About 900 dairy cows go through the first of their twice daily milking ritual in the rotary milking parlour at J&L Walker Farms in Malahide, Ontario on Feb. 28, 2011. The rotary parlour, installed a little over two years ago on this family owned operation, can milk about 250 cows per hour. Each animal gives an average of 30 litres of milk per day, but some will give as much as 25 litres in a single milking. A cow, with his numbered tags visible, approaches the entry to the rotary milking parlour.
Peter Power/The Globe and Mail
Explainer
Something to chew on: A party-by-party breakdown of food policy
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Conservative leader and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper (front) feeds a cow as his wife Laureen looks on during a campaign stop at a farm in Acton Vale, Quebec April 10, 2011.— Chris Wattie/Reuters
Conservatives
The Conservative platform focuses more on agriculture and farmers than food, although it does mention the creation of a national farm and food strategy to guide federal policy.
Key pillars
Export trumps local
New export markets beat out local food initiatives.
Innovation
In the last budget, the Conservatives tabled a proposal to inject $50-million over two years into agricultural innovation. Their platform promises creation of an “Agriculture Innovation Initiative, to support local farm-based research and development projects.”
Safety
The budget contained $100-million over five years to improve capacity in the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Ag, not food
“Whatever it is that drives the best return to a farmer,” said former agriculture minister Gerry Ritz. “It could be a portion of the food market, it could be a portion of the fuel market. … It's all part and parcel of delivering quality, consistent supply of foodstuffs domestically and internationally.”
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Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff shops for fruit at a market in Chinatown in downtown Toronto, Ont. March 28, 2011. Canadians head to the polls May 2.
Liberals
Announced with much fanfare last April by Leader Michael Ignatieff, the Liberal food platform aims to be Canada's first national food policy. It is the brainchild of Carolyn Bennett, Liberal candidate for the west Toronto riding of St. Paul's.
Key pillars
Eat this not that
Promotion of healthier living with education programs for children; improved food labelling; tough new restrictions on trans fats and sodium.
Food safety
$50-million injection to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to ramp up inspections on imported food; full review of federal agencies responsible for food safety.
Clean slate
A mass review of Canada's entire agriculture file, from subsidies to research and innovation.
Clean energy
Rewards for farmers who set aside land for wildlife habitats or carbon sequestering; quadruple clean-energy production.
Brand Canada
Expand export markets for Canadian food and beverage producers.
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NDP Leader Jack Layton flips burgers during a campaign stop Saturday, April 9, 2011 in La Ronge, Sask. — Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press
NDP
The NDP food platform is the thickest of those of the federal parties, and is the most focused on the development of regional food systems. Leader Jack Layton launched a cross-country tour in search of input for the policy in 2008; B.C. Southern Interior candidate Alex Atamanenko led the charge.
Key pillars
Food security/sovereignty
Belief that access to and sustained production of healthy food is critical to Canada's future. New labelling laws will help consumers identify healthy foods and genetically modified ingredients.
Food school
Educate students on how to produce and prepare nutritious foods.
Localize
Boost support to Canadian producers and local food networks by supporting farmers' markets, agriculture co-operatives and alternative regulation for small-scale operators.
Fairer trade
Review the impact of trade agreements to assess threats to domestic food security.
Farm succession
Improve young farmers' access to arable land and training.
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Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe pets a cow during a visit at a dairy farm Saturday, April 9, 2011, in Metabetchouan-Lac-a-la-Croix, Que. — Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press
Bloc Québécois
It's not surprising that a key pillar of the food vision mapped out by the party devoted to protecting Quebec's interest centres on the concept of “sovereignty.” Although the food-related version of that is in line with other platforms, what sets the Bloc's policy apart is its trademark provincial protectionism.
Key pillars
Food sovereignty
The right of a nation to choose the direction of agricultural policies.
Food safety
A more robust federal food inspection system: 1,000 new jobs, traceability laws and public inspection reports.
Farmer incomes
Overhaul the troubled farm income support program, which most parties agree is expensive ($4-billion annually) and ineffective.
Research
Increase federal funding by $150-million a year for next 10 years.
Fair trade
Correct loopholes in food import laws that give foreign producers a competitive advantage over Canadians.
With a report from Rhéal Séguin in Quebec
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Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and Eric Walton, Green Party candidate for the Kingston and the Islands, speak to supporters during a campaign stop in Kingston, Ont., on April 8, 2011. May is on a whistle stop tour between Toronto and Montreal.
Green
Of the federal food platforms, the Green Party has the only policy that mentions the link between agriculture and climate change.
Key pillars
Go organic
Reward farmers for switching to organic production methods; strengthen Canadian organic standards; implement strict monitoring of pesticides.
Food sovereignty
Expand domestic food production and procurement with “200-kilometre diet” promotion; expand farmers' markets and culinary tourism, rooftop gardens, urban agriculture and seed banks.
Corporate challenge
Reform agricultural regulations “to challenge corporate concentration;” reform farm income supports; encourage grocery retailers to make shelf space for local foods.
Boost research
Government agriculture research shifts from biotechnology to organic production.
Climate change adaptation
Establishment of greenhouse gas emission targets in collaboration with industry.
