The next federal budget should endorse the concept.Ottawa—The push from within the agrifood community for sustainable farming and food production has won the backing of a broad coalition of environment groups.The 25-member Green Budget Coalition issued a sweeping set of proposals for the federal government to follow in implementing promises made in the policy-setting Throne Speech. It said that done correctly, protecting the environment and tackling climate change and the biodiversity crisis can create jobs.Sustainable agriculture is one key component of the plan, the Coalition says. “We can do this while maintaining a strong agriculture and food sector, employing millions of Canadians, and supporting biodiversity and agrobiodiversity on our land base.“Feeding the world's increasing population sustainably in the context of climate change requires resilient and diverse food systems that minimize environmental impacts, protect and restore the ecosystem services that are vital to a thriving agricultural economy, and offer long-term solutions for climate adaptation and mitigation and mitigating climate change.”Jay Ritchlin, Director General of the B.C. and Western Regions of the David Suzuki Foundation, said the message from the environment groups was created with the upcoming federal budget in mind. It could encourage all farmers to adopt practices already developed by the existing roundtables for sustainable beef and crops.The Coalition members want to work with farm groups advocating sustainable agriculture practices, he said. The groups want to see marginal lands remain accessible for wildlife.The Coalition says Canada has the potential to become a world leader in environmentally sustainable agriculture that also meets international targets. The Business Risk Management (BRM) and Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) programs must be adapted to support the adoption of ecological best practices including new and innovative approaches to agri-food production and processing, the Coalition said.“Changes must be seen as incentivizing and additive rather than punitive or reductive. At the same time, inaction will come with financial costs and increased risks, which should not continue to be pushed downstream and, by extension, fully absorbed by Canadians working outside of the sector.”While the federal government has invested significantly in science and technology to spur growth in agriculture, “it has made very little investment in reducingenvironmental risk or building agricultural resilience to climate change — yet both of these areas are part and parcel of reducing on-farm business risks and ensuring stable livelihoods for farmers now and in the future.“The federal government must be a key driver in supporting a transition to environmentally sustainable agriculture, including regenerative agriculture and practices that support ecosystem services, and provide income stability for a strong and diverse farming community.”It must also demonstrate an elevated level of national leadership on sustainable agriculture issues and support them in the agriculture policy framework, the Coalition said.Its other members are ALUS Canada, Birds Canada, Canadian Environmental Law Association, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Canadian Wildlife Federation, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Ecojustice Canada, Ecology Action Centre, Environmental Defence, Equiterre, Friends of the Earth Canada, Greenpeace Canada, International Conservation Fund of Canada, International Institute for Sustainable Development, Mining Watch Canada, Nature Canada, Nature Conservancy of Canada, Nature United, Pembina Institute, Seed Change Canada, Sierra Club Canada Foundation, West Coast Environmental Law Association, Wildlife Habitat Canada, and WWF-Canada.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.