Saskatchewan Top Ranked Province on Conference Board of Canada's Food Report Card
OTTAWA, May 18, 2017 /CNW/ - Saskatchewan is the top performer on The Conference Board of Canada's food report card. Canada's Food Report Card: Provincial Performance assesses the performance of the provinces' food systems and food sectors based on five categories: industry prosperity, healthy food and diets, food safety, household food security, and environmental sustainability.
"Overall, Saskatchewan is the only standout performer on our food report card with "A"s in all but one category," said Jean-Charles Le Vallée, Associate Director, Centre for Food, The Conference Board of Canada. "Compared to its peers, Saskatchewan has a very large and profitable farming industry, coupled with a strong food manufacturing sector, which places it at the head of the class on industry prosperity. The province is also at the head of the class on food safety."
Highlights
- Saskatchewan is the best performing province.
- Saskatchewan leads the provinces on industry prosperity and food safety.
- The province's lowest grade, a "B" is awarded for its performance in healthy food and diets.
Saskatchewan Best on Industry Prosperity and Food Safety
Saskatchewan is Canada's strongest provincial industry prosperity performer and is the only province to get an "A" in this category. In all, the province receives ten "A" grades and five "B" grades out of 17 industry prosperity metrics. It ranks first among the provinces on: farm area, average size of farm, average annual net value added contribution of agriculture, farming return on assets, and food service establishments operating margin. However, Saskatchewan does receive two "D" grades for solvency ratio and per capita grocery sales.
Saskatchewan receives nearly all "A"s on the food safety category, making it the highest ranked province. Saskatchewan has low incidences of reported food-borne illnesses and animal condemnations. Their lowest grade is a "C" on food recalls, as it has the highest rate of food recalls per 100,000 people among the provinces.
Province Top Performer on Food Security and Environmental Sustainability
Saskatchewan receives "A" grades on two other food performance categories: household food security and environmental sustainability.
When it comes to household food security, Saskatchewan receives another overall "A" grade. Residents of Saskatchewan, in comparison to the rest of Canadians, are statistically less likely to be worried they will run out of food, be hungry but unable to eat, lose weight due to hunger, or use food banks. However, the report card highlights some areas in need of improvement. Single parents with children tend to be 14 per cent more food insecure in Saskatchewan than in Quebec. In addition, the province has the lowest number of food stores per 1,000 inhabitants.
Saskatchewan is one of only two provinces to receive an "A" grade on environmental sustainability relating to food. It scores "A" grades in 10 of the 15 indicators in this category. Saskatchewan farms demonstrate stronger performance on air quality, water contamination, and soil health performance metrics. However, the province is one of the largest emitters of particulate matter emissions and performs below its peers on environmental farm planning. When it comes to household food waste, Saskatchewan does not perform as well, with relatively high rates of food over-acquisition, food not being used by the best before date, and bulk buying—all leading causes of household food waste in Canada.
Solid Performance on Healthy Food and Diets
Saskatchewan's lowest grade, a "B", is awarded for its performance on the healthy food and diets category. When it comes to healthy food and diets, Saskatchewanians, like most Canadians, consume more calories and sodium than they need, and do not eat enough fruits and vegetables, fish and shellfish. On the bright side, Saskatchewan receives "A" and "B" grades for most the indicators used to assess diet-related chronic diseases and health conditions.
In all, 63 food performance metrics were used to evaluate the overall food performance of the provinces. Definitions for the indicators and the full report are available from our e-Library.
Canada's Food Report Card: Provincial Performance was prepared for The Conference Board of Canada's Canadian Food Observatory (CFO). The Observatory monitors progress on improving food performance, spurs the required changes, and encourages action to make the Canadian Food Strategy a reality.
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A copy of the report is provided for reporting purposes only. Please do not redistribute it or post it online in any form.
SOURCE Conference Board of Canada
Natasha Jamieson, Communications Coordinator, The Conference Board of Canada, Tel.: 613-526-3090 ext. 307, E-mail: [email protected]; or Juline Ranger, Director of Communications, The Conference Board of Canada, Tel.: 613-526-3090 ext. 431, E-mail: [email protected]
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