Canada's Food Security During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Canada's Food Security During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Kerri L. Holland

The COVID-19 pandemic has drawn public attention to Canada’s food security. Access toa safe, stable and high-quality food supply is often taken for granted by many citizens, butproviding it is one of the key roles that our agricultural industry serves and underlines whyit is designated an essential service.Despite the federal government’s assurance that our nation’s food supply remains stable,concerns have been mounting from both consumers and the agricultural industry thatdisruptions in the food supply chain will cause food insecurity and severe economic distress.As a whole, Canada’s agri-food industry is well-positioned to adapt to the present crisis andcontinue supplying domestic and export markets. However, this does not mean that our foodsystem is impermeable to disruption. In fact, challenges caused by COVID-19 have highlightedvulnerabilities in the food supply chain. Labour shortages, major shifts in consumer demand,and the slowdowns/closures at processing plants have already exacerbated food insecurityamong Canadians and increased financial pressure on primary producers.As the foundation of the food supply chain, Canadian farmers are key to its stability. As manyfarms were experiencing severe economic hardship prior to the pandemic, the challenges ofmarket uncertainty and increased production costs put these operations at greater financialrisk. Policy action will be key to ensure the short and long-term viability of our primaryindustry and maintain the capacity to meet domestic and export market demands.Canada is still in the early stages of crisis management but government support of Canadianagriculture has so far been largely inadequate in alleviating the financial impact on farmers.The Canadian government should take additional steps to alleviate the financial burden onprimary producers, ensure export markets remain open and free from trade barriers, andcommit to establishing a long-term agri-food strategy and action plan

2020

food security, agriculture, COVID-19

DOI:

The School of Public Policy Publications

University of Calgary

Political institutions and public administration (General)