Food Policy pledged in pre-election budget

Released March 19, the federal government’s annual budget for 2019 commits to the development of what it dubbed the Food Policy for Canada, pledging $134.4 million over five years starting in 2019-20 and $5.2 million ongoing.

That $134.4 million funding envelope includes:

• $50 million for a local food infrastructure fund;
• $25 million for a Buy Canadian promotional campaign;
• $15 million for a northern isolated community initiatives fund, backing local food projects, skills training and community freezers and greenhouses, among other projects;
• $20 million toward a Food Waste Reduction Challenge grant plan; and
• $24.4 million to boost federal capacity for detection of and enforcement against food fraud.

The budget also allocates $100 million over five years from the federal Strategic Innovation Fund, starting in 2019–20, to go specifically toward innovation in food processing.