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Submission to the Government of Canada on the Subject of A Food Strategy for Canada
Publisher: National Farmers Union, Saskatoon, CanadaYear Published: 1978 Pages: 18pp Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX960 This submission proposes some radical changes in the marketing and pricing structure for Canadian agricultural products in response to the federal government's food strategy outlined in the white paper entitled "A Food Strategy for Canada." Abstract: This submission proposes some radical changes in the marketing and pricing structure for Canadian agricultural products in response to the federal government's food strategy outlined in the white paper entitled "A Food Strategy for Canada." It notes, by way of analysis, that farmers as a class, alone remain without the power of collective bargaining rights in Canada, and that the effective power in the marketplace is really concentrated in the corporate food sector whose main strategy has been to maximize their profits. It further submits that the farm sector is bearing the brunt of inefficiencies at the processing, distribution and retailing levels as well as pressure from foreign food imports as alternate sources of supply. In addition, the submission points up the need for more deliberate economic public planning, for freedom of information regarding the existing market system, and for greater challenging by the federal government of the power of the corporate sector over pricing of farm products. Further analysis equates the undermining of national production of beef, pork, poultry, eggs and vegetables with an agricultural policy of underdevelopment accompanied by growing regional disparities. By way of solution, the brief proposes, what the authors consider, the "necessary" structuring of both a Canadian Grain Board and a National Meat Authority with marketing jurisdiction over all grains and livestock produced in Canada for the purpose of providing order and relativity in the pricing of grains, livestock, poultry and related products. Complementary cost components to food strategy such as energy, transportation, land use and agricultural research are also analyzed as they relate to the proper formulation of a food strategy for Canada. Subject Headings |