This brief is one of a series produced by the Building Back Better Post-COVID-19 Task Force, a group of experts affiliated to the Canadian Commission for UNESCO and its UNESCO Chairs Network. Their goal is to bring together sustainable economic recovery ideas to make our communities stronger in a post-COVID-19 world. The series highlights how responding to the COVID-19 crisis through adaptive and strategic infrastructure investments can preserve critical ecosystems, increase the use of green infrastructure, and protect regional resources and distribution systems. These infrastructures can meet basic human needs and improve human health, while fostering long-term community resilience, well-being and sustainable employment. The suggestions offered in this series support Canada’s commitments to the UN Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and position the country as a world leader in developing new economies based on environmental sustainability.

PIVOTING TO HEALTHY, SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS FOR ALL CANADIANS

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragility of our globalized food systems. Many families are experiencing food insecurity, there is pressure on the well-being of food industry workers as indoor farming and processing facilities have experienced some of Canada’s largest COVID-19 outbreaks, and just-in-time food chains are vulnerable to disruptions. These struggles point to ways we could pivot our infrastructure to build sustainable food system resilience that not only improves health but also benefits biodiversity and ecosystems.

Ready, equitable access to good quality food keeps everyone more resistant to disease and reduces the burden on the health care system. People with pre-existing health conditions such as diabetes were more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19. The pandemic adds to concerns about the cost of diet related disease. For example, it was estimated that by 2022, 2.16 million new cases of diabetes are expected, corresponding to $15.36 billion in health care costs i. Additionally, we know that crises such as COVID-19 put people that are most vulnerable at greater risk, in particular First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, members of Black and racialized communities, including newcomers, women, low-income individuals, youth, children and the elderly.

In addition to health, there are key connections between our globalized food system and its impact on biodiversity and ecosystems. Biodiversity loss is both caused by and challenges food production. As we continue to rely on fewer crops and animal genetic diversity in the global food system, decreased diversity makes the system more vulnerable. This was evidenced as H1N1 and avian influenza emerged putting genetically similar animals at high risk, as well as humans. For plants, $577 billion in crops are at risk due to pollinator loss globally which could result in a 23% decrease in world food productivity ii. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency estimates that the annual impact of invasive species in the Great Lakes on the agriculture and forestry sectors is $30 billion per year. This points to opportunities linked to a more diverse food system that provides more versatility and resilience to sudden shocks including through disease, infestations and climate.

BUILDING BACK BETTER WITH RESILIENT, INCLUSIVE FOOD SYSTEMS

The idea of rebuilding resilience runs through five main sustainable food systems themes: governance, regional infrastructure, healthier food environments, resilient growing systems, and Indigenous food sovereignty. The themes are inter-connected through inclusive growth, healthy ecosystems and the right to food. The considerations below are proposed to be multi-scalar and integrative, offering ideas for federal, provincial and territorial, as well as municipal investment considerations.

Governance

The opportunity for strong, collaborative governance runs across all levels of government and could be considered as:

• Consistent with the federal government’s commitment to create a strong Canadian Food Council. The efforts and representation on the council could support ecological farmers, food producers and social economy innovators.
• Integrated across policy levels, councils could also include representatives from municipal and Indigenous food policy councils. These efforts could be linked to and support local Food Policy Councils to help create a foundation of collaboration and connectivity to achieve more sustainable outcomes. This could be considered as part of a renewed Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

Regional Infrastructure

While we need a global food system for the trade of some commodities, like exports of Canadian grains and pulses or imports like coffee, tea and citrus fruits, there are many things we can grow and process closer to home to lessen the impact of pandemics and other shocks. We have the opportunity to pivot from rigid infrastructure to increased flexibility. Until the 1980s, most parts of Canada had a real market food system — small farmers, small processors including abattoirs and small shops — that made us inherently less vulnerable and more resilient. Vertical integration and consolidation across the food sector has eroded this diversity and shrunk local economies.

We now have a chance to build on and improve the remnants from that real market food system by incorporating the many innovations in sustainable agriculture and food distribution that have shown their resilience throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Indeed, during the pandemic, resources like Open Food Network, developed by our researchers in Canada as part of an international open source collaborative, allow growers and eaters to engage through an online food platform. Additionally, direct-farm marketing and farmers’ markets provide an intimate food experience for locally grown foods. In fact, consumer demand for and awareness of the importance of local, sustainable, healthy food has dramatically expanded since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis.

As a result of the pandemic, Canadian governments at all levels iii have recognized food systems and their components as essential services. While there has been recent short-term emergency assistance for some farmers, long-term, focused re-investment could be considered. The goal to re-localize aspects of our food systems has recently precipitated questions about what we can produce for local Canadian markets. For example, the Food Self-Reliance Assessment model developed by our partners at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia allocates land with the goal to maximize sustainable bioregional food production iv. When applied to southwest BC looking out to 2050, this model revealed potential increases in local food provisioning even in the face of the expected near twofold increase in population. The analysis indicated the potential to nearly double multiple economic indicators (GDP- 94%, total economic output- 91%, tax revenue- 99%, total employment- 87%, household income- 89%) over the baseline commodity-oriented food system. These gains could still be achieved while substantially improving wildlife habitat and enhancing soil quality. Our research with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the international RUAF Partnership into sustainable food system opportunities in the Greater Golden Horseshoe shows that many foods used to be grown and consumed locally, are now redirected to export markets while comparable foods are imported. In both directions, the diversity of varieties has been reduced, leading to less choice for consumers, increased market volatility and more vulnerability of crops to pests v.

Together, sustainable farming innovations and increased consumer demand for healthy local food set the stage for a resilient, just, ecologically regenerative and distributed network across regional food landscapes. Planning, investment, policy support and know-how can help capture these opportunities. Meaningful investment, such as the existing Local Food Infrastructure Fund, can be considered for everyone along the food system. This could include family and smallholder mixed, ecologically sound farming and market garden operations, locally scaled food processors (including canning and freezing for fruits and vegetables, abattoirs and dairy facilities) and distributors, local food retailers and restaurants, all with shorter links to consumers. Closed loop regional markets could enable farm products to reach consumers through innovative social enterprises, retail outlets, and restaurants of various sizes. Specifically:

• Public procurement could help support local growers and healthy eaters by setting targets for public sector organizations (e.g. healthcare, childcare, correctional services, schools, colleges/universities and long-term care) to purchase regional products. This could include exploring incentives for purchasing local food at the institutional, municipal and provincial scale and/or with women and/or indigenous led businesses. These considerations help build on the Government of Canada’s findings on the need for a healthier food procurement policy.
• Enable community level efforts to promote and build local food infrastructure for a more resilient local system. This can include supporting vibrant distribution centres, promoting green spaces and growing areas, considering policies that prioritize access to food and community well-being, fostering community gardens, and limiting urban sprawl.
• Explore converting vacant or underutilized land for Community Growing Spaces so municipalities can, for example, enable the rapid conversion to community food spaces. Given the importance of agricultural land, it may be worth protecting viable farmland so it remains in production.

Healthier Food Environments

We have seen in real time that there is less pressure on our health care system when all people — including those working in the food system—have enough good food, decent shelter and basic medicine. Food decisions don’t happen in isolation. How much, what, or where to buy food are considered jointly with other financial pressures. Creating affordable, decent housing and ensuring a sufficient income can help enable healthier overall conditions for those who need support.

The real cost of healthy food often makes it inaccessible to low-income eaters. Exploring ideas of universal income supports and reviewing disability, old age pension, and other programs to match support to the cost of living and inflation can reduce financial barriers to accessing healthy food. Basic income pilot projects in places like Stockton, California point to increased food security opportunities.

Schools can also be conduits for change. ‘A Food Policy for Canada’ consultations identified significant support for a national Universal Healthy School Food Program to enhance food security, food literacy and long-term health outcomes. As seen in Brazil, purchasing local, sustainably produced food for school food programs can help keep sustainable farms viable, improve the health of families and create good, skilled jobs in processing and distribution. Canada would be following other countries such as France, Italy, and Japan who have integrated lunches, snacks, or food-based education into the school experience. There is also an opportunity to learn from initiatives already in motion across the country. In Alberta, Nanâtohk Mîciwin, a Universal School Food Strategy developed by students and leaders in the Ermineskin Cree Nation, supports thousands of healthy meals annually and increases the use of local, fresh foods. The Farm to School project in British Columbia also shows how communities can come together to build healthy, sustainable systems for nutritional support in schools.

Re-aligning investments to support inclusive solutions can help build communities, support food sovereignty, and create stronger local food networks. This could include:

• Exploring the intersections between income support programming and food security outcomes can help promote access to safe, healthy diets for all Canadians, including those who are most impacted by the pandemic. Exploring ideas of universal income supports and reviewing disability, old age pension, and other programs to match support indexed to the cost of living and inflation could reduce financial barriers to accessing healthy food.
• Continuing to develop a cost-shared Universal Healthy School Food Program negotiated with the provinces, territories and Indigenous Nations/communities can enable all students in Canada to have no/low-cost healthy meals at school every day.
• Working with School Boards to develop Learning Gardens and Food Literacy to support children’s access to fresh, local food and create learning tools for food literacy and well-being.

Resilient, Biodiverse Growing Systems

By growing food using ecological methods, food production can regenerate air, water, soil and biodiversity, and conserve healthy forests, wetlands and waterways. Decades of research provides evidence about the benefits of sustainable food production, both innovative and traditional. Experts agree that sustainable food systems offer the multiple solutions we need vi to temper future challenges including pandemics and to support action on climate change. We know that growing food using knowledge-intensive techniques can minimize chemical inputs, restore healthy soil and clean water as the foundations of farming. It can also protect biodiversity, foster resilience by growing diverse crop varieties and animals (in turn increasing resistance to disease) and, by reducing dependence on fossil inputs, sequester rather than produce excess carbon. Some policy considerations to support resilient, biodiverse growing systems include:

• A Federal New Canadian and Young Farmer Programs could be considered to support the training, mentorship and investment needs of aspiring farmers as well as new Canadians who might be interested in adapting their farm knowledge to Canadian regional landscapes.
• Exploring the elimination of barriers to sustainable farming practices and reshape public policy could support healthier environments. One consideration could be adopting a program that measures soil organic matter on farms every three years and tying these soil health indicators directly to financial incentives and cost-share programming. There is also an opportunity to review land use policy to support mixed farming based on ecological knowledge.
• Create access to smaller parcels of farmland land to support regenerative food production including for new farmers, suburban areas and to increase community gardens in urban centres. By finding was to prevent financial speculation in farmland, protect the integrity of farmland preservation efforts, and incentivize ecological production of healthy crops and livestock, access to smaller plots of land could build access to local food.

Indigenous Pathways

The gaps in our food systems are felt disproportionately by Indigenous Nations/communities in Canada. Before the pandemic, one out of every eight families in Canada faced some form of food insecurity but that number significantly increases to one in every two Indigenous households including a lack of access to culturally appropriate food. The lived experience of food insecurity is different between communities and even family members. According to a 2019 policy paper by the Rural Policy Learning Commons, communities in Northern Manitoba and Nunavut face levels of food insecurity that measure upwards of 60 to 70 percent. This can partly be linked to legacies from residential schools including malnutrition, hunger and nutritional experiments. Additionally, wholesale environmental destruction impacts traditional diets and limits access to sacred food and constrained Indigenous food systems, compounding the impacts of the pandemic vii.

Moving toward Indigenous Food Sovereignty is necessary to begin to meet the Calls to Action as part of our commitment to the Truth and Reconciliation process.

Looking to the experience of elders and community members can make traditional knowledge and sovereignty central to reconciliation and post-COVID efforts. The government of Canada has recognized the importance of being on the land, and that there is a need to continue supporting measures that uphold Indigenous peoples’ rights during the pandemic. Additional post-COVID 19 initiatives could include:

• Support for Indigenous food sovereignty, respecting that food is sacred. The process for Indigenous food sovereignty needs to be self-determined and participative at individual, household, community and regional levels.
• With rates of food insecurity that are more than double average Canadian rate, acknowledging systemic drivers of inequality for Indigenous communities is important to address the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee.

The considerations outlined in this brief have implications for all levels of governance and policy development. We can capture this opportunity to create enabling and empowering policy structures that support all members of our communities and build back better in the post-COVID period.

REFERENCES

i Bilandzic, A. and Rosella, L. 2017. The cost of diabetes in Canada over 10 years: applying attributable health care costs to a diabetes incidence prediction model https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5607525/pdf/37_2_3.pdf

ii IPBES. 2019. Summary for policymakers of the global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. S. Díaz et al. (eds.). IPBES secretariat, Bonn, Germany. 56 pages.

iii Government of Canada https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ntnl-scrt/crtcl-nfrstrctr/esf-sfe-en.aspx; Government of Ontario https://www.ontario.ca/page/list-essential-workplaces#section-1

iv Mullinix, K., et al. 2016. The future of our food system: Report on the Southwest BC bioregion food system design project. Institute for Sustainable Food Systems. Richmond, BC: Kwantlen Polytechnic University. https://www.kpu.ca/sites/default/files/ISFS/SWBC%20Project-Future%20of%20our%20Food%20System%20Report_web%20version.pdf

v Miller, S. and Blay-Palmer, A. 2018. http://www.fao.org/in-action/food-for-cities-programme/pilotcities/toronto/en/

vi Agroecological, H.L.P.E., 2019. Other Innovative Approaches for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems that Enhance Food Security and Nutrition. High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of the Committee on World Food Security. Rome, Italy.

vii Settee P. & Shukla S. (Eds.). 2020. Indigenous Food Systems, Concepts, Cases and Conversations. Toronto, ON: Canadian Scholars.

Contributors

Alison Blay-Palmer, UNESCO Chair in Food, Biodiversity and Sustainability Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University

Eleanor Haine-Bennett, Natural Sciences Program Officer, and Sébastien Goupil, Secretary-General, Canadian Commission for UNESCO

Harriet Friedmann, Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto

Priscilla Settee, Indigenous Studies, University of Saskatchewan

Johanna Wilkes, PhD Candidate, Balsillie School of International Affairs

Patricia Ballamingie, Associate Professor, Environmental Studies and Human Geography, Carleton University

Amanda Di Battista, Project Coordinator, Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, Wilfrid Laurier University

Heather Reid, Researcher, UNESCO Chair in Food, Biodiversity and Sustainability Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University

Heather Mcleod-Kilmurray, Professor, Centre for Environmental Law and Global Sustainability, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa

Phil Mount, Board Chair, Sustain Ontario

Food Secure Canada