Food Policy for Canada: Everyone at the Table.

Food Policy for Canada (2019) is developed to guide food-related decisions and actions. It is an approach to understanding and addressing the linkages within food systems (social, health, environmental, and economic components of food systems) and a plan for making decisions about food. The vision is: All people in Canada are able to access a sufficient amount of safe, nutritious, and culturally diverse food. Canada’s food system is resilient and innovative, sustains our environment and supports our economy. The Food Policy is organised in four priority action areas to advance progress towards the six priority outcomes. The Six long-term interconnected and mutually-reinforcing outcomes are: 1) Vibrant communities: Improved community capacity and resilience to food-related challenges; 2) Increased connections within food systems: Increased governance spaces and partnerships that connect multiple sectors and actors across the food system; 3) Improved food-related health outcomes: Improved health status of Canadians related to food consumption and reduced burden of diet- related disease, particularly among groups at higher risk of food insecurity; 4) Strong Indigenous food systems: To be co-developed in partnership with Indigenous communities and organizations; 5) Sustainable food practices: Improvements in the state of the Canadian environment through the use of practices along the food value chain that reduce environmental impact and that improve the climate resilience of the Canadian food system; 5) Inclusive economic growth: Improved access to opportunities in the agriculture and food sector for all Canadians within a diversified, economically viable, and sustainable food system.
The four key areas that require action in the short and medium term (2019-2024) to support long-term outcomes are: 1) Help Canadian Communities Access Healthy Food; 2) Make Canadian Food the Top Choice at Home and Abroad; 3) Support Food Security in Northern and Indigenous Communities; 4)reduce food waste. While initial actions reflect the most pressing needs and priorities, future actions taken by the Government of Canada will consider emerging needs over time.
The policy addresses the improvement of food security and nutrition among its priority outcomes. Priority N.3 “Improved food-related health outcomes” recognises that the food that Canadians eat is a key determinant of their health and wellbeing and everyone involved in the food system should contribute to make it easier for people living in Canada to have sufficient access to safe and nutritious food, maintain a healthy diet that is culturally diverse, and reduce the burden of diet-related disease.
The document addresses the issue of making the food production more sustainable in an integrated and balanced way across the food value chain that reduce environmental impact and that at the same time improve the climate resilience of the Canadian food system. It is essential to maintain the health of our natural resources so that we can continue to provide food for future generations. Greater efforts to develop and maintain sustainable food practices will help make better use of natural resources, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and create efficiencies and financial savings across the food system. (Outcome N. 5).
Inclusive food systems are also strongly promoted by the Policy through two different priority outcomes. Outcome No. 4 promotes strong Indigenous participation in the co-development of food systems. Outcome No. 6 “Inclusive economic growth” considers improved access to opportunities in the agriculture and food sector for all Canadians within a diversified, economically viable, and sustainable food system offers a tremendous potential for economic growth.