For many Canadians, crop production is an unknown concept. Because of this, it’s relatively easy to use fear to influence public opinion on any food-related issue involving agriculture. Activists know this quite well.

Our great rural-urban divide has always fuelled our food politics and that’s not going to change anytime soon. But now, agri-food policies are increasingly becoming urbanized by an agenda that is pushing the entire western world toward the precipice of a food security catastrophe.

The Trudeau government wants a 30 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030, which doesn’t necessarily include fertilizer, but producers claim that reducing nitrous oxide emissions cannot be achieved without reducing fertilizer use.

Canada produces food for the world, not just for Canada. Aggressive emission targets will likely lead to more people, not fewer, experiencing famine around the world, none of whom will be Canadian. Since we trade with the rest of the world, and mostly with the United States, our crops would likely become less competitive as well.

With lower supplies, input costs for food manufacturers and grocers would likely increase significantly, pushing food prices higher. This is one aspect of the emission reduction issue in farming.