Executive Summary

Canada is facing a health crisis. Obesity rates are rising at an alarming pace, leading to higher rates of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. Chronic disease has significant social and economic costs, including reduced quality of life, lost productivity, and escalating health care costs that threaten to overwhelm provincial budgets. The federal and provincial governments are searching for innovative solutions to these diet-related challenges and rising health care budgets.

At the same time, Canadian governments are grappling with continual challenges in the agri-food sector. Canada’s farmers seem to go from crisis to crisis. In recent years, low grain and oilseed prices have driven down farm income to the point that many farmers turned to government payments, rather than the market, to generate the majority of their income. As incomes fell, program payments from governments rose. Neither farmers nor governments view the situation as sustainable in the long run. The costs to governments are huge, at a time when they face mounting pressure to reduce expenditures. The recent strengthening of grain prices relieved pressure on grain and oilseed farmers, but the rest of the industry remains stressed, from meat producers to food processors and biofuel producers. Both industry and government are looking for a different model.

Within this context, the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) is proposing to stimulate a national dialogue on the convergence of health and agriculture policies. A strategy that combines human health concerns with the agri-food industry could present real opportunities. By working together, the health care system and the agri-food industry can simultaneously improve the health of Canadians, reduce health care budgets, stimulate agri-food innovation, and improve the economic viability of the agri-food industry. The agri-food industry can help improve public knowledge about the functional properties of food, leading to healthier food choices.

In 2008, CAPI commissioned the McGill World Platform for Health and Economic Convergence to prepare a paper on the development of an integrated health and agri-food strategy for Canada. In essence, the strategy will require a new approach, one that sees stakeholders working together toward a “whole-of-society” solution. While the relationships that need to be fostered are complex and call for difficult changes, the economic and social ramifications of the proposed strategy are immense. A cooperative app-roach will be required that spans government agencies, multiple levels of government, industry, and health care providers. New levels of public-private partnerships will be needed. But these partnerships will only work if multiple strategies are employed simultaneously, strategies that approach the health challenges and agri-food opportunities from several directions at once.

The discussion paper — Building Convergence: Toward an Integrated Health and Agri-Food Strategy for Canada — is a first step. Designed to stimulate discussion and action, it will be based on six key elements: safe food, nutritious food accessible food, healthy eating, innovation and sustainability. Preparing the strategy will involve bringing together numerous stakeholders to identify so-called “levers for change” within each of the six elements, and plans of action. This document is an abridged version of the discussion paper.

Canada has the essential elements needed to realize an integrated health and agri-food strategy. The country enjoys a diverse agricultural base, an innovative food processing industry, and a strong food safety system. Canada’s universal health care system is highly regarded, and the country has taken a leadership position globally in developing policies related to infectious diseases, nutrition, and chronic disease prevention. In Canada, an integrated health and agri-food strategy would be supported by world class research in healthier food products and effective, more inclusive approaches to policy development. An integrated health and agri-food strategy will present a real chance to improve the health of Canadians and develop new opportunities for the agri-food industry.

next section