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FANS - Friends of Agriculture in Nova Scotia SECURING FOOD FOR OUR HEALTHY FUTURE
Vision: Healthy fields, farms, and food for the people and communities of Nova Scotia now and in the future. "Ask your friends to ask their friends to look for local" FANS: Our mission is to educate ourselves and others with regard to local and global issues, to craft policies that will help provide solutions, and to advocate for food security and sovereignty within a "big picture" interconnected framework. Local and global issues: the global economic and financial crisis, global and regional trade policies that have negative impacts on local agriculture, the impacts of global climate change and global warming on our capacity to produce food and thus on the need for shifts to Agricultural polices that are ecologically sustainable, the impacts of 'the end of cheap oil' on food security and agricultural policy especially the implications for fossil fuel derived inputs like gasoline for farm vehicles and fertilizers, and the impact of water scarcity linked to climate change and contamination. Nova Scotia has a long and proud history of food. From early indigenous people to far-sailing traders to innovative farmers of the current day, land and sea have provided ample food and wealth. But now local and global events are putting at risk the security and sustainability of food here, as elsewhere. It is becoming increasingly important that we insure that we have food for the future. Growing more of our own food in Nova Scotia will be good for people, the environment, and the economy. HERE'S A PLACE TO START: THE SELECT NOVA SCOTIA WEBSITE http://www.selectnovascotia.ca/ Eating only products grown in Atlantic Canada puts foodie to the test I’ve been driving the staff at my local grocery stores nuts with questions about where their food is grown. I feel it’s my civic duty. So, in training for this eat-local extravaganza, I’ve been trying even more than I usually do to make sure everything I put into my shopping cart has Nova Scotia roots. We live in an agricultural province, so you would think that meeting this challenge would be a piece of homemade cake, right? Think again. Let me take you through a recent trial run: Breakfast started off quite well. We had omelettes whipped up with eggs from Amherst, rosy-ripe tomatoes from the Valley and havarti from Port Williams. With a little fruit salad on the side made from local peaches, plums and blueberries, and a slice of toast slathered with Tatamagouche butter and homemade strawberry jam made by my hubby’s dear sister, we were feeling quite virtuous indeed. Even our coffee, although the beans weren’t grown here, we declared "local enough" as the fair trade beans had been roasted in Wolfville. For lunch, our treat of fish and chips at a restaurant was a semi-success. The haddock was caught off the South Shore but the fries were hand-cut from P.E.I. potatoes. Hmm. If two provinces are connected by a ferry, that counts, right? But what about the oil everything was fried in? Whoops. It definitely wasn’t local. Neither was the lemon wedge I squeezed over the top without thinking. We did wet our whistles with a nice draft beer made in Halifax, so maybe we get loco-credits for that. For dinner, it was a nice, sunny day and we had barbecuing on the brain, specifically a couple of nice juicy steaks of Nova Scotia beef. But shopping for said beef at the two big grocery stores in our community was an adventure in frustration. Maybe you knew this, but I had no idea that none of the beef sold at Sobeys comes from Nova Scotia. None. Zip. Nada. Down the road at the Superstore, the man at the meat counter told me they sometimes have Nova Scotia beef, but not today. Did he know when any might be coming in again? No. There is local beef available at the Co-Op, but that’s quite a drive for us and it was getting close to suppertime. On to Plan B. Let’s try asking for pork chops. Again, I’m told that some of the pork sold at each of the big grocers comes from Nova Scotia farms, but not on this day. What about chicken? Well, some of it is local and some of it isn’t, I was told by the butchers at both stores. No one could tell me which of the packages of cut-up chicken were Nova Scotian and which had been flown in from farther afield. Just when I was about ready to give up, I was assured that the whole chickens were definitely all local. And at the Superstore, some of the whole birds are even free-range, which means they weren’t raised in little cages but got to run around in the yard a bit before becoming tonight’s supper. Sold. Whole chicken it is. I don’t mind cutting up chicken, plus it was a few cents cheaper per kilogram than the already cut-up stuff in the Styrofoam trays. Home we went to get cooking with our local chicken and a few Valley-grown ears of corn, tomatoes and zucchini, which were quite easy to find. Dinner was delicious, and we felt quite proud that almost everything on the table was produced within driving distance of our home and that we had dropped a few dollars into some local farmers’ pockets and our own economy to boot. But it should have been easier — way easier — given the number of farms we’re lucky enough to have in this beautiful province of ours. The lesson? Buy local, not just this Friday, but as often as you can. Put some pressure on your grocery stores to stock foods from local farms. Be a polite pain in the butt if you have to. Ask questions when you shop, phone or write your grocer’s head office, pester your politicians. Supper will taste so much better if you do.
A wonderful multi-course dinner celebrating local food and beverages was held last Wednesday, April 29, at the Old Orchard Inn, Greenwich. Fifteen local Chefs prepared locally-sourced food paired with local beverages for over 300 people. Farmers and producers attended and many conversations about farming and local food took place. People gained greater awareness of the wide range in April of food harvested last year and of new spring crops that are already available. Many guests discovered Chefs and Restaurants and recipes and wines that were new to them, and everyone was effusive in their praise for our local treasures. The Minister of Agriculture, Mark Parent, and the Minister of the Environment, David Morse, both spoke about the incredible variety of food available in this Province, and the contributions of agriculture to all aspects of our lives. Minister Parent noted that the Province has now established an Agricultural Land Review Committee to provide advice on what processes should be put in place to preserve agricultural land and to protect the interests of all Nova Scotians. Concern for present and future food security is causing more people to support local production and to buy local food. Consumers are beginning to take back responsibility for food – choosing healthy, safe, and sustainable over other alternatives. The President of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture, Richard Melvin, told the guests that the NSFA and Friends of Agriculture share a vision of healthy fields, farms, and food for the people and the communities of Nova Scotia now and in the future. He said that it has become crucial to bring together representatives of all stakeholder groups to develop a food policy for the Province. Recent GPI Atlantic publications and Department of Agriculture statistics underline the risk to food security posed by low farm incomes and increasing costs of production. The growing public support for local food is helping to improve farmers’ incomes. Events such as April Flavours and the Incredible Picnic help by bringing people together to foster community awareness of shared interests and concerns. With the assistance of Town Crier Lloyd Smith, April Flavours hosted the launch of Applelicious and the Spirit of Nova Scotia Local Food Awards. Applelicious, an Apple Blossom Festival event, celebrates apples from a food, fun and industry perspective from May 2 to June 14. David Cudmore, CEO of Scotian Gold, suggested that people look for restaurants featuring Applelicious menu items, community Applelicious events and apple orchards displaying the Annapolis Valley Original signs at www.appleliciousvalley.com. Chef Michael Howell of Tempest Restaurant cut an apple to officially launch the program. Dr. Ralph Martin then launched the 2nd Annual Spirit Awards that celebrate significant contributions to the local food movement. Members of the public are invited to nominate their choice for producer, non-profit, and business at www.selectnovascotia.ca for prizes that will be awarded at the Incredible Picnic in August. During the dinner Cuckoo Moon, a local musical group, entertained the guests with original songs that celebrate life and music. A successful silent auction of donations from local businesses raised money for the Acadia Sustainable Garden and for local School Gardens. Displays by agricultural and community groups emphasized the importance of insuring that Nova Scotia has a sustainable local food system. Many of the foods we eat travel great distances - at great cost to the environment, to our health, and to the Nova Scotian economy. Every job in agriculture in NS contributes to our sustainability, supports additional jobs and helps retain our rural heritage. The value of supporting all aspects of local community was emphasized. April Flavours was presented by The Arthur Irving Academy for the Environment, Gaspereau Vineyards, Friends of Agriculture in Nova Scotia, Select Nova Scotia, Spirit Nova Scotia, Taste of Nova Scotia, Food Action Committee of the Ecology Action Centre, Kings County Federation of Agriculture, Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture, Organic Council of Nova Scotia, Wolfville Farmer’s Market, and Dandelion Community Investment Cooperative.
Farming collapse and hopes for rebirth THE QUESTION of food arises in an acute way when times go bad – its affordability for people suddenly in dire straits, and increased turmoil for the farm and the rural economy. In Nova Scotia, as in Atlantic Canada generally, we import some 90 per cent of what we eat. Meanwhile, our farming sector continues to shrink. Meanwhile again, food prices in the supermarkets continue to rise while prices to the farmer don’t. What’s wrong with this picture? Ninety per cent imports and a crashing farm sector in a place that was supplying perhaps three-quarters of its food a couple of generations ago tells us that something is badly out of whack. First, the state of agriculture. It’s been a standard mantra for some 40 years that the farming sector is declining, but recent figures put out by the research group GPI Atlantic were a shocker. Net farm income has dropped by an average of 91 per cent in Nova Scotia since 1971, and in 2007 reached the lowest levels ever recorded. Expenses have been greater than income in four of the last six years. Total farm debt increased by 146 per cent in Nova Scotia between 1971 and 2006, and so on, in a dismal gallop through all the indicators. And those figures are from before the present troubles. Laurence Nason, who retires as head of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture this very week, says he never believed until now "that the agricultural industry in Nova Scotia was actually in jeopardy." Leading the dreary list is the hog industry which has recently disappeared (pork comes mostly from the U.S. now), the cattle industry which went earlier, pea and bean processing, hay exports, and so on. Of 2,600 full-time farmers, says Nason, some are "burning up two generations worth of equity" to keep going – so attached to the land that they will farm at a loss until it’s all gone. The supply-managed part of the industry is doing well enough. If government price-setting was lifted, however, that too would likely go – milk, poultry, eggs would come from the U.S. where costs are less and where the government, despite all the talk about free enterprise, subsidizes its agriculture to the hilt. The brighter spots are blueberries and mink ranching, while apples seem to be holding their own on the force of exports of Honeycrisp apples. Also, farm markets are springing up in towns around Nova Scotia. On the whole, says Nason, the very largest farms continue to grow a bit, while part-time "lifestyle" farmers are increasing in numbers – supplying the farm markets, and possibly representing the start of a significant trend to more basic, local and cheaper foods. That’s the more or less good news. It’s the mid-sized farms – the farming middle class, if you will – that continue to shrink and disappear, he says. So, what now? The GPI report (GPI has reported repeatedly on agriculture, soils, biodversity and other farm-related topics over a decade), which covered Nova Scotia and P.E.I., has apparently brought the point home in both government and farming circles. GPI has been invited to replicate the exercise in New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, after which the agriculture industries of all four provinces hope to collectively present their case to the federal and provincial governments. That case, says Nason, would involve help for "transformation." This is yet to be fully defined in the Atlantic context, but Nason points out that farming is not just about producing food. In fact, the whole point of the GPI exercise – the letters stand for Genuine Progress Index – is that farming is not just about economic inputs and outputs as the gross domestic product index measures it, but about a whole complex of social, environmental and other benefits. Ultimately, it’s about the integrity of the society around it. In many places, farmers are also producers of energy – their own, plus some to sell back to the grid – as well as forest-related products and services, and other things. There are also the natural advantages of the region – for various grasses that might be used for energy and other diverse purposes, for fruit and berry-growing, and so on. The trend to local food would also be helped by the purchasing policies of hospitals, schools, universities, government institutions, etc., and by other policy initiatives to influence the food culture in general. The problem now, says Nason, is that, in its weakened and shrinking state, the farming sector can’t raise the head of steam to make these changes alone. Hard times often trigger new ways of doing things. The gathering gloom might be the right time to plant the seeds of an agrarian rebirth. Conversations with respected historians, economists, farmers, sociologists, scientists and other citizens make it increasingly clear that we are going to have to relearn some of the strategies that sustained people during the Great Depression. The global economic free-fall is not going to end soon - hopefully in a few years there will be a green light at the end of the tunnel. The economy is being worsened by the printing of trillions of dollars that represent little of value - thus compounding the initial fall of the mortgage house of cards. The cash bail-out bucket is riddled with holes through which ordinary citizen's tax-dollars will be leaking for years to come. Infrastructure spending is one way to start the economy moving again, but in what direction? Same old highways? Same old industries? Same old is not going to work any longer, but we seem to have doubled the strength of our rose-coloured glasses. This is going to hurt us and we can't hold it off by building and buying more of the same stuff and such. On January 8, soon-to-be President Barack Obama described America's economic future in apocalyptic terms: "We start 2009 in the midst of a crisis unlike any we have seen in our lifetime - a crisis that has only deepened over the last few weeks, and that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse. I don't believe it's too late to change course but it will be if we don't take dramatic action as soon as possible". In fact, America is at great risk: huge numbers of companies are going into bankruptcy, millions of jobs were lost in 2008 and now 12.5 million Americans are looking for work, China could bail out of part of the $1.3 trillion it holds as "banker" to America (last year China spent 15% of it's entire economic output buying U.S. treasury bills), and despite billion dollar infusions to banks credit is rarely available even to those who do want to create new jobs. Almost 80% of Canadian exports go to America and they're not going to be buying nearly as much, especially if trade barriers are put in place to protect domestic production. In February Canadians were shocked to learn that another 82,600 jobs had disappeared, bringing the four month total to 295,000, and the unemployment rate to 7.7%. Apart from a small return in manufacturing, agriculture was the only sector to gain jobs. Canada’s trade balance dropped to a record deficit from a surplus of more than C$5 billion in August. A CIBC spokesperson said: "With forthcoming plant closures and layoffs already announced, it's clear that the worst is yet to come". If Canada loses jobs even at the pace it did the early 1990s half a million more jobs will disappear. The current financial storm has been approaching for many years - each year a smaller percentage of a dollar represents actual material goods - and each recession has primed the pump for another. But this time there are tremendous additional pressures. Today 6.7 billion people need and want a whole lot more of everything than two billion did in 1930. And all these people have used up between 50 and 75% of the earth's non-renewable resources - where will the predicted 9 billion by 2040 get food, water and shelter? The average global temperature is increasing in lock-step with carbon emissions, causing droughts in some countries and flooding in coastal countries. If the current 380 PPM of CO2 reaches the predicted level of 450 PPM by 2040 the increasing melting of Polar and Greenland icecaps could raise sea level more than one meter above the current level (Climate Dynamics, January 2009) displacing hundreds of millions of people. By 2040 -2060 there will be “perpetual food crisis” (Higher Temperatures Seen Reducing Global Harvests, SCIENCE, January 2009) as global warming causes massive and simultaneous crop failures in many regions. Already some countries can no longer grow enough food to feed their own people, and food exports from many countries are already decreasing. The era of inexpensive imported food is coming to a close - possibly far more rapidly than we can even yet imagine. We must take greater charge of our own destiny. We must buy fewer consumer good, not more - no longer falling for the argument that we must buy now to help stimulate the economy - it's obviously had more stimulation than the world's natural resources can provide. We are entering the post-consumption era, and sustainability is the new watchword. We must consume locally and sustainably. Local Christmas trees - not plastic from China, local lamb - not from New Zealand, local apples – not from California, and on and on. No, we can't grow or make everything we need, but often we can reduce or substitute effectively. The absolute bottom line is food. That we must have. And we're not going to be getting it in the usual quantity (or quality - in many cases that's already left) from distant shores. We have to have the farmers and the knowledge and the land to insure that we have food. On December 29, 2008 Laurent d'Entremont wrote the following in The Kings County Advertiser: Yes, the small, medium and large family farms of Nova Scotia can do it all over again. It is time for a transition – back to buying more food from the family farm. There is a natural resiliency in Nova Scotians, born of years of necessity, born of farming and fishing and figuring out how best to keep going. This is the time to put that resilience to work. Find a farmer and pay for the produce. Lend a hand or a voice or money. Make government aware that you support and need local food and local business and that you will not settle for the uncertain future of long-distance food. Tell your friends and relatives and your community what you think and how you hope to make a difference. Growing more food in Nova Scotia will be good for people, the economy, and the environment. It's time for us to make a difference - our life and our livelihood depends on it. The Agricultural Working Group report of July 2007: Kings County farmland represents a valuable source of heritage that plays an important role in defining the rural character of the area. Recognizing the significance of the agricultural industry, Kings County has demonstrated a commitment to agricultural land preservation. Since 1979, Municipal Council has made special efforts, through policy and zoning, to protect high capability farmland from non-farm development. Kings County has some of the most productive farmland in Nova Scotia. The ability to cultivate crops in and around the valley floor is a result of unique conditions, including climate and soil type, and a long history of local investment in agricultural development. Agriculture supports the local economy through food production, value-added processing and agri-tourism.
Kings County has the most agriculturally based economy in Nova Scotia. As reported in the 2001 census, the County’s agricultural labour force numbers 2100, with an additional 2200 employed in agricultural-related activities. This local industry represents 1/3 of the agriculture and ½ of the agricultural-related manufacturing for Nova Scotia. The County produces over ¾ of the province’s tree fruit, potatoes and chicken and over 2/3 of its turkey and laying hens.
The impact of this industry on the local economy is significant. In 2006, 604 farms in Kings County reported revenues of $170 million from the previous year’s operations. The overall farming capability of Kings County is disproportionately large relative to its comparatively modest agricultural land base. In fact, the total farm production per capita is 2 ½ times the national average. According to Dave Robinson, an economist with the Department of Agriculture (2006), the reason for the success of the agricultural industry in Kings County has been its diversified nature and its ability to adapt to changing economic conditions. At the same time, Robinson points out that the availability of cropland will impose limits on what farmers can accomplish in the future.
Agricultural land in Kings County is not only valuable for its crop production; this scenic land is important to recreational visitors as well as tourism-related businesses. Wineries, farm markets and u-picks are all examples of important ancillary businesses. The Kentville Agricultural Research Station is also largely supported by the area’s extensive agricultural base. A significant agricultural processing industry also depends upon the agricultural production of Kings County.
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