February 9, 2010 News

Quebec needs to choose local

Fruits and vegetables should not be a luxury for the poor

by Madeline Coleman

The Quebec government needs to stop putting business first and put its focus on encouraging the production of healthy food from local sources, argued speakers at the Feeding Montreal Conference on Feb. 2.

Social responsibility means more than just selling local produce, said Zackary Rhissa, a community liaison director for the Moisson Montreal food bank. It also means providing poorer neighbourhoods with more food options, beyond the fare found in dépanneur snack food aisles.

“The supermarkets that sell most fruit and vegetables base themselves in neighbourhoods where they know people can afford food,” said Rhissa. As a result, people in poorer neighbourhoods often find themselves far from quality produce, encouraging unhealthy eating habits.

Rhissa explained that Moisson Montreal’s food bank feeds about 115,000 people a year—people for whom “buying fruits and vegetables is a luxury.”

One of Moisson’s large-scale projects, the Good Food Box, was started to provide inexpensive weekly fresh produce. As a result, the program coordinators have had to prioritize cost over origin, often favouring imported produce.

Moisson’s food bank currently receives about three per cent of its funding from the provincial government. The Good Food Box gets nothing from Quebec.

The speakers agreed that the main advantage of local food for consumers is that they know where their food is coming from and what standards were used by the farmer. Under some local food programs, customers are invited to visit farms to see for themselves.

Frédéric Paré, the food sovereignty coordinator for the Food Sovereignty Coalition, said that only 33 per cent of the food on Quebecers’ plates comes from the province. That number has been steadily falling.

“When we let market forces take control without intervention, that’s what happens,” said Paré. “The state intervened to sustain agriculture, but only for the sake of the market. It became about industry before responsibility.”

Paré and Rhissa, as well as other speakers, emphasized that Montrealers should choose locally-grown products whenever possible.

“If you can do it, you should do it,” said Paré. “Food sovereignty needs to be the result of social choice, a collective choice, as consumers and as distributors.”