Agriculture can do more than just put food on our plate

When we think about food, what we put in our grocery carts and how much we can afford is usually top of mind. And with food prices set to rise by another 2.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent this year, and food bank usage increasing 41 per cent between 2020 and 2023, food security is a real challenge for far too many people in our cities, rural communities and First Nations. But what if our food system offers solutions beyond just the food on our plate? We’re facing a climate emergency, and Canada’s declining levels of innovation mean we are dead last amongst OECD countries in real per capita growth in GDP. Our agriculture and food system could be the answer. Innovative farmers across the country are already working to help Canada meet our climate targets. By reducing tillage, planting cover crops and exploring opportunities to make operations more climate-friendly, agriculture in Canada has the potential to sequester up to 38 megatonnes of carbon. New technologies and innovations can further increase this contribution. Technologies such as bio-digesters can capture potent greenhouse gases like methane—turning them into renewable energy and creating nutrient-rich inputs for the farm. Cutting-edge nutrient input techniques can ensure maximum growth for crops with minimum impact of fertilizers on soil and water. New sensors can detect how much carbon is being stored in soil. From breeding cattle that produce less emissions, to developing climate-resilient crops, to creating cultured meat products, to avoiding food waste and moving towards a circular economy—innovations in the agricultural sector will help Canada meet our climate goals. These agricultural technologies also hold enormous potential for our economy. Our agri-food sector employs one in nine Canadians and contributes $143-billion to the Canadian economy. Protein Industries Canada has estimated the value of Canada’s plant-based food sector alone could top an additional $25-billion, and have an impact as transformative on our climate and economy as electric vehicles. Similarly, Ontario Genomics believes that cellular agriculture is an additional $12.5-billion opportunity for Canada. Globally, economic analysis suggests that a food system transformation could have benefits of up to $US10-trillion per year—improving human health and wellness, our environment, and society. Canada can and should be a key player in this transformation. The country has rich natural endowments and a deep talent pool to use them sustainably. We have the potential to be the world’s supplier of safe, sustainable and nutritious food—but we need to take action to unlock this opportunity. What do we need to do? We need investment in agri-food innovations and technologies. Despite the agri-food sector generating seven per cent of Canada’s GDP, funding for agricultural innovation is only 0.046 per cent of GDP, and agri-food innovation funding has declined while the number of agri-food patents has fallen. We must invest in innovation and in technologies that improve sustainability and efficiencies across the supply chain and de-risk the purchase and deployment of new technologies for early adopters. We need to reduce policy roadblocks to innovation—reducing red tape, encouraging collaboration between government and industry, and convening policy-makers to make it easier for companies to stay in Canada. We need to get the next generation involved in innovation. Universities and colleges need to train a generation of agriculture and food graduates with both traditional crop, soil and livestock knowledge, as well as engineering, data management and technological expertise. We need to invest in graduates who will be tomorrow’s entrepreneurs and innovators. For every innovation within our agri-food businesses, there needs to be a workforce ready and skilled for the new way of working. Closing the current agri-food domestic labour market gap requires investments in workforce attraction, retention and training, and strategic labour market programs to achieve our productivity potential. In 2017, Dominic Barton pointed to agriculture and food as one of the sectors with top growth potential for Canada. In the seven years since, our government has not significantly moved the needle to realize that vision. As we look at the challenges ahead, we need to take urgent action that will benefit our environment, our economy and our society. This is our moonshot opportunity—will we let it pass us by? Rene Van Acker is a professor and interim vice-president (research) at the University of Guelph; Amy Proulx is a professor and academic program co-ordinator of the culinary innovation and food technology program at Niagara College; Martin Scanlon is a professor and dean of the faculty of agricultural and food sciences at the University of Manitoba. The Hill Times