Ontario PCs want to add food literacy to the province’s proposed Local Food Act.
The MPP bringing forward the amendment to the act says that in his party’s consultations with industry stakeholders, the PCs found that food literacy was a theme that kept being brought up. “One of the main things that we found out in our consultations is that food literacy seems to be something missing…including understanding of what local food means,” said Ernie Hardeman, PC Ag critic.
The party’s education critic is also pushing this: “We need our students today for the next generation to understand where food comes from…how it is cultivated, how it reaches market and how to prepare it…this will prepare them for life,” says Lisa MacLeod.
The NDP is also on board with this.
Food literacy is a basic survival skill at a time when conventional food sources are under threat, and junk-food diets are bringing on chronic diseases that ruin lives and bankrupt governments.
