Agriculture needs a unified voice during COVID-19 more than ever
These are unprecedented times, with the uncertainty about how things will unfold adding to the worry that people are feeling about the future. But what is certain is that the agriculture industry must go on. Even in times of a pandemic, we need to grow food to feed people.
As spring approaches, and with much of the world having come to a halt, farmers will still go ahead and get seed into the ground. The current situation with the COVID-19 outbreak has made it clear that in times of crisis, people’s primary concerns are health and safety, and access to food. Fortunately, both healthcare professionals and farmers know that others are counting on them to go on during these difficult times.
This new set of challenges we face should be the impetus for agriculture to come together with a united voice. This is something our industry has struggled with, but if we are ever to cut through the din and capture the attention of both the public and the government, our industry cannot be delivering different messages and asking these important audiences to decipher what is truly important.
Yes, as an industry we are diverse, but we all represent agriculture. We need to focus more of our efforts on uniting behind our shared purpose and values. And the urgency to do this has never been greater. The groups out there who are fundamentally opposed to modern agriculture are united and loud – and their efforts are continuing during this time with little regard for the basic food security needs of the world.
The agriculture industry can largely unite behind a shared message on the need for an innovative, competitive and sustainable agriculture sector in this country. Let’s carry this message forward and make sure the voice of modern agriculture is heard.
We’ve seen the consequences of a fractured and silent agriculture industry in other parts of the world. We need only look at Europe where agriculture industry groups have remained largely silent in the face of activist pressures and poor government policies until the situation reaches a critical level, at which point it is often too late. One-day protests cannot take the place of sustained advocacy and communications efforts.
But the consequences of failing to come together as an industry and present a united and sustained voice can have some dire consequences. In a time when there is more pressure on farmers than ever to be more productive and sustainable, European farmers have been stripped of many of the very tools that would help them do just that.
They can’t grow genetically modified crops, the number of crop protection products that are available to them has dramatically decreased and it looks like they won’t be able to take advantage of gene editing technology in crops either. In France, consumers can barely afford to eat their own food.
And we have seen shades of what has happened in Europe happening here in Canada, particularly in Quebec. This fall the Quebec Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries, Energy and Natural Resources heard four days of testimony in its commission on pesticides. The testimony was laden with misinformation about the safety and benefits pesticides.
And where was the choir of industry voices speaking out to correct and defend tools that have been approved by our world-class federal regulator and that have delivered some incredible productivity and sustainability benefits to farmers? Well, it was largely silent. I hope that Quebec agriculture doesn’t suffer the same fate as Europe.
Activist groups who oppose modern agriculture aren’t particularly large in number but they have excelled at uniting behind a common voice and a common opposition to modern agriculture. This is where we as the agriculture industry need to do better.
We know from the most recent Canadian Centre for Food Integrity public trust research report that 91 percent of Canadians know little or nothing about modern farming but 60 percent want to know more. This is an incredible opportunity for our industry to share its story. Let’s not waste it.
At CropLife Canada we wanted to give Canadians who may never have the opportunity to visit a farm the chance to peek inside the daily lives of farmers across the country and get a better understanding of how their food is produced. That’s why we created the documentary web series called Real Farm Lives. There are others out there doing some great work telling the story of modern agriculture, too, and we need to continue to build on this momentum.
We have also seen the federal government sporadically speak publicly about the work they do to help ensure our food supply is one of the best and safest in the world. For example, last year Health Canada boldly communicated about the science and safety around glyphosate. And we saw this shift the narrative around glyphosate to something that was more grounded in the science rather than hysteria.
This must become the norm and not an exception to the rule. Regulators should be empowered to speak up about the work they do to ensure the safety of agricultural tools in the face of deliberate misinformation campaigns against them.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) recently launched its Chronicle 360 initiative to give Canadians an inside look at the scientists behind our food safety system in Canada. And we commend them for reaching out to Canadians in this way.
And when it comes to how we as an industry talk to government, let’s leverage the opportunities before us. Agriculture’s potential for Canada has been highlighted by both the Advisory Council on Economic Growth and the Economic Strategy Tables. We need to present a vision to the government that offers a roadmap for how to enable all this potential.
As Canada grapples with how to combat climate change, we in agriculture know that we can play a pivotal role and should be an integral part of the conversation. Almost every facet of the industry has made incredible advances when it comes to sustainability and through continuous innovation, we will continue to improve and meet the food, feed and fibre demands of the world while reducing our environmental footprint.
The agriculture industry has a story to tell that both consumers and the government want and need to hear. We have one of the safest and most sustainable food supplies in the world here in Canada thanks to modern agricultural practices. And we are poised as an industry to drive greater economic growth in this country and a be a solution provider in the face of challenges like climate change. And I have no doubt our industry will rise to the challenge of feeding Canadians and the world during this time of crisis. Let’s make sure our story is heard.
Pierre Petelle,
President and CEO, CropLife Canada