UFCW calls for action and leadership on National Food Policy

Ottawa – December 5, 2018 – Canada’s food workers’ union is joining other civil society voices in calling on the federal government for action and leadership on food policy.

SEND A LETTER CALLING FOR ACTION!

Since 2015, when the government first committed to creating a National Food Policy, UFCW has served as the voice of food workers in the consultation process, demanding that food workers must have a central role in developing the priorities for Canada’s food system.

And now, three years later, UFCW joins other organizations from the food and civil society movement in calling on the federal government to exercise leadership, from the top, to deliver A Food Policy for Canada that champions the interests of all Canadians.

Trades unions are a central part of civil society, and the voice of food workers must have a strong and meaningful place in the creation and governance of Canada’s National Food Policy.

UFCW Canada is calling on all members, activists and allies to support the demand for action in creating a National Food Policy that puts Canadians first!

SEND A LETTER to Federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau calling for action.

Name:

E-mail:

Message:

Dear Minister Bibeau:

I join the United Food and Commercial Workers union, and other civil society organizations, in calling for A Food Policy for Canada that champions the interests of all Canadians.

That goal can only be achieved with the inclusion of food worker voices in the development and governance of this crucial policy for our country’s food system.

Food workers must serve a central role in the development and governance process if the National Food Policy is to be built on the feedback of Canadians (as detailed in the “What We Heard” report). Actions on important issues like food safety will be less effective if the people who make and handle our food are excluded. They are the front lines and, if need be, the whistle-blowers in the food growing, harvesting, and manufacturing processes.

Furthermore, any conversation about identified priorities such as “worker welfare”, “labour rights”, “social justice” (or food justice), “addressing labour shortages”, “technological innovation” and its impacts, or “sustainability” will be incomplete without the direct input of food workers.

To that end, the federal government must act on the public recommendation for an “external advisory body.” More specifically, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW Canada) union has proudly joined other key stakeholders in calling for the establishment of a National Food Policy Council that must include representatives from labour, industry and civil society.

Minister, we need action and leadership on food policy now. And that action must include the voices of food workers.

Sincerely,

Verification

Canada's Private Sector Union

UFCW calls for action and leadership on National Food Policy