2015 Bill 202 First Session, 29th Legislature, 64 Elizabeth II THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ALBERTA BILL 202 ALBERTA LOCAL FOOD ACT CORTES-VARGAS First Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Second Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Committee of the Whole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Third Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Royal Assent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bill 202 Cortes-Vargas BILL 202 2015 ALBERTA LOCAL FOOD ACT (Assented to , 2015) HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, enacts as follows:

Definitions 1 In this Act, (a) “Advisory Committee” means the Advisory Committee on Food and Agriculture established pursuant to

section 3; (b) “local food” means (

i) food produced or harvested in Alberta, and (ii) subject to any limitations in the regulations, food and beverages made in Alberta if they include ingredients produced or harvested in Alberta; (c) “local food assessment” means an assessment of local food systems that provides an inventory of food resources available at both a province-wide level and within regions, and an investigation into the scope of barriers to, and opportunities for, local food production, processing, distribution and marketing with the goal of increasing local food consumption; (d) “Minister” means the Minister determined under

section 16 of the Government Organization Act as the Minister responsible for this Act; (e) “public sector organization” means 1

(

i) a department, branch or office of the Government of Alberta, (ii) an agency, board or commission of the Government of Alberta, (iii) a facility within the meaning of

section 1 of the Mental Health Act, (iv) a hospital within the meaning of

section 1 of the Hospitals Act, (

v) an auxiliary hospital within the meaning of

section 1 of the Hospitals Act, (vi) a nursing home within the meaning of

section 1 of the Nursing Homes Act, (vii) a school or post-secondary institution in Alberta the enrolments of which are counted for purposes of calculating annual operating grants and entitlements, or (viii) any other organization prescribed in the regulations; (f) “strategy” means the Alberta Local Food and Agriculture Strategy developed pursuant to

section 4. Purposes 2 The purposes of this Act are as follows: (

a) to ensure a resilient, sustainable and strong local food economy and agricultural land base in Alberta; (

b) to improve and maximize economic return and food security by maintaining agricultural land for the purposes of farming and supporting the development of local food infrastructure for processing and distributing food; (

c) to provide an increased and stable demand for local food through public sector organization purchasing; (

d) to increase public awareness of local food in Alberta, including the diversity of local food; (

e) to promote sustainable farming practices; (

f) to attract new generations into the farming profession; 2

(

g) to support indigenous food sources and systems; (

h) to promote diversity in scale and marketing in Alberta’s agriculture and food system for adaptability and resilience. Advisory Committee on Food and Agriculture 3(1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council shall establish an advisory committee called the “Advisory Committee on Food and Agriculture” consisting of 12 members and shall designate one of the members as chair.

(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may prescribe the term of office of any member of the Advisory Committee and the term of the office of the chair.

(3) The Minister shall designate a member of the Advisory Committee as the secretary to the Advisory Committee.

(4) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may authorize, fix and provide for the payment of renumeration and expenses to any of the members of the Advisory Committee. Development of Alberta Local Food and Agriculture Strategy 4(1) The Advisory Committee, within 12 months of the date this comes into force, shall prepare and submit to the Minister an Alberta Local Food and Agriculture Strategy to advance the purposes of this Act.

(2) The strategy shall include (

a) recommendations aimed at overcoming barriers and optimizing opportunities identified in the local food assessment undertaken pursuant to subsection (3); (

b) long-term, mid-term and annualized targets on increasing (

i) local food production, (ii) local organic food production, (iii) local food processing, (iv) local food distribution, (

v) local food marketing, and 3

(vi) local food procurement; (

c) a public website including all targets, recommendations and related data and information assessments included as part of the strategy.

(3) In preparing the strategy, the Minister, in collaboration with the Advisory Committee, shall undertake a local food assessment including (

a) an examination of Alberta’s baseline agriculture production that includes data on (

i) the amount of food grown annually in Alberta aggregated and by region, (ii) the amount of food processed annually in Alberta aggregated and by region, (iii) the amount of local food purchased annually in Alberta, and (iv) the amount of local food purchased by public sector organizations annually in Alberta; (

b) the identification of barriers that limit local food production, processing, distribution and access to consumer markets within Alberta, including (

i) an examination of policies, practices and programs, or lack thereof, impeding the ability of farmers and other entrepreneurs to engage in local food production, distribution, processing and marketing, (ii) data on the distribution and processing infrastructure of scale for small and medium-sized food and farm operations, and (iii) an examination of valuation of agricultural land; (

c) an assessment of the potential for regional food systems throughout the province to contribute to the purposes of the Act.

(4) As part of the development of the strategy, the Minister, in collaboration with the Advisory Committee, shall consult with individuals and organizations with experience and interest applicable to the strategy’s purpose including the following: 4

(

a) farming, food systems and agricultural associations; (

b) organic farming associations; (

c) public health associations; (

d) municipalities; (

e) food processing associations; (

f) environmental organizations; (

g) First Nations and indigenous organizations; (

h) post-secondary institutions.

(5) The Advisory Committee shall review the strategy every 5 years and, as appropriate, update and revise the strategy to reflect developments in food security, economic viability of farming and population health. Biennial reporting 5(1) The Minister, in collaboration with the Advisory Committee, shall publish a report every 2 years summarizing (

a) targets and recommendations that have been established under the strategy, (

b) steps taken and progress made in respect of recommendations and targets during the preceding 2 years, and (

c) progress expected to be made in respect of recommendations and targets in the next 2 years.

(2) The Minister shall make reports published pursuant to subsection (1) available to the public in a reasonable manner, including posting on the public website of the Minister’s department. Public sector procurement of local food 6 The Minister, in collaboration with the Advisory Committee, shall consider ways to increase the procurement of local food by public sector organizations as part of the strategy. 5

Local Food Awareness Week 7 To promote the purchase of local food in Alberta, each year the 2nd week of June shall be known throughout Alberta as Local Food Awareness Week. Regulations 8 The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations (

a) prescribing limitations respecting the designation of local food under

section 1(b)(ii); (

b) prescribing organizations to be included within the definition of public sector organization; (

c) concerning any additional matter or thing that is necessary or advisable in connection with the implementation of this Act. Coming into force 9 This Act comes into force 3 months after the day on which it receives Royal Assent. 6

Record of Debate STAGE DATE MEMBER FROM TO TOTAL CUMULATIVE TOTAL 2015 (29th, 1st) Bill 202, Alberta Local Food Act