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Current
State of Affairs
POSITIVE
-
Farms are safer now. Farmers can no longer buy chemical products
without proper education, course and certificate. Before a new
agricultural chemical can come onto market, it must be scientifically
proven to be both safe and effective in its intended use by
the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
-
It has been estimated that without the use of pesticides food
production would drop by 40%, resulting in both a dramatic increase
in food costs and the associated problems of starvation. Through
advancements in agriculture, the world is better fed today than
ever before in human history.
- Modern
farming practices have improved productivity and lowered the
real cost of food while generally improving the living and working
conditions of farmer.
- Biotechnology
has allowed a lot of crops to adapt to the growing conditions
of geographical areas that were formerly unsuitable.
NEGATIVE
-
Canada’s farm population continues to decline, dropping
from 851,410 people in 1996 to 727, 125 in 2001
-
Increased mechanization on the farm has decreased the number
of people required in farming and increased the skills and finances
needed to farm. As a result, the survival of the traditional
family farm may be threatened and along with it farming populations,
rural communities and services, and traditional rural social
values.
- The
price farmers receive has remained the same or declined over
time. Agriculture and food is now exposed to international market
and financial forces such as the World Trade Organization, International
Monetary Fund, bilateral trade agreements, business cycles,
etc.
- Some
say that because the long-term effects of biotechnology (ie.
Cloning, passing genes from one organism to another, reproductive
technology) are unknown, we should abandon this form of technology
completely.
INTERESTING
-
The amount of Canada's cultivated land expanded 392% during
the 20th century. By 2001, Canadians farmed 67.5 million hectares
of land. Though this area amounts to only 7% of Canada's land
mass, it is still three times the size of Great Britain.
-
Only a little over 3 percent of the earth’s surface is
suitable for food production.
- In
Canada, less than 3 percent of the population is directly involved
in food production.
-
Seventy five percent of the world’s poor live in rural
areas and most of them are farmers
-
In 2001, Ontario farmers spent 6.8 billion to produce food,
and received 7.7 B from the market place. Food and beverage
products generated 18.3 B in annual food store sales.
-
Statistics for the year 2002 indicate that of the 699,000 jobs
created by the agrifood industry, less than 10 percent are working
on the farm in primary agriculture production, the remaining
90 percent handle and process food.
Blasts
from the Past
- The
1996 Census of Agriculture reported the highest share of census-farm
operators over 60 years of age in Canadian history. The share
has been increasing since 1981
- From
1971 to 1996, as Canadian cities and towns expanded, some 12,250
square kilometers of land, half of which was potential agricultural
land, was given over to urban uses. Ontario alone lost 19% of
its prime agricultural land to urbanization over this period
- The
world's use of pesticides has gone from almost nothing in the
mid-1940's to about 2 million tonnes a year.
Future
World
We
cannot solve the problems we have created with the same thinking
that created them." -Albert Einstein
The 1996 Census of Agriculture reported the highest share of census-farm
operators over 60 years of age in Canadian history. The share
has been increasing since 1981. According to Bonnet from the Ontario
Federation of Agriculture, “Young farmers plan 15 to 20
years ahead and need to know there’s a long-term, healthy
economic future ahead for them in agriculture” . Mega-farms
make it financially impossible for young farmers to compete. Without
young farmers, what will happen to the future Canadian agriculture?
Question: What can be done to encourage
young people back to the farm?
Large scale agriculture and many of the practices it employs is
a major user of limited non-renewable resources as well as a major
source of pollution. They fault agriculture for contributing to
a loss of bio-diversity through habitat destruction, monoculture
and environmental contamination. For these reasons, among others,
critics oppose the use of pesticides, mineral fertilizers and
many forms of biotechnology. They call for a return to less intensive,
low input methods such as organic farming.
Question: Should consumers be prepared
to accept any higher costs and other trade-offs associated with
switching to alternative systems?
Many farmers are concerned that some critics of farming practices
do not appreciate the improvements which have been made or recognize
the practical limitations imposed by the need to balance animal
care with food safety, environmental and socio-economic considerations.
Farmers argue that while current systems are not perfect, they
provide many advantages for the animals and are better overall
than the current alternatives.
Question: What will the farms of
the future be like?
Subsidies, tariffs, international agreements, local land use policies,
domestic and foreign food policies, demographic trends, world
hunger and globalization are some of the political issues with
implications for the Canadian agri-food industry.
Question: What is the government’s
role in keeping Canadian farming viable in a global market?
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