The Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) is turning 15 this year.

The independent think tank brings leaders in the industry together to share insights and advance ideas on emerging issues.

President and CEO, Don Buckingham, says over the last 15 years, the consumer voice is starting to be heard in a new way.

"I think if we can start looking at ways to bring the consumer voice into the discussion about how agriculture will innovate in Canada, we're more likely to come to a result where we have a growth potential that will be accepted."

When reflecting on the years, Buckingham says one of their biggest accomplishments has been helping the beef industry create a successful sustainability initiative.

He says CAPI studied the composition of the Canadian meat industry and asked the industry what will be required to move meat production to the next level.

"The Canadian industry responded and said, we have to be able to know who our market is, we have to bring a number of different players to the table."

He says the industry pulled together a diverse group of stakeholders to work together on this initiative such as the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, the Nature Conservancy of Canada and McDonald's.

Through the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, the industry has been able to verify if beef has been raised sustainably and has created a recognizable sustainable beef logo for consumers on the McDonald's Angus burger line up.

"This is an initiative that had a policy genesis at least we hope to a small degree in some of the work that CAPI has done."

CAPI says they're looking forward to another 15 years of coordinating independent strategic and policy analysis on emerging agri-food issues.

 

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