Blueberry controversy sparks debate on Higgs agricultural policy
CBC
Dramatic aerial images of large-scale blueberry farming on the Acadian Peninsula has sparked a renewed political debate about the Higgs government's agricultural policy.
The Opposition Liberals have called for a moratorium on further expansion of the growing sector, something Progressive Conservative agricultural minister Margaret Johnson has rejected.
At the same time, Green MLA Kevin Arseneau has linked the blueberry controversy to the shrinking number of locally owned farms in the province and the current government's support for industrial-level production.
"This government continues, like successive governments, to put a lot of thought and energy into intensification of production, not the diversification of production," he said in the legislature this week.
"What's going to help to feed New Brunswickers is the diversification of production."
Expansion plans by Oxford Frozen Foods on the Acadian Peninsula gained new attention earlier this month after Radio-Canada aired striking drone images of the company's existing industrial-scale blueberry farming.
The company has bought up several blueberry farms in the region, and critics say its growing presence puts downward pressure on prices paid to the remaining local growers.
Arseneau cited Statistics Canada data showing that one in five locally owned farms closed their doors in New Brunswick between 2016 and 2021.
That means a dwindling base of local farms and a growing role for larger corporate-owned operations, he said — an assertion backed by statistics from the National Farmers Union.
"We're losing small farms," said the NFU's executive director in New Brunswick Suzanne Fournier.
Arseneau recently introduced a motion calling for more help from government to support local products, something Premier Blaine Higgs said this week he was reluctant to subsidize because farms are subject to market forces like any other businesses.
"It's the supply and demand concept. Business speaks for itself in terms of can it be viable or can it not be viable?" the premier said.
"To say that the government should try to fund all kinds of different small farms — that could be a pretty tall order."
Johnson spoke in the legislature and to reporters the same day about the New Brunswick Local Food and Beverages Strategy, launched in 2021.