Mary A. Beckie, PhD School of Public Health University of Alberta [email protected]

Presentation for the Alberta Institute of Agrologists outline 1. Introduction and backdrop . The industrialized, globalized agri-food system 2. Alternative trends in food and farming . Organic agri-food industry . Local food sector . Young Agrarians, small-scale, diversified ecological farming . The global agri-food movement: La Via Campesina and Food Sovereignty 3. Concluding comments Early Prairie Agriculture The Industrialized and Globalized Agri-food System Environmental Impacts GHG emissions; loss of biodiversity; contamination

(IPCC 2019; IPBES 2019; Rockstrom and Karlberg 2010) Socio-economic impacts on Canadian farmers: cost-price squeeze, debt, off-farm income, economies of scale

(Qualman, Akram-Lodhi, Desmarais, & Srinivasan, 2018) Socio-economic impacts on Canadian farmers: declining numbers, increasing age, generational transfer crisis

Loss of family farms Average age of farm (between 1986 and 30% operators in 2016 55 2016) (55.7 in AB)

Farmers without a % of farmers aged 35 written succession years or under 9.1 % plan in place 92%

(Beaulieu, 2014; Qualman, Akram-Lodhi, Desmarais, & Srinivasan, 2018; Statistics Canada 2016). Food and Health Impacts: “Stuffed and Starved” (Patel 2012)

• Consumption of highly processed food – sodium, sugar, trans fats • Overweight and obesity • Micronutrient deficiencies • 900 million (29%) undernourished globally • 1/9 households globally food insecure • 1/10 in Alberta; 6/10 on-reserve Indigenous communities

(Afshin et al., 2017; AHS 2017) Impacts of the dominant agri-food system are influencing changes:

• Increasing consumer demand for organic and local food

• Adoption of ecological farming practices Organic farming

• Prohibits the use of synthetically manufactured fertilizers, pesticides and desiccants, GMOs, nanotechnology, irradiation, and sewage sludge.

• Goal is to create an integrated farming system that maximizes reliance on farm- derived renewable resources, and sustainably manages on-farm bio-physical interactions.

• Legislated standards (EU 1993; USA 2000; Canada 2009; Alberta 2019) and 3rd party certification procedures.

• Period of establishment: 1920s – 1960s (Europe N Amer)

• Period of experimentation in Canadian Prairie: 1970s – 1990s

(Beckie, 2000; Lampkin 1990; OA & COTA n.d.) Organic Food and Farming in Canada and Alberta

Consumption (demand)

• $4.4 billion (2017) from $2.8 b (2012) in Canada • Fastest growing food/beverage sector • Canada is the 5th largest organic consumer globally

• 58% of Canadians purchase organic food each week • 83% millennials, 78% university grads • 74% Albertans – mostly imported fruits and vegetables at mainstream retail outlets

• Why? healthier, more nutritious choice; ecological sustainability; not genetically engineered (COTA 2017) Organic production (supply)

Canada • 5791 organic farms (2.99% total) (Statista 2020)

Alberta • 663 farms (double 2014); 41% in Mackenzie County • 1.6 % of farms in Alberta • Mostly exported cereal grains, forages and pulses (OA 2019)

(OA 2019) Factors limiting growth of organic farming

• Certification is costly and time consuming, particularly for small-scale, diversified (multi-product) farms • Must be renewed annually • Organic farming is more complicated and labour intensive than conventional • 3 year transition period • Until recently, limited government and institutional support (Beckie, 2000; Gertler, Jaffe & Beckie, 2018) The local food movement: re-embedding food in place

Benefits/Drivers

• Social: reconnecting consumers and producers; individual and community capacity building

• Health: food quality; food safety; food security

• Economic: income & employment; business development; multiplier effect.

• Environment: decreased food miles; ecological farming practices; reduced reliance on external inputs; reduced GHG emissions; agri-food system resilience. Challenges to local food in Alberta

• Limited supply and range of fruit and veg production given the short growing season • Limited access and convenience • Higher prices • Gaps along the supply chain – from production through to distribution

• Lack of a coordinated approach to short supply chain development

• Lack of supportive and enabling government policies and programs Alberta’s “Turn to Local”

“Food produced, processed & marketed in Alberta” (AAF, n.d.) • $1.624 billion (2017): FMs, farm retail, restaurants; quadruple 2004 value • Missing data: small - large retail, CSAs • Reasons (>): food safety, support family farms, freshness, quality, taste • Only 5.1% of farms selling direct – 2nd lowest in Canada (12.7% national average) • Mostly small-scale, diversified farms, with sales less than $50,000/yr (AAF 2017) • NDP GoA support: Local Food Sector Act (2018); Local Food Week (August); Local Food Council (2018/2019) Emergence of a new wave of farmers in Canada

• 35 yrs of age and under: 3% increase while total number of farmers decreased by 5.9% (Stats Can, 2016). • (Not captured in census – farm apprentices, interns, urban farmers, farms earning $10,000 or less) New and Aspiring Farmers in Canada • no farming background (70%) • urban-raised (80%) and living urban (16%) • comparatively high levels of education • high proportion female (58%) • small-scale, ecological farming methods (90%) • focus on direct marketing: FMs, CSAs, farm retail, restaurants, small retail • challenges: access to land, capital, infrastructure, knowledge & skill development

(Knibb et al., 2012; Laforge, Fenton, Lavalée-Picard, & McLachlan, 2018; Monllor, 2012) Access to information and training for new, ecological farmers

• Limited opportunities through government extension and agricultural post-secondary institutions in Canada

• Studies indicate the importance of experiential and peer-to-peer learning, particularly for new, ecologically oriented farmers

• Need for context specific knowledge creation and sharing

• Rise in the number of non-profit, farmer-run organizations addressing this need; part of an international trend

(Chambers, Pacey, & Thrupp, 1989; Curry & Kirwan, 2014; Dolinska & d’Aquino, 2016; Klerkx & Leeuwis, 2009; Ngo & Brklacich, 2014; Schreiner et al., 2018; Solano et al., 2003) • farmer-to-farmer network established in BC 2012; in Alberta 2015; 2020 expanded into SK and Manitoba • filling a gap by addressing the learning and social networking needs of new, ecological farmers • run a number of learning and networking activities year round, provide online resources (over 30,000 followers, producers and supporters) • 260 events; 11,000 participants ‘Peer learning, networking, breaking down barriers, creating community’ The Homestead – Peace YYC Coop - Calgary Prairie Farm Project – East Central

Contributing to a new agrarianism in Alberta Part of a global movement

Grand Trunk - Calgary

Coen Farm - Central Micro YYC YEG VEG Reclaim - Central Ecological farming methods

Agroecology: Uses traditional farming practices and ecological theory to design, manage, study and evaluate agricultural systems that are productive and resource conserving. Focus on small-scale farms that are diverse, integrated, utilize low levels of external inputs, rely on on-farm resources (Altieri, 1995; Gliessman, 2006).

Permaculture: Based on a set of design principles centered on whole systems thinking, simulating or directly utilizing patterns and resilient features observed in natural eco-systems (Mollison, 1988). Merging of biophysical and social dimensions and goals. Can be applied to any system, e.g., agriculture, watersheds, housing, community. Ecological farming practices Holistic Management: Set of decision-making and planning tools, first developed by Alan Savory (1984), comprises the HM ‘holistic decision-making framework’. HM courses – train how to analyze farming/ranching operations, create ‘holistic’ goals, and test decisions against goals to determine the best path forward Initial focus on intensive, rotational grazing of livestock, now has expanded to other agricultural production systems.

Regenerative Agriculture: Incorporates permaculture and organic farming practices. Focus on rebuilding soil organic matter and soil biodiversity . Methods include: zero and minimum tillage; cover crops; crop rotations; compost; animal manures; intercropping; multispecies cover crops; borders planted for bee habitat and other beneficial insects

SPIN Farming: SPIN Farming Small Plot Intensive Farming – using organic methods to produce high turnover, high value crops. Typically urban agriculture plots – e.g., backyard, municipal vacant land. YYC Growers and Distributors Cooperative

https://vimeo.com/151466596 Coen Farm (Ferintosh, AB)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=383&v=TPxJtKob7Js&feature=emb_logo Coen’s diversified, small-scale farm La Via Campesina and Food Sovereignty Transforming the agri-food system through social and ecological justice

The right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems. It puts those who produce and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies, rather than at the demands of markets and corporations. It ensures the rights to use and manage our lands, territories, waters, seeds, livestock and biodiversity." (Nyeleni Declaration, La Via Campesina 2007) Pillars of food sovereignty

– Food is a basic human right – Land and agrarian reform – Agroecology – Protecting natural resources – Restoring local food systems – Ending the globalization of hunger – Social peace – Democratic control – Upholding the rights of women – Increasing the participation of youth in agriculture (FAO, n.d.) Developing solutions through a systems-based approach • Agriculture and food are at the cross-roads of human, animal, economic and environmental health

• Interconnected yet we divide and silo components and disciplines

• Rather than working in silos, trying to solve one problem at a time, there is a need for more collaborative, interdisciplinary, systems-based approaches to creating more sustainable, just and resilient systems

• UN 2021 Food System Summit: “articulate and adopt an integrated plan for food system transformation”. Importance of strengthening local supply chains to increase resilience and food sovereignty conclusions

• Environmental, socio-economic and health concerns are influencing major changes in agriculture and food.

• The COVID pandemic, the climate crisis and the farm crisis are underlining the need for more resilient, sustainable and equitable agri-food systems.

“We are looking at a future wherein agriculture must increasingly re-merge with nature and culture to create a more integrated, life-sustaining agroecological model of human food provision, nutrition and health.” (NFU Canada 2019)

• The new generation of farmers, like Young Agrarians, who are committed to ecological farming and to growing localized food systems, need support through our purchasing power, and through the development of supportive policies and programs. References • AAF (2017). Local food demand in Alberta. https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/study-of-local-food-demand-in-alberta-consumer-study-report • Afshin et al. (2017). Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet, 393 (10184), 1958-1972. • Altieri, M. (1995). Agroecology: the science of sustainable agriculture. CRC Press, Boa Raton, Florida. • Beaulieu, M.S. (2014). Demographic changes in Canadian agriculture. Statistics Canada. • Beckie, M. (2000). Zero Tillage and Organic Farming in Saskatchewan. PhD thesis, University of Saskatchewan. • Beckie, M. & Bacon, E. (2019). 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