Ben Neudorf - So, What is food sustainability and food security?
Cory Neudorf - Well, food sustainability is really talking about wether the food production, the food distribution, transportation, etc., is set up in such a way that there isn't a dependence on food coming from long distances, not a dependence on things like subsidies and exotic food, but food sustainability in terms of - that we can be assured of a food system of local foods and local production in sufficient quantities to meet the needs of people in that area. Food security is tied into it somewhat, but it is more dealing with, also, issues of cultural acceptability and affordability of food. It gets into the health of the food product and whether there is an even distribution for all parts of the population. So the two are very much tied together, but there are some differences.
B - Why is food sustainability important to people's health? [hesitation]
C - So, obviously we need a sufficient quantity of high quality food in order to have optimal health. And what happens when people are living in food *insecurity or have an unsustainable food system is that we might end up supplementing our diet with food that isn't as healthy for you or is perhaps cheaper, in order to get enough calories to get by. And what we end up is perhaps an imbalance of the nutritional elements, or eating foods that aren't culturally acceptable and are not used to cooking them, or maybe have to travel long distances to get that food. And so you can end up, paradoxically, with increased obesity and diabetes, for example, because people aren't accessing the right quantities of nutritious food and relying more on empty calories. In addition to that, obviously, eating foods that are rich in nutrients, vitamins, essential minerals, are key to even preventing cancers. Issues like breast cancer, colon cancer, are tied into non-nutritious food. But also just in terms of strengthening the immune system and having healthy body weight, normal blood pressure. All of these things are tied into both balanced food and fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, and foods that are free of contaminants.
B - Can environmental and economic benefits of food sustainability co-exist with the health benefits, or are there connections between them?
C - Yeah, there are certainly a lot of connections, and in some cases they probably help or reinforce one another and in other cases they are at odds. So, for example we've had an an economic policy in Canada and the US for some time that there are subsidies for certain types of foods, which actually makes them artificially low in their price. So some of the more industrialized foods, for example, can have subsidies attached. And may be cheaper than the more locally grown, maybe more healthy food products. And so people are insentivized to buy the less healthy food from the healthy. So our food policies and legislation can sometimes be at odds with the health benefits. Also, we've found over the years that because of those, the price sensitivities, we've found that some of the larger food stores vacating out of neighborhoods that they find less profitable, not having as much of a profit margin, which has resulted, in cities across Canada, Saskatoon included, in food deserts coming up in the middle of the city. And these are areas we have defined where it is hard to find sustainable food and at an appropriate price. What's taken their place is convenience stores or stores that tend to sell a lot of processed foods, which are, again, more full of empty calories and not as healthy. So we've found that often these, there's quite a direct tie between economic policy and food security.
B - What is the Saskatoon Food Charter?
C - So, back in, oh, the late 90s, into the early 2000s, there was a lot of discussion between different groups of people that were involved with food production. Food backs, starting community gardens, people interested in food policy saying that we should collect, together, some of these value statements and directions for how to promote healthy food in this city into a document that could be adopted by city council to promote these values and hopefully influence some of the laws, bylaws, and practices of the city, to promote access to nutritious food in a safe and sustainable way. And so a collection of these statements was pulled together and collected and vetted by city council. And it includes statements that, for example, the promotion of making it easier to buy and promote local food production. So from local farmers, close to the city, but also people who might be growing in the city. It covers things like purchasing agreements for city-owned property and building and services, that they would be committing to buy foods from - healthy foods, nutritious foods, and buying more local. But also it pertains to zoning laws and whether or not we are set up in a way that promotes land being set aside for community gardens and farmers markets coming up, and any of these services that are promoting sustainable food, being able to overcome some of the barriers to existence. So it's a collection of some of those policies and value statements that have been adopted in Saskatoon and now in other cities as well. It's been followed up by some food charters that have been passed by other institutions, so our Health Region, for example, has adopted a food charter version as well, and they are encouraging other institutions, schools, school boards, etc., to follow suit.
B - Okay. So as of right now then, what is the food charter doing for food sustainability in Saskatoon?
C - Well it certainly helped. It drew attention, at the time, back in 2002, there was a lot of activity and some good statements made, a lot of advocacy started. There was a big push, for example, to try to get a inner-city grocery store started, and the city certainly helped out as one of the major parters in trying to get that going, ultimately resulting in the Good Food Junction getting started here in Saskatoon. The new Farmer's Market has been built since then, there has been quite a proliferation of community gardens that have been started, and some city laws around land to be set aside for that kind of use, and public land. On the public land, the provision of water so that people can be watering those gardens. There's been some move toward selling of more nutritious foods in the city vending machines in certain buildings. And, I guess from just a policy standpoint, there is just something to refer back to, if there is a proposal for a different type of zoning, or changes to the way land is allocated, there is something to go back to to say no, you know, this would go against the food charter we have adopted. So community groups can keep referring back to that for those reasons.
B - So, what needs to be done to continue to improve food sustainability in Saskatoon, moving forward from that?
C - Well, I think not enough people even know about the food charter, so I think we're not doing enough public education that it exists, so that city council can be held accountable, that also people can make use of the fact that it's there. So I do think, for example that promotion of buying local has not reached all of the institutions and restaurants, for example in Saskatoon. There are some really good examples of restaurants, and certainly grocery stores that have tried to incorporate a buy-local mentality, but I think a lot more promotion could be done, and that would in turn give the volume of support to local producers so they could in fact expand their production. Um, there hasn't been enough adoption of this purchasing, for example of buying local food and selling it in local cafeterias and vending machines in all of the city-run programs and services, let alone adopted by others. There are some good isolated examples, but a lot more of that could be done. Also, the provision of water to community gardens on other property other than city-owned. Right now, its really up to the group to find a water source if they don't have that right now. So I think the city could be more actively providing that if groups have the land and they are willing to use it. Um, I think as well, there are some barriers to existing legislation around food safety and food security kind of butt heads a little bit, because on the one hand you want to make sure the food that is sold is safe, that it doesn't have bacterial contamination, as well as pesticides, etc. So organic food, and being certified, is quite an onerous process. If that's too onerous, too expensive, it makes it harder for other places to meet that standard. So assistance with that would help. But on the other hand, you also need to make sure that the food isn't contaminated with bacteria. So the larger plants are able to meet the federal and provincial food safety standards, and therefore large institutions like hospitals or huge cafeterias are required to buy from these larger producers because they've been certified safe. Local producers don't have access to that same kind of inspection and certification and so often some of these larger places find it difficult to buy local for that reason. So I think more can be done to see what other types of certification process for food safety could be followed for local producers so they could open up to new markets and bigger markets locally. We also don't have a lot of access to storage for local food production in the off-season. So we're limited, obviously with our weather here, unless you're growing in green houses, to certain times of the year being able to have access to food storage and facilities to extend that season when we can use local products would be helpful as well. So there's actually a review that was done this last year by a researcher up at the university, Dr. Engler-Stringer, who looked at the food charter since 2002, what activities have happened and some recommendations being made for short to medium term improvements for both the city and some bigger institutions here. It's quite a good report. I think it's honestly showing that we've come a long way since 2002, but there's still a lot more we could be doing.
B - What are the major barriers to achieving some of those goals you just mentioned?
C - Well I think it certainly... I would say barrier number one is public attitudes. There still is this attitude that whatever food is cheapest, that must what I have to buy, or what I should be buying. People don't really even understand the true cost of food because so much of our commercial food, like I said, is subsidized. So changing people's attitude that there is value for paying more as well. You're getting a better food product and it is in fact worth it, and in fact you should be trying to buy more organic and local food, and it does have better nutritional value, but even just to support local producers. So i think there is a lot of public education that is needed to get the critical mass that makes it more economically viable for these local producers to really thrive and succeed. And, similarly, if there is more public demand, then it makes it easier for some of these bylaws or legislative changes that are needed to support food sustainability and food security. Politicians listen when the public is asking for it, so the more the public are demanding, the more likely it is that we are going to see those changes.
B - Alright, thank you.
C - Thank you.