This year’s World Food Day, on October 16th, has a theme of ‘Food Prices—From Crisis to Stability’ which highlights the need for food security, especially for those in poverty. “Lack of stability in food prices makes life very difficult for farmers and this has a ripple effect that particularly hits hard for the poor. World Food Day reminds us that the whole picture must be addressed,”said Green Leader Elizabeth May. “My own riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands is an incredibly productive agricultural region and as Member of Parliament, I am continually working for more support of our farmers.”
The World Bank reports that in this past year, almost 70 million people have been pushed into extreme poverty due to rising food costs.
“In Canada, we can best address food security by continuing to support family farms, local farmers’ markets, and organic agriculture.
Creating communities that are connected to their food is part of creating a healthy, resilient society, especially needed with the climate crisis” said May.
Over the last fifty years, federal policies and subsidies have tended to promote giant agribusinesses. This shift has given multinational corporations control over our food supply. Meanwhile, farmers increasingly rely on off-farm income to survive and young farmers find it difficult to get started. The Green Party calls for the restructuring of our agricultural markets to sustain farming and provide farm families with a fair share of the consumer food dollar.