Canada has 200 times the Netherlands' land and still can't match its vegetable output. The final piece in our food security series explains why land was never the problem, and what actually is.
Appreciate you keeping your readers updated on the/our progress on our nations tackling "food security". Concur with what you succinctly noted "Canada already has most of the pieces: the greenhouse capacity, the research institutions, a genuinely serious federal strategy, real vertical farming successes. What’s missing isn’t ambition. It’s the unglamorous connective tissue- storage, distribution, interprovincial trade, energy integration- that turns separate pieces into an actual system".
I enjoy your article and am fairly new here…so forgive me if this has been addressed in earlier articles. What also needs to be repeated at nauseum is that we export a lot of produce to the US in particular. What does this look like if we pull back some of that export and keep it at home…this goes for not just produce, but with all our food. I have to admit here that I don’t understand why we export food only to import it from another country…seem silly to me. But I want to see foods from my own country first, then import to fill the gaps. I see cauliflower from Quebec in my store in Alberta, raspberries from BC, apples from Ontario, greenhouse tomato, cucumbers and lettuce from around Calgary I think. I want more of that…much more of that. I have to be honest. I am pretty sure carrots, celery, onions and potatoes are grown in more places than the US during our off season. I want to support our own first and foremost and if that costs me a bit more to do that, I am fortunate enough to be able to do that…I understand that there are many that can’t say the same. There is a balance in there somewhere. We need to find it.
Thank you very much for your work.
Appreciate you keeping your readers updated on the/our progress on our nations tackling "food security". Concur with what you succinctly noted "Canada already has most of the pieces: the greenhouse capacity, the research institutions, a genuinely serious federal strategy, real vertical farming successes. What’s missing isn’t ambition. It’s the unglamorous connective tissue- storage, distribution, interprovincial trade, energy integration- that turns separate pieces into an actual system".
I enjoy your article and am fairly new here…so forgive me if this has been addressed in earlier articles. What also needs to be repeated at nauseum is that we export a lot of produce to the US in particular. What does this look like if we pull back some of that export and keep it at home…this goes for not just produce, but with all our food. I have to admit here that I don’t understand why we export food only to import it from another country…seem silly to me. But I want to see foods from my own country first, then import to fill the gaps. I see cauliflower from Quebec in my store in Alberta, raspberries from BC, apples from Ontario, greenhouse tomato, cucumbers and lettuce from around Calgary I think. I want more of that…much more of that. I have to be honest. I am pretty sure carrots, celery, onions and potatoes are grown in more places than the US during our off season. I want to support our own first and foremost and if that costs me a bit more to do that, I am fortunate enough to be able to do that…I understand that there are many that can’t say the same. There is a balance in there somewhere. We need to find it.
This is one great article. I'll have to hunt down parts one and two.