It is great to see a sponsored section in the @globeandmail today labelled “The Future of #Farming”. At some point in my life I thought that a dedicated science/agriculture should be a daily newspaper feature! @lefsrud noted that #agriculture has more space than #sports today!

However, the front page graphic (using data from @FoodIntegrityCA) presents the opinions of Canadians which represent the good, the bad and the ugly. First, the good news. Canadians trust our #farmers to be good stewards of our #environment.

Here’s the bad news. Only one in three Canadians contacted for this survey “think the #food sysytem is headed in the right direction”. A majority of these surveyed Canadians are not aware of the safe, nutritious & sustainable #food our sector provides to Canada & the world.

The ugly part is that respondents agree that they know “little or nothing about modern #farming practices”. So opinions on the #food system have been developed with limited understanding of the care, creativity & innovation in all aspects of Canada’s #agriculture & #foodsystems.

So what should we do? Keep telling our stories-while acknowledging that we know we need to keep improving. Keep finding partners from outside our sector to amplify our messages because our work aligns with their focus on #environment #foodwaste #foodsecurity & more.

My @TheHillTimes article (written just as the #COVID19 response was ramping up) noted that most Canadians are thinking about #food availability for the first time in their lives. (I also note that for some Canadians #foodsecurity problems are nothing new.) https://www.folio.ca/commentary--five-key-issues-facing-canadas-agri-food-industry/

We need to be thoughtful & intentional to keep informing Canadians & global citizens that Canada continues to be a trusted supplier of safe, nutritious & sustainable #food because of our great people, strong supply systems & commitment to #innovation.