Agri-Food FACTS are a guide through the complex food system used to keep the supermarket shelves filled. What does this mean at the kitchen table level?

We want to help make this system more transparent so we can see what to change and how to do it:

What Canadians Actually Eat – FACT Sheet coming …
BC Agri-Food Multiplier Effect – FACTS Sheet under development…

Summary of the Above Sheets

ONE PERSON ANNUAL EATING

VEGETABLES 245 pounds, including Potato 90 pounds (lbs.) (fries & chips, real potato)
FRUIT 205 pounds mainly Banana 65 lbs & Apples 45 lbs (Imports)

French Fries and Potato Chips are NOT Vegetables… they are low nutrient density junk food,
Imports do not create farm jobs and do not have the economic multiplier effect

ECONOMIC MULTIPLIER

Each year in BC the agri-food sector creates a huge amount of economic activity and a massive number of jobs. No one recognizes this. The person on the street would never identify agriculture and food as a strong economic sector for BC. Organic local agri-food is even more powerful because of strong demand growth and willingness to pay a premium.
(excerpts from the report 2012 BC Economy at a Glance, government data)

Economic Value
$2.5 Billion produced + $4.5 B Imports = $7. Billion of primary product
this leads to another ~ $37. Billion of economic activity

THIS IS AN ECONOMIC MULTIPLIER OF 5X OR MORE

More on this later in articles in the works

The 20,000 farm jobs leads to another 260,000 more jobs in the economy e.g. restaurants, supermarkets, trucking, food processing. Organic is more potent because of 10% annual growth compared to 2% or less growth for industrial food.

We will update the above with 2016 census information, in time.