Recently, several of Canada's first ministers have encouraged people to buy Canadian products at the grocery store to counter potential U.S. tariffs. But just how much do we rely on imported fruits and vegetables, particularly from the U.S.? Canada Food Flows, a new project from the University of British Columbia, can show you.
"Many fruits and vegetables are harder to grow in the colder Canadian climate. On average, about 50 percent of vegetables besides potatoes, and 75 percent of fruits eaten in Canada, are imported," said Dr. Kushank Bajaj, a former UBC postdoctoral research fellow who created the tool. "Those are significant numbers. We hope Canada Food Flows can help Canadians understand where their produce comes from, and spark conversations about how things like climate change and trade policy could impact supply in the future."
To create the dataset that powers Canada Food Flows, Bajaj combined data on production, imports and exports to estimate how 18 fruits and 16 vegetables were consumed and shared between 2010 and 2022.
The result is an interactive map showing how produce flows from U.S. states—which supply 36 percent and 67 percent of Canada's total fruit and vegetable imports, respectively—and 149 other countries, as well as between Canadian provinces. The tool does not currently include data for Canada's territories due to data limitations.
Read more at UBC News