I come from a farming family in Saskatchewan, but like many across the country, we are no longer in the business. My grandparents were post-war farmers, succeeded by my father and his siblings, and while my generation of genXers and millennials will gather at family reunions and share fond childhood memories of farm chores and being chased by cattle (after provoking them, of course), none of us ever had the intention to make this our livelihoods.

Who could blame us? Aside from all the charms of country living, we knew that it was a life of long working hours and not much pay–my father’s personal record of spending 40 consecutive hours haying is both impressive and horrifying. To make matters worse, the dominant agricultural model in the country today is one of massively expensive inputs of fertilizer, pesticides and machinery, a huge financial risk with a very small expected rate of return.

Added to this is the challenge of producing food in a global market. Our agricultural system is geared for exports, and we send 50 per cent of the food we produce to other countries. As one of the world’s most important breadbaskets, you would think we are nearly self-sufficient in food production, but that is not the case at all: we are at once the fifth largest food exporter and the sixth largest food importer.

Obviously, we can’t produce everything (try starting a coffee farm in the lush Niagara region), but the way that we produce too much of some things and too little of others has consequences for our farmers and consumers.

For one, aside from a few supply management regulated commodities like milk and eggs, we are at the mercy of the whims of the global market. Canada’s pork industry is in freefall due to a decision made in China—formerly our largest export market for pork—to massively ramp up local production (seemingly in retaliation to the 2018 extradition of Meng Wanzhou). This situation threatens to repeat itself with the canola industry, as China mulls retaliatory action to counter Canada’s tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles.

For consumers, the risks associated with this model are not nearly as dire as they are for producers. Few of us are going to lose our job if the value of canola plummets. Indeed, corporations are only doing what most consumers expect of them: provide cheap food.

It can seem like we are in an era of unprecedented abundance, especially when we compare it to the experience of previous generations. Today the average Canadian spends about 11 per cent of their income on food—a far cry from when my father was a child and food was the largest single household expense (at 19 per cent), itself a period of opulence compared to what my grandmother endured as a child during the Great Depression.

However, those supermarket cornucopias of fresh produce hailing from places like California carry risks, which tend to show themselves during moments of crisis.

Take the pandemic. As borders closed, people panicked at the thought of where their food would come from, food bank use skyrocketed and grocery shelves were cleared. While the situation was quickly resolved, it led to conversations about the fragility of our global supply chains and whether we can rely on them for something as important as food.

A more tangible shock came after the pandemic, when inflation sent food prices skyrocketing. Somehow Canadians were spending significantly more to feed themselves for a plethora of reasons—energy prices, Russia’s war of aggression, labour shortages, climate change.

What’s the solution? Our food system is the result of decades of decisions made mostly in favour of corporations. Even the most benevolent remedies will take decades to implement. Given the respective challenges faced by Canada’s food producers and consumers, perhaps some solutions can be reached by having these two groups interact more, without a byzantine global market standing between them.

Public and farmers’ markets are one way to accomplish this and could be a key component in the diversification of our food systems. By and large, Canadians want to eat locally produced food, but many are at a loss as to how. Farmers want to support their communities and would rather negotiate prices with a neighbour than a savvy multinational agribusiness. For some, they serve as the only way to get their foods to market. A large grocer is not going to go out of their way to stock local produce when they can get it shipped year-round from two countries over.

Public markets also serve more diverse communities and can be a pillar in communities that are inadequately served by dominant retailers. For example, a majority Black community (which, along with Indigenous communities, faces the highest rates of food insecurity in Canada) might have limited access to affordable options or foods common in Caribbean and African diets. Public markets can provide this while also providing an outlet for Black farmers. Access to markets for Indigenous farmers, hunters and harvesters is a step towards revitalizing Indigenous food systems and strengthening Indigenous food sovereignty.

Having a means to directly support small-scale farmers is also a way to support sustainable agroecological approaches that work within environments rather than against them. In the global south, despite pressures to move towards a high-input model of farming—often promoted by Canadian corporations looking to expand their markets for patented seeds and pesticides—small-scale farmers are still a significant component of local food systems, and the land under their tenure is a haven of biodiversity.

In Canada, many of these approaches (often referred to as permaculture or regenerative agriculture) are being re-introduced by enterprising young farmers who often face steep barriers to entry.

Public markets build community ties, enhance trust, and increase transparency about where food is coming from; indeed, many farmers periodically invite their customers to visit their farms. This helps consumers understand the true cost of farming, free of negative externalities, and gives the consumer reassurance that their dollars are not paying corporate shareholders. What this means is that often prices are not competitive with those of large retailers, and these markets can sometimes be seen as exclusionary. However, local governments can both support local food systems and those facing food insecurity through the provision of nutrition coupons that are tied to public markets.

In addition to unforeseen shocks like pandemics and war, the greatest threat to our food systems comes from climate change. Our current agricultural model is a major greenhouse gas emitter, works within narrow local climate conditions, and leaves land and waters more prone to the effects of droughts, floods, and infestation. The way we farm needs to change in order to adapt.

Young farmers are leading the way. With 40 per cent of farmers set to retire over the next decade, a new model that ties local farms to the local food system and environment is one way we can hope to replenish our depleted farming communities.

Maybe the next generation won’t be as quick to dismiss farm life as I was.