Food production balances bottom line and social licence

FARMERS ARE PICKING UP steam in trying to tell the public some details about what they do.

Everyone knows they grow food – somehow. But new information shows people know little about farm production. And although they generally hold farmers in high regard, agriculture ranks poorly in people’s minds for its environmental savvy. Figures released earlier this week at the unveiling of the new Canadian Centre for Food Integrity shows only a fraction of Canadians they surveyed think farmers have their act together environmentally.

That’s fascinating. Over the years, society has implored farmers to be efficient and produce as much food as cheaply and safely as possible. That’s the mantra: Much, cheap, safe. Don’t pick two, farmers, pick all three.

Farmers responded. Feeding the world is not a hobby, it’s a business. During the past few weeks, there have been several opportunities to meet farmers, like the recent Wellington rural romp,

and now, the Guelph Wellington Local Food Map, a community guide to farms, markets, retailers, restaurants, breweries and other business that feature local food.

Local food is a mix of small business and big business. It’s seldom seen that way, in part, because people have a hard time wrapping their minds around the connection between local producers who grow thousands of acres, and those who are part-time farmers growing extended gardens and acreages.

It’s all part of local food. Smaller farmers keep us fed seasonally for the most part, from farmers’ markets, local food sections in stores, and from stands at the end of their lanes. Bigger farmers – livestock producers and grain farmers, for example – are local farmers too. They produce local food that you might not see branded as such. But it still comes from barns and fields you can virtually reach out and touch, especially on local food tours or on-farm breakfast such as those sponsored by Farm and Food Care.

How big is big? Well, the Grain Farmers of Ontario estimates that across the province, its 37,000 farmer members – barley, corn, oat, soybean, and wheat farmers – have invested $1.25 billion on inputs for this season’s grain crops. These include seeds and seed treatments, fertilizers, and pesticides. They’re trying to explain to the public the financial realities of commercial food production, and the risks.

“Every year farmers invest significant financial resources in their crops,” says Mark Brock, chair of the organization. “At this time of year, our expenses are high and turning a profit at harvest is never a guarantee. It’s not uncommon for a farmer to spend several hundred thousand dollars just to get their crops started.”

He’s talking about modern, commercial farmers who rely on research and technology. Despite their good intentions and actions to farm responsibly, they’re also the ones in the crosshairs of activists who lob accusations at them. For example, the whole question of pesticides and bees – a hotly debated topic – is mainly cited as the reason the public is now suspicious of farmers’ environmental intentions.

But farmers need pollinators such as bees as much or more so than the rest of us … so why would they actually try to wipe them out?

These are the kinds of issues the new Canadian Centre for Food Integrity will need to try addressing and help make people understand food production requires a social license and an agreement with consumers about what’s right and wrong … but that farmers also have to be mindful of the bottom line, the one that we make them answer for each and every day.