Media Releases

Action needed at all levels to end systemic racism, says National Farmers Union

We are committed to building processes to unpack racism in our leadership and wider membership to better work in solidarity with communities of colour to build food sovereignty for all. This will not be easy, but is long overdue.

NFU-O Statement on the Deaths of Two Migrant Farm Workers

We stand in solidarity with the Migrant Rights Network and Justicia for Migrant Workers in their outrage over the death of Bonifacio Eugenio Romero and their efforts to improve migrant workers’ housing, working, and status conditions.

COVID emergency funds can help build a more robust food system

The pandemic shines a spotlight on vulnerabilities in our food system, providing the opportunity to use emergency supports to create the foundation for a more robust and resilient food system.

Joint statement in regards to TFW restriction

TFW’s are an integral part of food production in New Brunswick. “This is cutting the means by which we have to produce. They want us to increase vegetable production but want us to hire people who may leave at the drop of a hat or before our season has finished”

COVID-19 shuts down half of Canada’s beef supply

A COVID-19 outbreak in a Cargill plant at High River, Alberta has shut down almost half of Canada’s beef supply, leaving many farmers with no place to sell their cattle. Nearly all beef produced in Canada is processed by three high-volume, high-throughput meat packing plants: Cargill’s High River facility, the JBS plant in Brooks, Alberta

Till, sow and harvest transformative ideas for the future!

Now is the moment to demand food sovereignty – #17April

17 April 2020 – the International Day of Peasants’ Struggle – La Via Campesina keeps alive the memory of #EldoradoDosCarajás. The COVID-19 crisis shows us that now is the moment to demand structural reforms of the agri-food systems at a global level.

Cuts to physician funding devastating for rural Alberta

Rural communities face difficulties in attracting physicians. Getting doctors to set down local roots has been a vital part of creating sustainable rural healthcare. Physicians cannot make this commitment if they do not make enough to pay their bills.

Farmers and Migrant Workers Need Immediate Support for 2020 Growing Season

(Saskatoon) — The National Farmers Union is pleased to see the federal government’s rapid response to the economic disruption that stems from putting urgent public health measures in place to slow the spread of pandemic COVID-19. New support programs are being rolled out to help vulnerable people during this crisis. However we are concerned that

Farmers Markets Are Essential Services, says NFU

(Kingston) — The COVID-19 global pandemic highlights the vulnerabilities in our society. Our healthcare system, our globalized economy, and our food system are all being tested. Food supply chains have undergone major changes over the past several decades as a result of globalization. Corporations coordinate transnational shipments to precisely balance supply and demand, keeping inventories

NFU President Katie Ward speaks to Ag Committee on Business Risk Management programs

(Ottawa) — Today National Farmers Union (NFU) President Katie Ward urged the House of Commons Agriculture and Agri-Food Committee to support changes to Canada’s Business Risk Management Programs that will support a robust food system in Canada that can deliver both production and fair incomes in the face of shocks and disruptions such as the