New Report Reveals Food Processing Sector Major Job Creator
By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com
Ontario is known for its manufacturing industry, most specifically the auto sector. However, what most people don’t know is that the food processing sector employs more people in Ontario than the auto sector. The Alliance Ontario Food Processors Association commissioned a report with the hopes to catch the attention of governments and investors. The report found that Ontario’s food processing sector employs 127,000 people, not including the primary producer who supplies the goods for the food sector – farming jobs are an added 90,000. Let’s just say the impact of the agi-food sector and agriculture in general is underestimated. According to 2010 data, while Ontario’s auto sector had revenues of $43.6 billion, the food processing sector had revenue of $39 billion and the added value of farm revenue was close to $50 billion.
The food processing sector boasts of being “recession proof” with an annual growth of 2 percent yearly increase. With the ongoing struggle of the auto sector and the significant amount of government funds that that industry has received so that it wouldn’t completely tank, the food processing industry now wants a piece of the government pie too. The industry hopes that the report will be a good lobbying tool when making demands to the government and are advocating for their own investment fund, similar to the one that auto sector receives. Maybe the industry should rethink their strategy. Instead of asking for a government handout, the industry should work on boosting awareness about the significant contributions that the industry makes to Ontario’s economy while continuing to be self-sufficient and sustainable.