With the resurgence of buying local and the BC Government recently asking farmers to join the conversation on food security issues as part of the Premier’s new task force on agriculture and food economy The Citizen caught up with Andrew Adams, a BC agricultural land commissioner and owner of Hope Farm Organics, to weigh in.
“All British Columbians want reliable access to healthy and affordable food,” said Premier David Eby in a recent announcement. “We must protect our food sources and our agricultural sector in the face of the threat of unfair and damaging tariffs.”
Industry leaders in the task force will provide the government with first-hand knowledge of how best to prepare and respond to tariff threats as the BC agricultural sector continues to grow, Eby added.
“The task force has a big job ahead of them,” Adams said.
“It’s kinda like ‘go solve all the problems.’”
For the last two years the BC agriculture industry has lost a quarter of a billion dollars, he added.
“So the overwhelming majority of farms in BC are operating at a net loss and they are essentially keeping themselves afloat by other financial means. The only farms that are making a profit are the huge corporate farms and depending on what kind of farm it is some of those are also struggling.”
Adams said farms are struggling for many reasons.
“The industry as a whole has been struggling through climate challenges, as well as giant increases to the cost of inputs, whether it’s fertilizer or packaging, waivers or the cost of production - it’s all gone up quite a bit,” Adams said.
“So the task force has to address the fact we need more people growing and we need to grow more food and we need to make sure farms are more resilient and we need to bring people into the positive.”
There’s got to be a rework of how the food from local areas goes into local sales avenues, too, he added.
“There’s been a lot of discussion about doing value added, so processing is a big discussion around how to make things shelf stable – there’s much to be said about that,” Adams said.
“What comes to mind is the canning circles of WWII because you’ve got to make food last so you have to put that food away.”
As an agricultural land commissioner and as a farmer Adams said he doesn’t want to see big processing plants built on agricultural land that should be used for food production.
“All farmable land should be used for farming and processing plants should be built in industrial areas,” Adams emphasized.
In BC only 4.9 per cent of the land base is appropriate for farming, he added.
“We don’t have any land to give up and we already gave up a whole lot to Site C,” Adams said.
“So when a person is thinking of volume of food we need more growers on the land, it needs to be more profitable and there has to be avenues to get the products shelf stable or shipped and distributed quickly to where people are going to consume them.”
Different exporting options also need to be explored by seeking other countries to partner with instead of the States, he added.
The new task force members will be recommending how to ensure people in British Columbia have continued access to healthy and affordable food, no matter what happens with U.S. tariffs or a trade war, the news release said. The task force’s work will be guided by diverse, knowledgeable and successful leaders, including primary producers from the province’s farming sector, as well as seafood harvesters, food and beverage processors, distributors and retailers.
“B.C.’s agricultural communities have demonstrated time and again how strongly they come together and join forces in times of need,” Lana Popham, Minister of Agriculture and Food, said in the release. “By including the voices of farmers, processors, retailers and distributors in this task force, we are including expertise from farm to table in building a resilient and sustainable food system that is competitive and strengthens B.C.’s economy and food supply.”
The task force will have 15 representatives from across the agriculture and food sector. It will be co-chaired by leadership from the BC Agriculture Council, which advocates on behalf of 29 member associations, and BC Food and Beverage, which represents a diverse range of processors throughout the province, along with the deputy minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.
“B.C.’s agriculture sector has been a significant economic contributor and an important piece of our province’s identity for more than a century, but the long-term viability of farming faces several challenges,” Danielle Synotte, executive director, BC Agriculture Council (BCAC), said.
“If the economic growth potential of the sector is to be realized, we need to re-evaluate the way we see and value agriculture. The Premier’s task force is an opportunity to build a shared vision for the sector that involves innovative ideas and a shift in perspective, focusing on solutions, and BCAC is thrilled to be a partner on this very important work.”
The group will meet on a quarterly basis during the next 12 to 18 months, the release said.
The task force will also provide targeted recommendations to government about key topics, such as water, land, labour, competitiveness and investment.
“We have to retool everything,” Adams said. “We need more production, we need more distribution avenues, we need more processing and we need more markets and suppliers of inputs and better trade options with people who are less volatile.”
Adams said he’s optimistic.
“I think BC as a whole is pretty resilient and there’s going to be big change and it’s good,” Adams said.
“We need it.”
