NDP's Local Food Act aims to get more B.C. food into hospitals
The B.C. NDP plans to introduce legislation this week to promote local food consumption in B.C. and set requirements for local products at public-sector facilities, such as hospitals and residential care homes.
The Local Food Act is meant to ensure an increased and stable demand for local food, improve public awareness of B.C.-made food, and bolster the province's food security, among other goals.
NDP Agriculture critic Lana Popham said one of the changes would be requiring 30 per cent of hospital food to be from B.C.
About $500 million is spent on hospital food in the Lower Mainland alone each year, said Popham.
"So if you spread that across the province ... the stability that would bring and the multiplier effect would be enormous," she said.
Hospitals already use B.C. milk, eggs and bread, said Popham.
For the bill to pass it would need support from the governing B.C. Liberals.
B.C. Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick doesn't think changes are needed and says farms are thriving.
"We continue to see growing agriculture sales, up 3.5 per cent in the year, we continue to see strong beef prices, [farmers] are very happy," he said.
B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake agrees.
"I know that [health authorities] do make every effort to have local foods and local products in their hospitals, but there is no move right now to mandate that they have local food."
