Food matters. The decisions we make as individuals and as a country about food have a direct impact on our health, environment, economy, and communities. Working together, we can put more affordable, safe, healthy, food on tables across the country, while protecting the environment.
The Government of Canada is asking Canadians for their views on what should be included in A Food Policy for Canada.
A Food Policy for Canada will set a long-term vision for the health, environmental, social, and economic goals related to food, while identifying actions we can take in the short-term. A food policy is a way to address issues related to the production, processing, distribution, and consumption of food.
As we develop A Food Policy for Canada, the Government of Canada is exploring how best to align and coordinate current and future federal initiatives strongly linked to agriculture and food.
There are many actors in Canada’s food system, including farmers, processors, retailers, consumers, academia, nongovernment organizations, and all orders of government.
Collaboration that draws from a variety of experiences and perspectives among Canadians and stakeholders will be critical to the success of developing and implementing A Food Policy for Canada.
Improving Canadians' access to affordable, nutritious, and safe food.
Not all Canadians have sufficient access to affordable, nutritious and safe food. We need to do more to improve the affordability and availability of food, particularly among more vulnerable groups, such as children, Canadians living in poverty, Indigenous peoples, and those in remote and Northern communities.
Increasing Canadians' ability to make healthy and safe food choices.
Canada's world class food safety system continues to provide its citizens with safe food to eat. Additional efforts to promote healthy living through nutritious and safe food choices, can improve the overall health of Canadians, while lowering health care costs.
Using environmentally sustainable practices to ensure Canadians have a long-term, reliable, and abundant supply of food.
The way our food is produced, processed, distributed, and consumed - including the losses and waste of food - can have environmental implications, such as greenhouse gas emissions, soil degradation, water quality and availability, and wildlife loss. While much is being done to conserve our natural resources, further opportunities exist to do more.
Ensuring Canadian farmers and food processors are able to adapt to changing conditions to provide more safe and healthy food to consumers in Canada and around the world.
Enabling farmers and food processors, large and small, across the country, to grow, will make more high-quality Canadian food available domestically and internationally. Budget 2017 investments clearly recognize the importance of the agriculture and food sector as a driver of economic growth.