Recap: 2024 Organic Summit in Ottawa

by Eva-Lena Lang

I attended the Organic Summit in November for the second time and enjoyed it not only for the learning opportunities, but also for the new connections—and reconnections—with colleagues from across the organic sector.

Last year, I presented on Unlocking Canada’s Production Potential, which you can watch here. This year’s event included:

• updates from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
• a presentation about pesticides in Canada (including a shocking stat that sales increased by 47% between 2011-2021, and we need clear commitments to reduce pesticides and more support for an alternative vision)
• a presentation from the Organic Trade Association, who attributed some of the success in the US organic sector to having a unified voice and strong partnerships
• plus an inspirational talk by Grace Gershuny from Vermont with several messages including the primary goal of organic agriculture, which includes to ‘optimize the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil life, plants, animals and people’
• plus several more speakers.

The summit was followed by a reception sponsored by Senator Black, the Chair of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, where it was great to reconnect with MPs from last year, including Alistair MacGregor, and make new connections prior to meetings with MPs, Senators, and staffers at the Parliamentary Day on Tuesday, November 19th. It was good to have a couple of BC MPs available to have meetings: Joyce Murray and Richard Cannings.

Each year, key messages are prepared to bring forward. Priorities for 2024 were support for comprehensive organic data strategy, and production and market supports, which we heard are asks from across agriculture. Another theme that came up in most of our meetings with politicians were the unknowns given the recent election in the USA and an upcoming election in Canada.

While we bring forward these key collective messages, participants at the meetings shared their experiences, concrete examples, and the voice from their region. Ottawa and BC are far apart and I observed when Western Canada was referenced it didn’t necessarily include BC. It’s a privilege to participate and bring forward an organic voice for BC.

It was great to participate in the Parliamentary Day and engage in additional meetings on Wednesday before returning home.

Thank you to the Canada Organic Trade Association (COTA) for organizing the Summit and Parliamentary Day.