Action on Canada Brand labels and food waste among the priorities.Ottawa—The long promised National Food Policy focuses more on social issues such as affordability than on agrifood production and marketing concerns.Called Everyone at the Table, it was released by Agriculture Minister Marie Claude Bibeau who said too many Canadians can't reliably access enough healthy food and too many children are learning on empty stomachs. “And we waste more than 11 million tonnes of food every year, worth nearly $50 billion.”While she acknowledged the agrifood sector “is a powerhouse of the economy, particularly in our rural communities, more needs to be done to improve our food system.”Bibeau said a Canadian Food Policy Advisory Council will be established later this year along with a five-year, $50 million Local Food Infrastructure Fund. Canada Brand and Buy Canadian promotional campaigns will be launched “to increase pride and consumer confidence in Canadian food.”The Policy will “also support community-based food projects and look for ways to reduce food waste in the processing, grocery, retail, and food service,” she said. It will also take “the first steps to work alongside provinces and not-for-profit organizations towards the creation of a National School Food Program.”The Canadian Food Inspection Agency will receive $24.4 million“to crack down on food fraud while the Buy Canadian promotion program will receive $25 million and a food waste reduction program $26.3 million.Agrifood groups have been waiting a long time for the policy's announcement. The 2015 mandate letter to former agriculture Lawrence MacAulay from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau instructed him to “develop a food policy that promotes healthy living and safe food by putting more healthy, high-quality food, produced by Canadian ranchers and farmers, on the tables of families across the country.”President Mary Robinson of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture said “the food policy will provide a platform that will enable a whole-of-government approach to Canadian agrifood policy.“Food is affected from a variety of factors that are rarely in the spotlight,” Robinson said. “International and domestic regulatory processes, immigration policies, transportation, climate change, education, consumer habits and cutting edge technology all have direct effects not only on the ways that we produce food in Canada, but also the price of food and the types of food that we have available to eat. A National Food Policy can organize this puzzle and help fit the pieces together.”She said CFA had pushed for the Advisory Council for nearly a decade and CFA will seek a seat on the advisory council when it is formed this summer.Food & Consumer Products of Canada applauded the collaborative and coordinated approach of the food policy. The food processing sector is ready to offer its expertise to the policy council.“We are also pleased that the Food Policy brings the entire value chain to the table, from farm to fork,” FCPC said. “This includes Canadian farmers and food manufacturers who are interdependent and play a leading role in producing safe, high-quality and affordable food.“FCPC will continue to be actively engaged with the federal government in implementing Canada's first-ever food policy and looks forward to continuing the discussion on challenges, opportunities and best practices,” it said. The food policy can make Canada an international leader in food production, sustainability and innovation. “A whole-of-government approach based on science, transparency, open dialogue and partnership is needed; and the Food Policy importantly sets the stage for continued dialogue.”Ron Lemaire, President of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, welcomed the various initiatives in the food policy to improve the health and well-being of Canadians and to grow the fresh produce industry.Lemaire was a member of the National Food Policy Working Group and CPMA looks forward to continuing in the development and implementation of the policy.Gisele Yasmeen, Executive Director of Food Secure Canada, said the food policy is an important first step toward “a more healthy, just and sustainable food system that ensures everyone's right to food.”However Bibeau's plan “does not yet have the scale required to bring four million out of food poverty,” she said. “We are pleased that a Council drawn from across non-profit organizations, academia, health professionals, Indigenous organizations, and agriculture and food industries will help to steer the implementation of the Policy.”Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.