WESTERN PRODUCER — A coalition of 129 organizations, including agri-food companies, non-governmental organizations, commodity groups and government departments are getting close to defining what is sustainable in Canadian agriculture.
In May, the group unveiled a sustainability index for the country’s agriculture and food sector. The index is a pilot, which will likely evolve into something more permanent.
“The initiative addresses one of the most pressing issues facing humanity: producing food more sustainably — and showing it,” says a news release for the National Index on Agri-Food Performance.
“The work also positions Canada as among the very few nations globally that have developed such a comprehensive approach encompassing an entire economic sector.”
David McInnes has led the effort to create the index since 2020.
He is the former president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute and now runs DMci Strategies, a consultancy in Ottawa.
“If we’re not measuring ourselves, we’re going to be measured against the standards and definitions of sustainability that others choose for us,” McInnes said in November at a regenerative agriculture conference in Brandon.
The index is a response to the reality that Canada competes with other food-exporting nations on quality, price and the sustainability of food production.
Canada’s agriculture sector needs the index to show its “track record, leadership and mark progress on improvements,” the release says.
“Consumers, customers, investors and regulators, worldwide, increasingly expect food production and supply to be more sustainable and responsible.”
McInnes and the 129 partners have published a 110-page document, explaining how the index will measure sustainability.
They have grouped sustainability into four categories:
- environment
- economic
- food integrity
- societal well being
They have also recognized 20 indicators of sustainability, including things like biodiversity, safe food and animal care.
“Canada’s approach has been to bring a community of partners together, an unprecedented coalition, to take a 360-degree perspective to measuring sustainability,” said Steve Webb, executive director and chief executive officer of the Global Institute for Food Security at the University of Saskatchewan.
The next step for the coalition is to secure funding for the Centre for Agri-Food Benchmarking, which will oversee and manage the index.
The coalition expects to launch the new centre later this year.
