FOOD SECURITY

I'm returning today from speaking in Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, to organic farmers in the Atlantic provinces of Canada.  As an out-of-the-way place, food security becomes more important.

 All the time I was here, the common lament was that the province imports literally 100 percent of its pork because no abattoir exists to legally process it.  One of the largest agricultural exports on the island is potatoes.  They have a perfect climate and good soils for growing spuds.

 What do spuds and pigs have to do with each other?  Well, tubers are great pig food. 

And whenever you have commercial production of something, you have waste.  Lots of waste.  Tractor trailer loads of waste.

 Food safety regulations shut down the last abattoir on the island several years ago.  That eliminated pig growing.  That eliminated waste potato feeding.  It's a domino effect that happens all over the first tier world:  government intervention destroys local food processing options, then stimulates waste and food insecurity.

 The biggest culprit in food insecurity is not big farmers, big business, lack of knowledge or lack of interest.  It's harassment of local food processors by the tyrannical hand of government, all done in the name of protection. 

 When will we begin mistrusting government as much as we mistrust Monsanto?