Canada grows enough food to feed nations, yet food insecurity is soaring at home. A deep dive into the Prairie Disconnect and Canada’s broken food system.
1. Provincial politicians are increasingly most concerned about the welfare of their corporate citizens rather than their human citizens (AB, SK and ON are perfect examples of this trend); and
2. Our anti-trust machinery is insufficiently engaged and insufficiently ambitious. Food retailing in this country should have been a target for the past 25 years; it is shameful that we are in so many places lacking true retail competition.
One paragraph brought tears to my eyes; that Canadians agreed wholeheartedly in no tax on real food. As an Edmontonian from a farm family, I see and live what you've written. Excellent work!
That section stayed with me too — not because it’s policy, but because it shows something deeply Canadian: even under strain, people still draw a line around what’s fair. No tax on real food is one of the few places where Canadians speak with one voice.
And hearing this from someone who lives the farm side of the story — especially in Alberta, where the pressures are hitting hardest — adds a weight no statistic ever could. Thank you for sharing that. Farmers carry so much of the load for this country, often without being fully seen.
I’m really grateful you took the time to read it, and even more grateful you reached out.
My brothers and parents farm. I'm the daughter retired from working health care. And still a gardener, seeing the results of food insecurity in downtown Edmonton.
While I agree with almost all of this, I have to,point out that a huge amount of all of this change, has taken place under and with the blessings of Conservative Premiers and Prime Minister. Yes, the Liberals could certainly have helped, but I find that what happened 5-10 years ago, by any level of government has repercussions in the now, that no one saw coming, or if they did, they either didn’t care or didn’t believe that’d happen.
You’re right — so much of what we’re dealing with now took root years ago, across different governments and different political colours. A lot of the strain we’re feeling didn’t come out of nowhere; it’s the slow accumulation of choices that weren’t corrected when they could have been.
And in a federation as big and varied as ours, progress can stall when provinces and the federal government pull in opposite directions or get caught in regional turf wars. Everyone ends up waiting for someone else to move first.
That’s exactly why I think this issue needs a broad, cross-Canada push. Food shouldn’t be a partisan file — it’s one of the few places where every government, past and present, has both responsibility and room to do better.
Thank you for bringing this into the conversation.
You’re welcome Leni. I’ve realized that like pebbles thrown into a puddle, it’s the ripples that we should be paying attention to, because sometimes those last few dying ripples in political decisions are the ones that tear everything apart.
Case in point…in BC, back in the 1990’s there were way too many doctors so the then NDP government decided that the best way to address that issue was to cut student placements at all our Universities to the bone and drastically reduce the number of graduates.
That worked right up until 2010, but with the growing population in the province there was starting to be concerns that there was no longer a surplus but a bit of a deficit. But the then fake “Liberals” who were in office decided to ignore the issue, since it wasn’t that bad.
And then with Covid in 2020, and the high burn out rate it became very obvious that we were in free fall for health care workers then and now everyone is scrambling.
All political decisions create ripples that spread out over time, and most of us rarely see or understand how what’s happening currently has been caused by decisions made, 5,10, 20, years before. And sadly that’s because humans are incredibly bad at looking at all eventualities of an idea.
And just so you know your article was an excellent example of intelligent, well thought out and researched journalism. I truly enjoyed reading it!
Alexis, that’s a really strong example — and it captures the core problem so well. Short-term thinking that makes one government’s balance sheet look tidy on paper can leave the next generation holding the bag. We see versions of that across all tiers of government in Canada.
When policy is built around the next quarter or the next election instead of the next decade, we slowly erode the systems we rely on without noticing until the strain is undeniable.
Thank you for bringing that insight into the conversation — it adds a lot.
If more people understood "Alberta" and "Saskatchewan" not as self-determined governments, but as foreign imposed resource-extraction corporations with a loyal foreign workforce, the origins of these and many policy issues become obvious.
The "provinces" and provincial territorial expansions (such as northward expansions of Ontario and Quebec), carved out what the Dominion of Canada government thought of as the North Western Territories, requires a total rethink.
Russell, thanks for adding your perspective and for sharing the background work you’ve done on the formation of Alberta and the Prairie provinces. There’s a lot of complicated history in how Canada’s regions were shaped, and people bring different frameworks to that story — including the colonial, economic, and governance lenses you’re raising here.
For this piece, though, I’m looking more squarely at present-day food systems and the structural gaps that leave so many households struggling despite our agricultural strength. Prairie history matters to that story, but the thrust of the argument here is about pricing power, supply chains, and the policy levers we do control today — regardless of how the provinces were originally constituted.
Your broader critique sits in a different conversation than this particular article, though I appreciate that you’re trying to situate Alberta’s resource history in the bigger picture. Thanks for taking the time to read and engage. It definitely has a place at the table.
I guess I don’t see these as separate, and putting everything in the context of the origin stories of a peoples (even the settler-colonial population of a province) goes a long way to understanding the present-day.
What you highlighted with food systems do not feel to me to be accidental “structural gaps”, but deliberate policy choices based on different economic theories (Capitalism is not a binary yes/no policy question). I may not personally agree with those choices, but they need to be acknowledged as choices.
Alberta and Saskatchewan do not share an origin story with the southern parts of Ontario and Quebec, which is a huge reason why the phrase “Laurentian elite” quite legitimately comes up often in political conversations.
I don’t believe there is a pan-Canadian “Identity”, “Values”, “Culture” or “Heritage” when it comes to things such as economic theories, individual/collective responsibilities, etc, given the different regions have very different origin stories.
The origin story of “Canada” (French Colony of Canada 1534–1763, British province of Quebec, parts not taken over by USA split into the southern parts of Ontario and a new Quebec in 1867, etc) really has nothing to do with the northern and western regions of what is claimed to be the jurisdiction of modern-day “Canada”.
The more articles are written under some pan-Canadian context, and a pan-Canadian use of the term "we", the more divisiveness will be perceived, and the less likely citizen-oriented policies will ever be explored as the focus will always be on those “outsiders” (“Laurentian elite”, etc, etc).
Note: There are people in modern-day Quebec and modern-day Alberta that believe they are "colonized" or under occupation by the foreign government of 1867+ "Canada". I don't personally agree with either, but that doesn't mean I don't always remain aware of the fact that these groups exist and have a huge impact on the politics in those regions.
Excellent article. We’re seeing and feeling this also in BC - a significant food basket producer yet witnessing monopolized markets and crazy prices. These are policy decisions we need to rally to change. Thanks for sharing the draft letter as well. The more copies of this letter our politicians see, the more they will understand this is a growing movement!
What you’re describing in BC lines up with so much of what I’ve been hearing — a province that grows so much good food, yet still faces monopoly pricing and limited choice. It’s frustrating, and it’s not something families should have to navigate on their own.
And thank you for highlighting the letter. You’re right: when the same message arrives from many different households, it stops being background noise and starts looking like a pattern politicians can’t ignore.
The fact that people across the country are willing to speak up — calmly, clearly, and together — gives me real hope that we can push this file forward.
Grateful you took the time to share your perspective.
This is an excellent essay. I'd argue two things:
1. Provincial politicians are increasingly most concerned about the welfare of their corporate citizens rather than their human citizens (AB, SK and ON are perfect examples of this trend); and
2. Our anti-trust machinery is insufficiently engaged and insufficiently ambitious. Food retailing in this country should have been a target for the past 25 years; it is shameful that we are in so many places lacking true retail competition.
I agree with you wholeheartedly on both points Chip.
One paragraph brought tears to my eyes; that Canadians agreed wholeheartedly in no tax on real food. As an Edmontonian from a farm family, I see and live what you've written. Excellent work!
That section stayed with me too — not because it’s policy, but because it shows something deeply Canadian: even under strain, people still draw a line around what’s fair. No tax on real food is one of the few places where Canadians speak with one voice.
And hearing this from someone who lives the farm side of the story — especially in Alberta, where the pressures are hitting hardest — adds a weight no statistic ever could. Thank you for sharing that. Farmers carry so much of the load for this country, often without being fully seen.
I’m really grateful you took the time to read it, and even more grateful you reached out.
My brothers and parents farm. I'm the daughter retired from working health care. And still a gardener, seeing the results of food insecurity in downtown Edmonton.
While I agree with almost all of this, I have to,point out that a huge amount of all of this change, has taken place under and with the blessings of Conservative Premiers and Prime Minister. Yes, the Liberals could certainly have helped, but I find that what happened 5-10 years ago, by any level of government has repercussions in the now, that no one saw coming, or if they did, they either didn’t care or didn’t believe that’d happen.
Alexis, I’m really glad you raised this.
You’re right — so much of what we’re dealing with now took root years ago, across different governments and different political colours. A lot of the strain we’re feeling didn’t come out of nowhere; it’s the slow accumulation of choices that weren’t corrected when they could have been.
And in a federation as big and varied as ours, progress can stall when provinces and the federal government pull in opposite directions or get caught in regional turf wars. Everyone ends up waiting for someone else to move first.
That’s exactly why I think this issue needs a broad, cross-Canada push. Food shouldn’t be a partisan file — it’s one of the few places where every government, past and present, has both responsibility and room to do better.
Thank you for bringing this into the conversation.
You’re welcome Leni. I’ve realized that like pebbles thrown into a puddle, it’s the ripples that we should be paying attention to, because sometimes those last few dying ripples in political decisions are the ones that tear everything apart.
Case in point…in BC, back in the 1990’s there were way too many doctors so the then NDP government decided that the best way to address that issue was to cut student placements at all our Universities to the bone and drastically reduce the number of graduates.
That worked right up until 2010, but with the growing population in the province there was starting to be concerns that there was no longer a surplus but a bit of a deficit. But the then fake “Liberals” who were in office decided to ignore the issue, since it wasn’t that bad.
And then with Covid in 2020, and the high burn out rate it became very obvious that we were in free fall for health care workers then and now everyone is scrambling.
All political decisions create ripples that spread out over time, and most of us rarely see or understand how what’s happening currently has been caused by decisions made, 5,10, 20, years before. And sadly that’s because humans are incredibly bad at looking at all eventualities of an idea.
And just so you know your article was an excellent example of intelligent, well thought out and researched journalism. I truly enjoyed reading it!
Alexis, that’s a really strong example — and it captures the core problem so well. Short-term thinking that makes one government’s balance sheet look tidy on paper can leave the next generation holding the bag. We see versions of that across all tiers of government in Canada.
When policy is built around the next quarter or the next election instead of the next decade, we slowly erode the systems we rely on without noticing until the strain is undeniable.
Thank you for bringing that insight into the conversation — it adds a lot.
If more people understood "Alberta" and "Saskatchewan" not as self-determined governments, but as foreign imposed resource-extraction corporations with a loyal foreign workforce, the origins of these and many policy issues become obvious.
https://r.flora.ca/p/alberta
The "provinces" and provincial territorial expansions (such as northward expansions of Ontario and Quebec), carved out what the Dominion of Canada government thought of as the North Western Territories, requires a total rethink.
Russell, thanks for adding your perspective and for sharing the background work you’ve done on the formation of Alberta and the Prairie provinces. There’s a lot of complicated history in how Canada’s regions were shaped, and people bring different frameworks to that story — including the colonial, economic, and governance lenses you’re raising here.
For this piece, though, I’m looking more squarely at present-day food systems and the structural gaps that leave so many households struggling despite our agricultural strength. Prairie history matters to that story, but the thrust of the argument here is about pricing power, supply chains, and the policy levers we do control today — regardless of how the provinces were originally constituted.
Your broader critique sits in a different conversation than this particular article, though I appreciate that you’re trying to situate Alberta’s resource history in the bigger picture. Thanks for taking the time to read and engage. It definitely has a place at the table.
I guess I don’t see these as separate, and putting everything in the context of the origin stories of a peoples (even the settler-colonial population of a province) goes a long way to understanding the present-day.
What you highlighted with food systems do not feel to me to be accidental “structural gaps”, but deliberate policy choices based on different economic theories (Capitalism is not a binary yes/no policy question). I may not personally agree with those choices, but they need to be acknowledged as choices.
Alberta and Saskatchewan do not share an origin story with the southern parts of Ontario and Quebec, which is a huge reason why the phrase “Laurentian elite” quite legitimately comes up often in political conversations.
I don’t believe there is a pan-Canadian “Identity”, “Values”, “Culture” or “Heritage” when it comes to things such as economic theories, individual/collective responsibilities, etc, given the different regions have very different origin stories.
The origin story of “Canada” (French Colony of Canada 1534–1763, British province of Quebec, parts not taken over by USA split into the southern parts of Ontario and a new Quebec in 1867, etc) really has nothing to do with the northern and western regions of what is claimed to be the jurisdiction of modern-day “Canada”.
The more articles are written under some pan-Canadian context, and a pan-Canadian use of the term "we", the more divisiveness will be perceived, and the less likely citizen-oriented policies will ever be explored as the focus will always be on those “outsiders” (“Laurentian elite”, etc, etc).
Note: There are people in modern-day Quebec and modern-day Alberta that believe they are "colonized" or under occupation by the foreign government of 1867+ "Canada". I don't personally agree with either, but that doesn't mean I don't always remain aware of the fact that these groups exist and have a huge impact on the politics in those regions.
Excellent article. We’re seeing and feeling this also in BC - a significant food basket producer yet witnessing monopolized markets and crazy prices. These are policy decisions we need to rally to change. Thanks for sharing the draft letter as well. The more copies of this letter our politicians see, the more they will understand this is a growing movement!
What you’re describing in BC lines up with so much of what I’ve been hearing — a province that grows so much good food, yet still faces monopoly pricing and limited choice. It’s frustrating, and it’s not something families should have to navigate on their own.
And thank you for highlighting the letter. You’re right: when the same message arrives from many different households, it stops being background noise and starts looking like a pattern politicians can’t ignore.
The fact that people across the country are willing to speak up — calmly, clearly, and together — gives me real hope that we can push this file forward.
Grateful you took the time to share your perspective.