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opinion editorial
OPINION: If B.C. wants to understand the consequences of neglecting and deprioritizing food manufacturing, it need only look at the Atlantic region.
Published date May 16, 2024 • Last updated 5 minutes ago • Reading time 3 minutes
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People shop at a grocery store in Toronto on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. Experts say instead of trying to lure foreign grocers to Canada, Ottawa should look at ways to support small regional grocery companies to increase competition. Photo by Cole Burston/The Canadian Press
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British Columbia's food manufacturing sector is facing significant challenges. This trend is not unique to British Columbia; Atlantic Canada is also suffering from similar problems. But the challenges for Br.C. In contrast to the Atlantic region, where geographic and demographic factors contribute to the challenges faced by food manufacturers, these regions are primarily driven by policy.
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Food manufacturing is critical as a strategic anchor in the food supply chain, essential for creating wealth and value and driving innovation. A strong food processing sector not only supports farmers, but also protects the entire food industry from the effects of macroeconomic variables such as currency fluctuations. Furthermore, the challenges posed by climate change are only exacerbating the difficulties, making it even more important for local economies to have strong processing capacity to mitigate these impacts. Inadequate processing facilities can increase the volatility and uncertainty of consumer prices.
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Agricultural land value serves as an important indicator of the health of the food manufacturing sector. According to the 2023 Farm Credit Canada report, the value of Canadian farmland increased by an average of 11.5%. By comparison, most Atlantic provinces are consistently below the national average, with New Brunswick at 5.6%, Newfoundland and Labrador at 7.4%, and Nova Scotia at 7.8%. This trend reflects a decades-long focus on supporting farmers without sufficient emphasis on food production. As a result, the Atlantic region lost much of its vegetation, leaving Quebec and Ontario to supply most of the domestic food consumed in the region. Even for supply-controlled products such as dairy products, most of the milk and butterfat is transported outside the region for processing and returned for consumption a few days later, leading to higher retail prices. It is no coincidence that the Atlantic region currently has the highest food insecurity rates in the country.
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However, the challenges there are primarily due to its remoteness and weak economic rationale for processing in areas with populations of less than 3 million people.
Conversely, the situation in BC is different. According to the same Farm Credit Canada report, the only province where farmland values fell by 3.1% was British Columbia. This economic downturn points to fundamental problems in the food manufacturing sector, which relies on industrial land and typically provides market access opportunities for agriculture.
A recent report commissioned by the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade and NAIOP Vancouver found that these industrial sites, which account for just 4 per cent of the total land area, support more than 450,000 jobs and contribute $50.1 billion to the region's GDP. He emphasized that the total output was $50.1 billion. 92.5 billion dollars. This indicates that the value-added sector is making a significant economic contribution.
Unlike the Atlantic region, British Columbia has many competitive advantages, including a younger, larger population, better infrastructure, more capital, a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem, and proximity to major urban markets. there is.
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But what B.C. now critically needs is expanded access to industrial land. Without suitable industrial space, investments will be diverted elsewhere. A lack of industrial land is stifling growth and innovation, prompting companies to move from Greater Vancouver to neighboring regions such as Calgary, Edmonton and Washington State, bringing back new jobs and investment. For example, Sunrise Foods, a poultry factory, recently relocated to Alberta to serve the BC market because it was unable to find industrial land in BC. This may have contributed to the rise in chicken prices in the state. Consumers in British Columbia are paying 40 per cent more for chicken than the national average, even though poultry supply management in Canada should keep prices stable.
British Columbia is at risk of following the same path as the Atlantic region, failing to prioritize food production due to outdated land management principles. Processing is and will continue to be a neglected element of the food supply chain. Once it disappears, it is difficult to bring it back.
B.C. will become increasingly food insecure as food processing declines in the region, but this is due to policies that emphasize pastoral and pastoral views of agriculture rather than the realistic needs of modern food supply chains. It is a direct result of the decision. This myopic thinking could pose significant economic and social challenges for the state. Now more than ever, the state needs industrial land to support food manufacturing.
Sylvain Charlebois is Senior Director of the Institute for Agricultural and Food Analysis and Professor of Food Distribution and Policy at Dalhousie University.
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