Pick up an apple in an Ontario grocery store in January and check the sticker: it may have come from Washington State, Chile or New Zealand. Pick one up in October and it probably grew a short drive away. Every bite you eat is the end of a long chain of farms, trucks, factories, warehouses and stores, and every stage uses land, water, energy and labour. A food system is that whole chain. A sustainable food system feeds everyone healthy food now without harming the land, water and communities that will need to feed people in the future.
From farm to plate to waste
- Production: farms, greenhouses, fisheries and Indigenous harvesters grow, raise, catch or hunt food (Unit 3 showed where Canada's farms are and why).
- Processing: mills, dairies, meat packers and factories turn raw products into flour, cheese, cereal and frozen meals. Food processing is one of Ontario's largest manufacturing industries.
- Distribution: trucks, trains, ships and planes move food to warehouses and then to stores; refrigeration keeps perishables fresh.
- Retail and food service: grocery stores, markets, restaurants, schools and hospitals.
- Consumption: households decide what to buy, cook and eat.
- Waste and recovery: leftovers, spoiled food and packaging go to landfill, compost, food banks or animal feed.
Issues in Canada's food system
| Issue | What is happening | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Loss of farmland | Ontario's total farm area fell by 4.7 percent between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, to about 11.8 million acres (Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Agriculture), roughly 319 acres a day | Much of Canada's best farmland, with good soils and a long growing season, lies around growing cities in southern Ontario; once paved, it is effectively gone |
| Food waste | A 2019 study by the food-rescue charity Second Harvest estimated that about 58 percent of the food produced in Canada, about 35.5 million tonnes a year, is lost or wasted somewhere along the chain | Wasted food also wastes the land, water, fuel and labour used to grow it; rotting food in landfills releases methane, a strong greenhouse gas |
| Food insecurity | Many households cannot afford enough healthy food; rates are highest in the North and among low-income, single-parent and renter households | Poor diets harm health and children's learning; food banks report record demand |
| Food deserts | Neighbourhoods or towns where it is hard to reach affordable, healthy food, especially without a car | Residents may rely on convenience stores and fast food, which cost more and offer fewer healthy choices |
| Climate change | Droughts, heat waves, floods and new pests affect harvests in Canada and in the countries that supply our imports | Crop failures raise prices and threaten supply; Canada imports much of its winter fruit and vegetables |
Food in northern communities
In many fly-in communities in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Nunavik and northern Ontario, there is no road. Fresh, perishable food usually comes by plane, while bulk goods arrive once or twice a year by sealift ship or winter road, so prices can be two or three times higher than in the south for some items. In 2022, 46.1 percent of people in Nunavut lived in food-insecure households, the highest rate in Canada (Statistics Canada's Canadian Income Survey, as reported by the PROOF research program at the University of Toronto). Climate change adds pressure: thinner sea ice and shorter winter-road seasons make hunting and shipping harder.
Responses in the North
Nutrition North Canada, a federal program that began in 2011 (replacing the older Food Mail program), pays a subsidy to registered northern retailers and suppliers so they lower the price of eligible foods, especially perishable, nutritious items. Critics have asked whether the full savings always reach shoppers and whether it does enough. The program now also funds a Harvesters Support Grant for hunting and harvesting, because country food such as caribou, seal, char and berries is healthy, affordable and culturally central for Inuit and First Nations. Communities also run freezers where hunters share meat, and projects such as the Inuvik Community Greenhouse, built inside a former hockey arena, grow vegetables locally during the long summer days.
Strategies for a more sustainable food system
- Protect farmland: Ontario's Greenbelt and provincial planning policy protect prime agricultural areas; British Columbia has protected farmland through its Agricultural Land Reserve since 1973.
- Support local food: farmers' markets, on-farm stores and "buy local" labels keep money in the region and cut transport; Ontario passed a Local Food Act in 2013.
- Grow food in cities: community gardens, rooftop gardens and urban farms such as Black Creek Community Farm in northwest Toronto give residents fresh produce and teach growing skills.
- Reduce and recover waste: plan meals and use leftovers; stores and farms donate surplus food to food-rescue groups; green bin programs turn food scraps into compost and biogas.
- Improve access: school food programs, affordable grocery stores in underserved neighbourhoods, transit routes to supermarkets and income supports for low-income households.
- Indigenous food sovereignty: First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities controlling their own food systems, from harvesting rights to community-run greenhouses and fisheries.
ABenefits of eating local
- Fresher food, often picked closer to ripeness
- Money stays with nearby farms and businesses
- Shorter supply chains are less exposed to faraway disruptions
- Fewer kilometres travelled (fewer food miles)
BLimits of eating local
- Canada's growing season is short, so local fresh produce is limited in winter
- Heated winter greenhouses can use a lot of energy
- For most foods, how they are produced matters more for emissions than how far they travel
- Local food can cost more, which is a barrier for low-income households
Food miles are only part of the story
Food miles (the distance food travels) are easy to count, but transport is usually a small share of a food's total greenhouse gas emissions. Large global studies summarized by Our World in Data find that what a food is and how it is produced (for example, beef compared with beans) usually matters far more. The exception is food flown by air, such as some fresh berries and fish, which has a much larger transport footprint.