PRESS RELEASE

New GPI report details farm contributions to rural NS and PEI

Rural communities in peril as farms falter, food imports grow
NS agriculture jobs at record low, age of farmers at record high

The jobs, wages, and community leadership that farms provide Nova Scotia and PEI rural communities are in danger of drying up as local farms go deeper into debt and Maritimers consume ever more imported food.

That’s the conclusion of a new 338-page report by GPI Atlantic, a Nova Scotia based non-profit research group that is constructing new measures of progress for the province. The report, titled Towards a Healthy Farm and Food Sector, documents—more extensively than ever before—the economic, social, and environmental contribution of farmers to rural communities, and describes them as “anchors” of their communities.

Real wages (adjusted for inflation) paid by farmers have more then doubled in the last 35 years, reaching $96 million in Nova Scotia and $67 million in PEI—a significant contribution to rural economies—even as farm incomes have declined. Over the last 20 years, this wage bill has risen sharply in relation to total farm expenses, and now comes to 20% of total farm expenses in Nova Scotia and 17% in PEI (compared to a national average of just 11%).

Nova Scotia farmers now produce only $4.77 in cash receipts for every dollar spent on wages, compared to about $8 in the early 80s—a decline of about 40%, while PEI farmers now produce just $5.74 in receipts for every dollar spent on wages, compared to about $10 in the early 1980s—a decline of about 35%. But other costs like fuel and fertilizer have also risen, so that farm income no longer covers expenses.

As a result, farms have had to cut back their costs and even to sell off land—affecting not only on-farm jobs but also upstream local businesses from veterinarians to mechanics to feed suppliers and downstream businesses like food processors. Since 2001 alone, jobs in agriculture have dropped by 36% in Nova Scotia—from 7,300 to 4,700, the lowest number ever recorded. In PEI, the sharpest job loss in agriculture occurred somewhat earlier, falling from 6,100 in 1986 to 3,900 today—also a drop of 36%.

“As farming becomes less viable, it’s also less attractive to young people,” observes Jennifer Scott, the report’s lead author. “What young farmer is going to take on a huge debt and go into an occupation where you can’t make ends meet? The sad part is that this is leading to an exodus of talented young people from rural communities, which in turn reduces the resilience, strength, diversity, and vitality of these communities.”

She notes that the proportion of young farmers in both Nova Scotia and PEI is now at its lowest level in recorded history. Only 7% of Nova Scotian farmers and 9% of PEI farmers are today under 35—in both cases less than half the proportion just 15 years ago—while 45% of Nova Scotia farmers and 39% of PEI farmers are 55 or older.

Scott attributes the decline in farm and rural viability to low farm product prices, which in turn result from increasing reliance on imported food produced with cheap labour and under questionable safety and labour conditions in China and elsewhere. Nationwide, the GPI report shows, Canada now imports nearly all its fruit and 54% of its vegetables, whereas 40 years ago only 22% of vegetables were imported. Meat and poultry imports have jumped more than six-fold, even though Canada has the capacity to be entirely self-sufficient in both.

As a result, local farmers are seeing a declining share of the consumer food dollar. In Nova Scotia, only about 7% of the consumer food dollar is now returned to farmers—down from 10% in the 1990s. This decline, in turn, has a negative spin-off effect on rural communities that depend on a healthy agriculture system for their own viability.

Despite these troubling trends, Scott finds hope in the growing demand for healthy, fresh, and nutritious locally produced food—a demand that is being fuelled by rising concerns over the safety and questionable food value of imported food. She notes that this demand is likely to be strengthened further as rising global fuel, transportation, and food prices and global economic woes dampen trade and threaten imported food supply lines.

The GPI report documents the dramatic expansion of farmers’ markets both locally and throughout North America. In Nova Scotia, there are now more than 15 farmers’ markets operating in different parts of the province doing business valued at more than $62 million to the provincial economy. In the U.S., the number of farmers’ markets increased 2.5 fold between 1994 and 2006 alone, currently number 4,385, and account for an estimated $1 billion of local food sales in the U.S.

“This is ironic,” says Scott. “Just as local farming is unravelling, Canadians and Maritimers are increasingly interested in buying locally grown food. This raises the challenging question: Do we have the capacity to meet the demand and to produce the local food that people want?”

Because this question holds a key to rural community viability altogether, the GPI report strongly recommends tracking indicators of local food consumption that are not currently monitored properly and consistently, including

• the percentage of the consumer food basket consisting of locally produced food,
• the percentage of retail food product procurement from local suppliers,
• the percentage of local food ordered by hospitals, schools, universities, and government agencies, and
• the proportion of the consumer food dollar returned to local farmers.

The report can be accessed here.

For interviews or questions on this report, please call
Jennifer Scott, at: 902-757-1640.

GPI Atlantic Executive Director, Ronald Colman, can be reached at 902-489-7007.

Commentary available from Laurence Nason, Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture Executive Director - 902-893-2293

Funding towards this study was kindly provided by the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Prince Edward Island Department of Agriculture, Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada, the Canadian Rural Partnership, and GPI Atlantic members.