November 22, 2023
FREDERICTON – Yesterday in the Legislative Assembly, Green Agriculture critic and MLA for Kent North Kevin Arseneau called on the Higgs government to set ambitious local purchasing targets for public institutions in New Brunswick.
“Only 3% of the food that New Brunswickers eat is produced in the province,” said Arseneau. “The government can kickstart the process of making New Brunswick more self-sufficient, but we will never get there without targets.”
Arseneau’s motion also proposes to create a farm school in New Brunswick in partnership with NBCC and CCNB, to help ensure New Brunswick has the farmers needed to increase agricultural production and to help with succession planning.
“New Brunswick has lost 20% of its farms in five years and only 6.7% of New Brunswick farmers are under 35 years old,” said Arseneau. “This is a crisis, and the government needs to step up to make farming a viable career path for young New Brunswickers and real New Brunswick food sovereignty.”
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