To develop our local food industry and supply
Vancouver Island could face serious food supply problems and we need to take our local food security on the Island more seriously by producing more locally grown food. In the midst of rapid climate change, we need to develop our local food industry and supply in order to combat global dependence, strengthen our local economy and avoid rising food prices.
California agriculture supplies 70 per cent of our imported fruits and vegetables every year. With rising global temperatures, poor growing conditions are decreasing the amount of food available for export, meaning higher food prices. Huge monocrop farms are viewed as the most economical way of producing food for the masses. Most of our food on the Island comes from the global transport chain, dependent on oil for transport and fertilizers impacting our climate, soils and our water.
Developing the local economy is a benefit of eating locally. Local people consume only 5 per cent of the food produced on Vancouver Island, the rest is imported from elsewhere. Industrial agriculture and increased food import affects the success of small, local farms unable to keep up with growing food demands. These farms go out of business, increasing the need for imported food, fuelling the vicious cycle. With the increase in land prices, fuel, machinery and the monopoly the globalized food market has on food consumption, local farmers are unable to afford enough land to grow an adequate amount of food to make a living and feed neighbouring communities. The average salary of farmers is $10-30,000, not nearly enough to sustain growth in the future or expand their farms. It is time we give the chance to these small farms to prosper and deliver healthy, local food to the Island.
Lower food prices go hand-in-hand with unlimited year-round food selection, a major benefit of the globalized food market. Higher prices and a limited selection are the apparent drawbacks to the local food system.
Canadians spend 10 per cent of their income on food, favouring cheaper food rather than splurging on local produce. When local farmers have to sell their food for lower than the price of production just to stay in business, it is a rip off to the entire local food economy. Today, less than 6 per cent is produced locally; local food production is losing the race in the agricultural industry in Canada to the cheap, global food alternatives. Hopefully it is not too late for the local food movement to reverse this crisis.