By Angie Rolheiser

Agriculture Roundup for Friday December 10, 2021

Dec 10, 2021 | 9:53 AM

MELFORT, Sask. — Retail food prices have increased.

Many have pointed to rising prices for farm products and the drought, other production problems, the pandemic, or supply-chain issues.

National Farmers Union vice president Stewart Wells said this is not an accurate explanation.

“We just want to make sure that everybody understands that although the prices to primary producers have increased in the last couple of months that is only a tiny portion of the actual food price increase that we are seeing,” Wells said.

Wells said consumers need to know that less and less of the money they spend on food makes it back to the farmer and retail food prices are high because meat packers, other large processors, and big retailers are taking ever larger shares.

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A new AgriCommunication initiative will provide funds to non-profit and Indigenous organizations that work to educate Canadians on how food is produced.

The $8 million available over three years can be used for events that connect farmers’ stories with consumers through events like field days or developing digital tools.

Funding for projects will be cost-shared 70/30 between Ag Canada and the recipients.

Applications will be accepted until Sept. 30, 2023.

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According to Canada’s auditor general, federal inspectors are failing to ensure agricultural producers are properly protecting migrant workers from COVID-19.

Auditor general Karen Hogan said that includes some situations where inspectors have received reports and evidence that health and safety violations have occurred.

The explosive finding is contained in a new auditor general’s report tabled in the House of Commons and follows numerous outbreaks among temporary foreign workers at farms since the start of the pandemic.

The Liberal government promised new requirements for agricultural producers as well as tens of millions in new funding last year to protect from COVID-19 the roughly 50,000 people who come to Canada as seasonal farm workers each year.

Yet while government inspectors deemed virtually all farms compliant with those regulations, Hogan said the vast majority of those passing grades came without proper inspections.

And in some cases, inspectors overlooked or ignored evidence suggesting employers were violating requirements, leaving workers at increased risk of getting sick.

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Alice.McFarlane@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @farmnewsnow