Perspectives on Good Food and Farming: Product of Canada Labelling
Posted: June 12, 2009
Categories: News from Sustain Ontario
Is the Bar Set Too High When It Is the Consumer’s Choice?
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Perspectives on good food and farming
June 12, 2009
The rules have been improved. Thank you government! The “Product of Canada†labelling controversy has disappeared. Wrong!
When I buy foods with Product of Canada labels in the grocery store, I assume that other countries’ ingredients are not hidden inside — at least not much. Thus, I was relieved last year when our federal government ordered a change in policy: as of January 1 of this year, food processors can only use the Product of Canada label if the product contains 98 per cent domestic ingredients and labour. A welcome change from the ridiculous 51 percent of production costs, a standard that fell into disrepute as the locavore movement gathered steam.
But controversy remains. The new rules do not accommodate the interests of some food processors using small but significant amounts of ingredients not readily available in every part of Canada.
Key farm groups, opposition parties, even a parliamentary committee have gone on the record calling for a retreat to 85 percent domestic ingredients. Spokespersons for the retreat have mentioned processors dependent on sugar and spices.
The retreat is misguided for a number of reasons.
“Product of Canada†became controversial as a right-to-know issue for consumers as the locavore movement swept North America. Knowing something about the origin of the food they buy has become a matter of confidence and trust for consumers. It has added to the authenticity that locavores crave. Now it is too late to turn back the clock. The food chain cannot afford to return to messages that give priority to processor interests over consumer interests. Consumer confidence in food chain messages would erode.
Accommodating food processors using a small proportion of ingredients not easily come by in Canada does the larger Canadian food chain a disservice. It is high time these processors were challenged to source locally and if not available underwrite the production of these ingredients in Canada. That does not assume that every ingredient can be grown in Canada. It matters that many more can be produced here since we have the farmers, the resources and the ingenuity. This will add stability to our food sector and help it create jobs during the ongoing recession.
Some critics will demand that we return to the long tradition of a North American food labelling system based only on the content of the food. This system, it is said, is objective, verifiable and enforceable. It has its place in managing concerns about proteins that are allergenic to some consumers. But such labels do not meet consumer wants and do not help Canadian products win markets. A good example is the European consumer interest in beef from production systems that do not use growth promoting hormones. For how long did we try to browbeat Europeans to consume what we produce rather helping those willing to change production systems and deliver on consumer interests —and grow the economy. Let’s not browbeat our consumers into eating 15 per cent foreign when what they really want is Canadian product only. Besides, if we force-feed consumers 15 percent foreign, they are likely to conclude that we want them to choose foreign.
Locavores are trying to do the right thing. Ask them why they choose local food and they talk about helping the local economy, supporting family farmers and, as a result of the recession, jobs. It has dawned on them that long-distance food and high energy costs are an unsustainable mix. Locavores may well be a bit naive about the role of transportation in the food chain — it does not consume the lion’s share of energy. But they have fingered our food chain’s Achilles heel — the whole system has been built of cheap energy. We will have to re-invent the food chain as energy costs rise. Locavores are willing to help but they need real levers, like “Product of Canada†to pull and do their part.
Finally, locavores are not fanatical about food choices. Local is the choice when all other factors are equal. When pollsters ask consumers about getting them to buy more local food, a huge majority ask for availability where they already shop. Convenience trumps all. “Product of Canada†— narrowly defined — makes buying home-grown just a little easier. It meets a consumer want.
Is the bar too high at 98 percent domestic ingredients? Not for those to whom the label means the most — consumers interested in being locavores.
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