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Home > Programs > Health & Environment > Food and Agriculture
Safe Food and Sustainable Agriculture
As food is a major contributor to human health, agriculture can be a major threat to our environment. In 1999, in response to this threat, Sierra Club Canada launched its "Safe Food and Sustainable Agriculture" program. It addresses many food issues that we struggle with in our daily lives such as intensive livestock operations, genetically modified foods, shrimp and fish aquaculture and the presence of pesticides, hormones and antibiotics in our food.
The Safe Food and Sustainable Agriculture program works to educate rural and urban people alike about the environmental impacts of agriculture. Through the Green Budget Coalition, Sierra Club Canada lobbies the federal government on the federal agricultural policy framework and taxation as related to food and agriculture. Sierra Club Canada also encourages the preservation of publicly funded agricultural research and increasing the number of urban gardens.
On the grassroots level the Health and Environment campaign works directly with local communities in their fight to preserve small-scale family farms amidst the threat of concentrated industrial agriculture operations. The Safe Food and Sustainable Agriculture program also encourages consumers to make food choices which are consistent with their values. Encouraging individuals to buy locally, to buy organic products when possible, to avoid farmed fish and meat raised in factory farms and to limit the distance from farm to fork are fundamentals promoted by the Safe Food and Sustainable Agriculture program.
What is Organic Food?
About Genetically Engineered Food
Genetically Engineered Food - An Introduction
Regulation of Genetically Engineered Foods - A ‘Novel’ Idea
Genetically Engineered Wheat Fact Sheet
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