Canada is often touted as being the world's most
multicultural country (Brennan, 2008). Further still, Canada's largest city,
Toronto, is touted as the most multicultural metropolis (He et al., 2013). With
most Torontonians having been born outside of the country, Toronto may be
expected to champion its own culturally diverse food systems, yet against this
depiction, Toronto, as with Canada, exhibits food assimilation (Alem et al., 2010).
Although commonly associated with the west, the industrial diet has spread globally
at the expense of the environment and people’s wellbeing (Aaron, 2014). In
Canada, this phenomenon can be seen in the changing dietary habits of many
newcomers (Bourdeau, 2010). Culture may be a cause but culture can also be a
product. Whether it be out of convenience or affordability, people in an
industrialized food environment tend to gravitate towards particular habits
(Aaron, 2014).
Although the demand is ripe for a greater choice that
better caters to the preferences and ethnocultural diversity of buyers, Canada
remains food insecure despite already producing more than enough food. In British
Columbia, its government emphasizes locally sourced food yet its legislation maintains
export-based agriculture. Instead of cherishing locally grown diversity, access
to fresh food options has been impeded by costs, availability, and a
restrictive selection (Wittman, 2011). Beyond the inconvenience of lacking choice,
there are economic and health issues resulting from this industrial complacency (Filson and Adekunle, 2017).
Inadequate access to ethnocultural food can lead individuals, especially lower-income
individuals, to seek unhealthier alternatives like processed products and less
fresh produce (Bourdeau, 2010). For farmers and the food network abroad, this
unmet demand has been a lost opportunity (Wittman, 2011). Adding to this
difficulty is that there are often physical and language based barriers
preventing immigrants from sharing their knowledge and experiences with others
(Bourdeau, 2010; Filson and Adekunle, 2017). Although these problems are particularly problematic for the
cultural diversity of markets, it also afflicts individuals that simply want a
greater choice when buying groceries, eating out, or whatever the occasion may
be (Wittman, 2011).
It is understandable that farmers may have concerns about
taking on an unfamiliar crop. While some ethnocultural crops can be grown quite
easily in North America, others cannot be viably grown in what is ultimately a
foreign environment. Despite Canadian agriculture reaching gains topping any
other industry in Canada, farmers have had their revenues squeezed by retailers
and suppliers (Wittman, 2011). In addition to competing within the agricultural
industry, farmers are now having to compete with developers and aggregate
extractors for the same prime agricultural lands (Epp, Drake, & Caldwell,
2017). Farmers have also been given additional operating costs to meet
ever-expanding environmental regulations while their incomes have stagnated (OMAFRA,
2016; Statistics Canada, 2014). If the supply is to diversify, it is imperative
that these concerns be met through various support mechanisms. By anticipating
potential competition between food producers in advance, farmers can make more
informed choices while better serving consumers with fresher and more
accessible food. The improvement of transportation between supply and demand
can alleviate both ends of the food network by further increasing efficiency
through a smarter distribution of food availability (Specht et al, 2014). Naturally,
some of the demand may be too challenging to satisfyingly meet but in other
circumstances, there are opportunities to benefit from. Although more work still
needs to be done, there is already a large body of research and instances of
people that have taken on such endeavours (Wittman, 2011, Filson and Adekunle, 2017).
When disseminating information to interested parties,
it is important to properly communicate considerations regarding how
susceptible a crop may be to microclimatic conditions, soil types, pests,
diseases, perishability, and other factors. As demand is everchanging and
agricultural output varies seasonally and regionally, proper dissemination involves
assessing the costs-to-demands over different timescales. One of the biggest
challenges in judging demand is the reluctance among consumers to express their
desire for ethnocultural food. Many individuals can take it for granted that their
preferences are not to be met on the perceived basis of such preferences being
economically unfeasible or culturally incompatible (Wittman, 2011). If we are
to evaluate unmet demand, this means reaching out to people through social
media and cognizant policy initiatives. Whether consultation is top-down,
bottom-up, centralized or decentralized affects the outcomes as well (Obregón
& Waisbord, 2010). Organizational capacity, like farmers' groups, can be
empowered by democratic means so that members feel more compelled to their
organization’s efforts (Wittman, 2011). Furthermore, not all of the demand
requires stocking retail shelves. Individual and community gardens play an
important role in ensuring fresher and more nutritionally fulfilling diets. By
empowering people to take advantage of co-operatively managed gardens, this can
be especially valuable for urban areas that lack access to affordable fresh
produce and individual garden space, yet still have an ample community of willing
people (Walter, 2013, Adekunle, Cidro, Filson, 2015).
During my personal struggle of weight gain while
growing up, others had simultaneously developed diabetes (Amed et al., 2010).
Given how fundamental food is to society, the knock-on effects of healthier
foods need to be better highlighted when bringing about change. Although I
overcame much of my challenges in part by avoiding the industrial diet, a
school mandated food component could have more proactively assisted me and
other Canadians, as it does already in various countries (Holdsworth et al.,
2012). Rather than an explicit endeavour, food sovereignty represents
principles that can take on new meaning as knowledge is better understood and technology
advances. By having the Supreme Court of Canada recognize that the Delgamuukw
people’s hunting rights extend to modern technology, their food sovereignty was
not restricted in time to the technology of signing (Wittman,
2011). As overcoming distance becomes less of a problem in the wake of new
technological advances, other considerations could become more prominent for
achieving food sovereignty (Specht et al, 2014). Whether it be animal
wellbeing, Canadian farmers, migrant workers, or the distribution of
agricultural wealth, the lack of food sovereignty afflicts everyone (Wittman,
2011). Furthermore, the reality of overpopulation and ecological changes has
since made many of the historically sustainable food systems either no longer
possible or grossly unsustainable (Reijnders & Soret, 2003). Ensuring food
sovereignty means rethinking the supply chain so that food is treated more as a
conscious democratic necessity. If food sovereignty is depleted, the ability of
Canadian governments to enact change will also be less viable (Wittman, 2011).
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