World News – US – We can see the value of buying local food, but that doesn’t mean we’ll open our wallets: report

A survey of Canadians has shown that while 795% are willing to pay more for locally grown produce, only 25% actively seek them out

Contradictions cloud our relationship with local foods, suggests new report from Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analysis Laboratory (AAL) As four in five Canadians say they are willing to pay more for ‘grown fruits and vegetables locally ”, few emphasize point of origin in their decision making

« We speak well, but what happens in grocery stores is very different, » says Sylvain Charlebois, professor of distribution and food policy and senior director of the AAL

Their survey of 10,266 Canadians in early October showed that while 795% are willing to pay more for locally grown produce, only one in four (25%) actively searches for them when grocery shopping. describe this gap between attitude and behavior as « the local food paradox »

« When a lot of people buy food from the grocery store, they don’t look where it was grown. They look for the cheapest food, » says Shannon Faires, AAL research associate « People may appreciate local food more and think it’s worth more, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re looking for it »

Faires was surprised to see how high-quality Canadians say they are willing to pay for local food. In total, 344 percent of survey respondents said they would pay between 10 and 20 percent of more; 7 percent between 20 and 40 percent; and 19 percent greater than 40 percent

Almost half (478 percent) of respondents, however, still cite price as the most important deciding factor when buying fresh produce Of the 108% of Canadians who buy most of their fruits and vegetables in farmers’ markets, price and whether the food is’ natural and organic ‘is more important than the source

Due to a short growing season, Canada imports about 65% of its fresh fruits and vegetables, mainly from the US and Mexico Border closures due to COVID-19, wildfires in California and Retailer shortages have prompted many to consider vulnerabilities in supply chains The pandemic has brought food self-reliance to the fore, researchers say, prompting governments to look for ways to increase local production. p>

« Especially when the borders were originally closed, I think it was a bit of a wake-up call in terms of our reliance on outside sources for our food, » Faires says, adding that, so as the pandemic continues, it anticipates food autonomy will only become a major problem

While food sovereignty is a movement that seeks to guarantee access to healthy and culturally appropriate food as a human right, food autonomy concerns the production, economy and economies of scale, explains Charlebois

« If you want to sell your carrot competitively, you want to achieve economies of scale all year round, 12 months a year, » he says « You have to use the right technologies, you have to invest You have to become efficient and competitive This is food autonomy « 

As provinces invest in various buy local campaigns, the study found a difference in definition: « Local » means different things to different people The Canadian Food Inspection Agency defines it as « a food produced in the province or territory where it is sold, or a food sold across provincial borders within 50 kilometers of the province or territory of origin »

British Columbians, Ontarians and Quebeckers See Regional Foods as Local, Study Finds Consumers in the Atlantic Provinces and the Prairies have a broader view, seeing all foods grown in the province are local

“A lot of decision makers think you can promote the hell of local foods and people won’t necessarily buy them,” says Charlebois “People are ready, but not looking So how do you get people to watch? The response from different provinces, including Ontario with Foodland Ontario, is to promote local food.And there’s nothing wrong with that, but I don’t think any of these campaigns translate into increased sales of locally grown produce « 

More than half of respondents (516%) said they would pay a premium for fresh off-season produce grown locally using controlled environment agriculture (CEA), such as greenhouses and vertical farming, if they had the choice between local products or imports

« In general, the growing season is very limited for many different crops So if we are to be able to stop relying on imported foods, we must be able to grow whatever Canadians eat out of season. We have to be able to grow the things that we can’t grow here using conventional methods CEA gives it to us ”, says Faires

People may appreciate local food more and think it’s worth more money, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re looking for it

The different definitions of the local term across the country could have implications for the economic viability of these agricultural alternatives, she adds. If greenhouses, for example, were to end up being concentrated in Ontario or Quebec, « grown in Canada » in general might be more difficult to sell than « locally grown » elsewhere in the country.

Momentum is building for CEA in Canada, says Charlebois, but the main challenge is that agri-food projects are capital intensive The additional cost associated with establishing and operating greenhouses and vertical farming could lead to higher prices for consumers And as the study results suggest, for people to make local buying a priority, prices must be competitive with imports

« It’s important to stay focused and grow more, and become less vulnerable to our currency and climate change in California, and all of those things But at the same time, we also have to be realistic. can’t afford to buy local all the time, ”says Charlebois

Faires adds: « The problem is the price It doesn’t matter how much more people like Canadian food You have to be true to your wallet first Just because you like Canadian food doesn’t mean the rest of your life doesn’t exist You still have rent You still have mortgages You still have car payments You still need to put food on the table « 

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Canada, Local products, Products, Sylvain Charlebois