Food policy is rarely exciting enough to be included in a political platform or election campaign. Indeed, in the last Nova Scotia election, the Progressive Conservatives made an offhand commitment to “develop a provincial food strategy and support consumption of local food”.
As election promises go, this one would likely not be top of mind for most voters.
Yet, food autonomy for a small province such as Nova Scotia could have a big impact on its rates of food security, price inflation, employment and GDP.
This has the potential be a two-birds, one stone situation. While the definition of local is contested in the context of food production, there are commonalities among consumer preferences for local foods. Generally, consumers value local food as it supports their own communities, economy, and farmers. Local food is also seen to reduce environmental cost and emissions due to shorter transportation within the supply chain.
But to do any of those things, consumer engagement is absolutely critical. Myths around local foods are persistent, especially the myth that buying local is more expensive than imports. But with food price inflation at 9.7 per cent, the highest it’s been since 1981, consumers need some relief.
Recent research by our Agri-Food Analytics Lab has shown that in provinces that have committed to promoting food produced in that province, prices are comparable. Consumers want to buy local, but they need encouragement.
Nova Scotia has in place a program that lists local producers in the province, but to find them, consumers must search a database on the provincial website. A more successful Buy Local NS program could be expanded to take the guess work out of which option is local for consumers at retail. It needs top-down commitment towards a goal of food autonomy for Nova Scotia.
Quebec offers an example of a path forward. Local products in Quebec are certified by Aliments du Quebec, a provincially-funded non-profit organization. In order to be certified, a product is reviewed to ensure that production, processing and packaging activities are carried out in Quebec. The verification process is based on provincial and federal legislation to corroborate ingredients, their origin, and their availability in Quebec while also ensuring that the main processing and packaging occurs in Quebec. At retail, consumers can choose products that are labelled by Aliments du Québec.
A local certification program could build consensus among producers and establish a coordinated food strategy for trade and export out of the province. Ultimately it could make retailers more accountable towards the Nova Scotia brand, requiring them to negotiate with local producers in good faith to ensure fair pricing for producers while offering competitive pricing for consumers. Hopes for similar outcomes dominate the conversations at the federal level for a Grocer Code of Conduct.
Our research demonstrates that people want to support local economies through their food consumption, but without a targeted effort to bust the myth that local foods are more expensive, they will default to the lowest price at retail, regardless of origin.
