The Canadian Produce Marketing Association celebrated Canada’s Agriculture Day earlier this week. Canada’s Agriculture Day highlights the importance of the agricultural sector and fosters a closer connection with consumers by educating them about where their food comes from and the people who produce it. As an industry, the fresh produce supply chains contributes $14 billion to Canada’s GDP and supports over 181,000 jobs across the country.

“Canada’s Agriculture Day celebrates the food we love and those that produce it,” said Les Mallard, chair of the CPMA board of directors. “The fresh produce industry is an important part of the agricultural sector and essential to the health of Canadians, as highlighted in the new Canada Food Guide. CPMA strongly supports evidence-based policy making and is encouraged by the Half Your Plate message in the new Food Guide. We would like to thank Ministers Lawrence MacAulay and Ginette Petitpas Taylor for their continued support of the fresh produce industry in Canada.”

“In 2019, CPMA and the fresh produce industry are undertaking new initiatives that align with both consumer and government priorities,” said CPMA President Ron Lemaire. “As an association, we will be devoting considerable resources to developing a new tool to mitigate food loss and waste across the supply chain while also working to ensure that our members have access to information on innovations and businesses disrupting our industry. We look forward to launching a number of new initiatives at our upcoming Convention and Trade Show in Montreal in April.”

CPMA said it continues to work with the government on a number of important policy files, including the new Food Policy for Canada, international trade diversification, and the implementation of the new Safe Food for Canadians Regulations.