out by the Australia Institute over the past year have found the following:

 

[bullet_list icon=”” indent=”10px” style=””]

  • 75 per cent of Australians believe levels of supermarket concentration are excessive
  • 86 per cent say supporting our farmers to grow more, and 62 per cent say ‘protecting our best farmland from mining interests and suburban sprawl’, should be in the top two measures for guaranteeing our food security (only 5 per cent say ‘import more basic foods’)
  • Over 90 per cent say it is ‘very’ or ‘quite’ important to them that we have a thriving farming
  • sector and small-to-medium sized food businesses
  • 85 per cent want ‘support for local and regional food systems’ to be in the top two priorities of a National Food Plan.

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[button_link url=”https://afsa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/N-Rose-Arena-April-2013.pdf” target=”blank” background=”#98CC66″  style=”icon-circle-arrow-right” title=”Arena article” class=”” id=”” onclick=””] Read the full article[/button_link]

 

A People’s Food Policy for Canada

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The Canadian People’s Food Policy Project has delivered their report after two years’ consultations with 3500 Canadians in 250 kitchen table talks.  Grounded in the principles of Food Sovereignty, the key recommendations include:

  • Ensuring that food is eaten as close as possible to where it is produced (e.g. domestic/regional purchasing policies for institutions and large food retailers, community-supported agriculture, local farmers markets, etc.).
  • Supporting food providers in a widespread shift to ecological production in both urban and rural settings (e.g. organic agriculture, community-managed fisheries, indigenous food systems, etc.), including policies for the entry of new farmers into agriculture.
  • Enacting a strong federal poverty elimination and prevention program, with measurable targets and timelines, to ensure Canadians can better afford healthy food.
  • Creating a nationally-funded Children and Food strategy (including school meal programs, school gardens, and food literacy programs) to ensure that all children at all times have access to the food required for healthy lives.
  • Ensuring that the public, especially the most marginalized, are actively involved in decisions that affect the food system.

At a time when the Australian Federal Government is about to launch a national consultation to establish, for the first time in our history, a national food policy for Australia, this document, and the work that went into its construction, is a timely reminder of the need for food systems to be built in a participatory and democratic manner. This is what AFSA has been urging the Federal Government to do, and we call on all Australians who care about a sustainable, resilient and fair food future to do the same.

The full report can be downloaded here:

Resetting the Table: A People’s Food Policy for Canada

Indigenous Food Sovereignty—Canada

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One fast-developing area of Food Sovereignty is indigenous food sovereignty, especially in Canada. In March 2008 the British Columbia Working Group released the final report of their Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty.

AFSA had provided an excerpt for download as a PDF file:

WGIFS Final Report 2 March 2008

In October 2009 the International Indian Treaty Council published a summary leaflet, “Food Sovereignty and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”. AFSA had provided the leaflet for download as a PDF file:

Indigenous Food Sovereignty 9 October 2009

The Working  Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty (WGIFS) (Bristish Columbia) has recently launched its website—Indigenous Food Systems Network

The WGIFS identifed four key principles underpinning Indigenous Food Sovereignty:

  • Sacredness – Food is a gift from the Creator; we have a sacred responsibility to nurture healthy, interdependent relationships with the land, plants and animals that provide us with our food.
  • Self-determination – The ability to respond to our own needs for safe, healthy, culturally adapted Indigenous foods – the ability to make decisions over the amount and quality of food we hunt, fish, gather, grow and eat. Freedom from dependence on grocery stores or corporately controlled food production and distribution in market economies.
  • Participatory – An action that is ultimately based on the day to day practice of maintaining our traditional food harvesting strategies and practices for the benefit of present and future generations. A cultural strategy that must be practiced at all of the individual, family and community levels.
  • Policy – A strategy for influencing provincial, national and international policies that are negatively impacting traditional land and food systems

Food for thought—towards a Canadian food strategy

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After 18 months of public forums and discussions with farmers and community leaders across Canada, the New Democrat Party recently released its report to guide the development of national food policy for Canada.

As Australia considers its own National Food Policy, the findings and recommendations of this report are highly relevant, given the demographic, cultural and agricultural similarities between the two countries.

The strongest conclusion is that…

Canadians across the country have called for a [comprehensive] food strategy to ensure Canada’s food security and food sovereignty.

The AFSA makes the same call in relation to Australia.

Download the full report from their website: www.alexndp.ca

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