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Food for What?

Why biofuels are tough to swallow

by DON GENOVA

It seems like every politician in Canada is trying to hop on the environmental bandwagon these days, making big announcements about policies that will lead us to healthier and happier lives. But as the wagon gets set to roll, it’s worth looking at what it’s carrying (aside from a few heaps of manure) and what’s inside its gas tank.

As you’ve probably noticed, the cost of food is going up, and that can make it harder for people to feed themselves. Not being able to afford good food will not make people healthy and happy. Why is the price of food going up? Well, I can’t go into the entire economics of our wacky food system here, but there are a few key factors, most of which tie into our insatiable desire to fuel our vehicles. When the price of oil goes up, the price of food goes up, because we transport so much of our food over such long distances.

Because of that need for fuel, more and more farmers are growing crops slated to become biofuels. Substituting fossil fuels with biofuels has even been mandated by the U.S. government, and the Canadian government has passed a bill that will ensure gasoline in Canada contains five per cent ethanol by 2010, and two per cent renewable fuel in diesel and heating oil by 2012.

Don’t get me wrong: I think the government should be taking steps to address pollution. But growing grains, corn, or beans for fuel instead of food just doesn’t make sense to me. It’s replacing an environmental problem with social security problems. What would make sense is to build more fuel-efficient vehicles, a more fuel-efficient food distribution system, and better transit systems to get us out of our cars. (As an aside, I’ve always wanted to stand at a downtown Vancouver intersection and ask the drivers of the SUVs stopped at the red light just how often they’ve used the four-wheel drive/off-road capabilities of their gas guzzlers.)
While rising wheat prices may be good for our prairie farmers, it isn’t without problems. We have already seen a drastic rise in the cost of flour used in our local bakeries. My local organic bakery, Mix, has had no choice but to pass the cost onto its customers, and has even taped an explanatory chart by the cash register showing the price hikes. It’s not uncommon now to pay $5 or $6 for a healthy loaf of bread. Some of us will be able to afford the increases, but for those on a budget, the challenge of eating healthy will be hard to meet.

There is one program out there sponsored by the provincial government that helps those most in need of healthy food. A pilot program involving farmers’ markets and low-income residents in Vancouver, Coquitlam, Courtenay, Kelowna, and Prince George has recently received a two-year extension. The Farmers’ Market Nutrition and Coupon Project (FMNCP) is the first of its kind in Canada. Qualifying low-income families in each community are given food coupons that can only be redeemed at local farmers’ markets.

But the program doesn’t stop at just doling out coupons. Some of the families don’t know how to get to a farmers’ market, let alone know what to buy when they get there, or how to cook the ingredients available. The program provides assistance in these areas, so that learning about the food is just as important as getting the food.

Project manager Anna Kirbyson passed on some of the good news stories from last year.

“In Vancouver, residents of the Downtown Eastside went on field trips organized by the Downtown [Eastside] Neighbourhood House to the West End Farmers Market. They bought fresh, healthy farm products that otherwise would be out of reach for them because of their limited budget. Sometimes they found out buying produce in season [at the farmers’ market] was actually cheaper than the supermarket. A number of vendors provided additional support to these families through offering double the value on the coupons.”

Kirbyson related another success story of a refugee family from the Collingwood Neighbourhood House in Renfrew that now plans weekly outings to the farmers’ market, and even lets the children use the coupons to purchase vegetables and fruits for the family’s meals.

I’ll report at a later date on some of the people going through this year’s program. For now, it gives me hope that more policy-makers will recognize that those most in need of the “food” we grow are not the cars we drive, but people—who need it to live.

Don Genova lives at dongenova.com. When he gets out from behind his computer, he’s been known to grow a nice crop of weeds, which he occasionally puts in his salads.