The Past, Present and Future of Canada’s Agricultural Policy Framework
Thursday April 9 @ 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
This event is hosted by the National Farmers Union (NFU) in collaboration with EFAO and Young Agrarians. Registration will take place through the NFU.
This is a moment for change! We need your voice to help shape the future of agriculture in Canada.
The Canadian Agricultural Policy Framework is the main funding framework for programs and services for farmers across Canada. Consultations are underway towards the Next Agricultural Policy Framework (NPF) – this means that the next few months are a very important time for farmer voices and advocacy!
Policies in this framework impact on-the-ground experiences of farmers and farm workers across the country. They are integral to Canada’s agricultural success, not just today but for generations in the future.
The NPF represents billions of dollars of spending that sets the goals of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and provincial Ministries of Agriculture for the next five years. The NPF negotiations are a special opportunity to advocate for programs and policies that support Canadian farmers for years to come. This session is the first part of a series that the NFU is running in collaboration with Young Agrarians and the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario to hear from our members about what they want included in the NPF and to provide information on how to get involved. Be a part of grassroots organizing to shape the Canadian food system you want to see.
Before we look forward to the 2028-2033 NPF, Naomi Robert will take us back in time to give us a historical view of how the goals of the framework have shifted over time and its treatment of support for family farms, rural communities and sectoral growth. This narrative analysis sets the stage for the importance of grassroots advocacy on the NPF.
This first session will be followed up with an organizing session on Thursday, April 16th (Noon PST / 1pm MST / 2pm SK, MB / 3pm EST / 4pm AST) with event facilitators Ayla Fenton (Young Agrarians), Stuart Oke (EFAO), and Sophie McCafferty (Young Agrarians). They will walk through the consultation question by question, using a survey guide to anchor answers around new farmer issues and local food system development. Your own perspective matters, and we want to hear it!
Here, we’ll be turning knowledge into action! This session will be a guided conversation about how to mobilize and organize around what we learned in the knowledge-building session on April 9th. It will be a chance to learn about and dig into the NPF, figure out what actually matters to you, and fill out the public consultation together, live. Register for both sessions today!
About the facilitators:
Naomi Robert is a Senior Research and Extension Associate at the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems, at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Her research, teaching, and community work focuses on regional food systems, the impacts of neoliberalism in Canadian food and agricultural policy, and how to center equity and ecological integrity through economic reform. Naomi is a founder of the Pacific Coastal Dry Farming Collaborative and co-chair of the Comox Valley Food Policy Council.
Since 2013, Ayla Fenton has worked on diverse agroecological farms throughout Anishnaabe and Haudenosaunee territories (eastern Ontario), learning how to live in right relations with the land through regenerative and community-oriented food production. For over a decade, she has been organizing new and young farmers and farmworkers nationally through the National Farmers Union and internationally through La Via Campesina, building collective power and advocating for the transition to agroecology, food sovereignty and climate justice. Over the past several years, she has developed an urban community farm and new farmer training program in her hometown of Kingston, ON. She currently works as the Policy Manager for Young Agrarians, organizing and advocating to improve access to land and capital for new and young farmers across Canada. She is excited to bring her social movements experience and a collaborative focus to this work.You can read more about Young Agrarians policy work at youngagrarians.org/policy.
Stuart Oke is the co-owner and operator of Rooted Oak Farm, a certified organic CSA and market garden serving customers from Ottawa to Kingston. Alongside his work on the farm, he is the Government Relations Coordinator at the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario. Stuart is deeply involved in agricultural policy and advocacy. He serves as a Director and Land Transition Research Coordinator for the National Farmers Union (Ontario) and sits on the Policy Working Group for Farmers for Climate Solutions. He is a current National Board member and previous Youth president of the National Farmers Union. He is a past Vice President of Canadian Organic Growers as well as Communications and Membership Manager at the Organic Council of Ontario. In addition to his farming and policy work, Stuart co-produces and hosts the Sow and Grow Podcast, which explores the forces shaping Canadian agriculture.
Passionate about food, community and ecology, Sophie McCafferty (she/her) can usually be found with her hands in the ground. Currently completing a Master’s in Environmental Science at l’Université de Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Sophie’s research explores how market access impacts beginning farmer resilience. Her work takes a holistic, transdisciplinary approach to environmental research, stewardship, and justice. She also is grateful for her time supporting the NDP agriculture critic, MP Richard Cannings, gaining insight into how federal politics can support grassroots initiatives. Committed to amplifying farmers’ voices, Sophie is currently working as the Farm Engagement Coordinator at Young Agrarians. Most of all, Sophie loves spending time on the Hudson Heartbeet Community farm where she gets to ground her knowledge and spend time with the people she loves.