We need to start playing the long game with food security
This pandemic is forcing us to go smaller, to be more self-reliant, to support our local agriculture
Do you know where your next meal is coming from? And the one after that? And after that?
The new normal of this pandemic is exposing the vulnerabilities in our food system. The short game is, “What’s for dinner?” The long game is food security; universal access to safe, reliable, affordable and nutritious food. And, I would add, a system that doesn’t destroy our environment.
Historically, civilizations died and wars were won and lost when food systems collapsed due to drought, disease and destruction of the precious thin layer of topsoil that all life depends on.
Look anywhere in the world now and you will see the same signs of a system heading for collapse. To the droughts and degradation of soil that continue to dog us, we’ve added a climate crisis, pesticide-resistant species of flora and fauna, runoff from synthetic fertilizers creating toxic algae blooms in our fresh waters, rainforests destroyed for grazing land, and decimated pollinator populations.
The pandemic response has closed borders, preventing or delaying the arrival of essential migrant farm workers. Restaurant and hospitality service closures have caused farmers to dump milk and crops, disrupted supply chains, and led to lost wages and jobs.
There is no human-created system so big that it cannot fail. If we want food security, we need to use this time during The Great Pause to make it so.
Although “we are all in this together,” this pandemic is forcing us to go smaller, to be more self-reliant, to support our local agriculture. It means we have to consider that food imported from the other side of the world is not sustainable. It’s painful to imagine not having the sunshine of mangoes in the dead of a Canadian winter, but it’s even more painful to know that our food conquests are killing us on a global level.
Can this be fixed without the prospect of eating only root vegetables and gruel during a Canadian winter?
Short term, our community abounds in stories of kindness and generosity to feed each other during this pandemic. Central Fresh Market, instead of pressing charges, sent a wouldbe food thief home with a bag of groceries saying, “We will feed you.” The University of Guelph’s Hospitality Service is preparing 500 meals each day to distribute to those in need. Darryl Fletcher — Chef “D” — is delivering “pay what you can” meals to your door in Waterloo Region. And we can’t forget the Food Bank of Waterloo Region or the Cambridge Self-Help Food Bank.
But we also have to think long term. The Food System Roundtable of Waterloo Region is a local nonprofit group with the difficult task of “championing a healthy, sustainable, and equitable food system in Waterloo Region.”
Jodi Koberinski, the organization’s chair, shared that the roundtable is working with others in the Food Communities Network across the country on both short- and long-term strategies, particularly now for our most vulnerable, and newly vulnerable people. The scale — and both political and community commitment needed now — is being compared to the Victory Gardens of the mid-1940s. Except now we have to include the daunting challenge of social distancing.
It will take all our ingenuity to reimagine what our staggeringly huge and complex global system should look like to produce, process, distribute, market and sell our food. The fewer steps between producer and consumer, the better.
The best news this week is the provincial government recognizing the critical importance of local food production. Allotment and community gardens will be allowed to open under the guidance of local public health authorities to ensure public safety. That must include The Working Centre’s La Hacienda Sarria Market Garden, community-shared-agriculture and Springbank Farm at rare Charitable Research Reserve.
If you’ve ever considered growing your own food, this could be the year. If not directly from seed, many local farms are having seedling sales. And here’s my challenge to Waterloo Region politicians: the City of Brampton is offering their residents free seeds and soil to grow their own and share in their Backyard Garden Program. What are we waiting for?
We all miss our farmers markets, but we can continue to support many of our favourite vendors listed on the local markets’ websites: kitchenermarket.ca; cambridgefarmersmarket.ca/en/market-vendormap.aspx#; and stjacobsmarket.com/vendors-directory.