News Release
February 12, 2019
Fredericton – The Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick today launched a public campaign focused on educating New Brunswickers on the benefits of locally grown New Brunswick products. The campaign was developed by AANB with the support of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Province of New Brunswick under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, as well as the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA).
“We are very excited to launch our “Why Local? Why Not?” campaign today – Canada’s Agriculture Day,” says AANB President, Christian Michaud. “It’s hoped this campaign will be embraced by New Brunswickers and will encourage them to better understand the many benefits of buying locally grown products.”
The campaign is designed to address three main goals:
• To educate New Brunswickers on the benefits of locally grown products. It’s about changing our buying and eating habits to consider more local.
• To increase the demand for NB farmer grown products to ensure that our farms and producers have a reason to produce more – looking at innovative and sustainable ways to make that happen.
• To change the perception of farming to ensure more young people are interested in looking at agriculture as a sustainable profession of the future.
“The Government of Canada is proud to support New Brunswick farmers through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership,” said Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Lawrence MacAulay. “Raising awareness and increasing demand for Canadian products is vitally important in that it supports farmers as they continue to grow, innovate and prosper.”
“The Government of Canada, through ACOA, is pleased to support an awareness campaign that focuses on building resilient communities. The Why Local? Why Not? campaign will provide meaningful information to the community that will help local farmers grow their businesses, ensuring a thriving agricultural sector for years to come. New Brunswick farmers produce excellent food and we should all be proud to buy local,” said Matt DeCourcey, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and Member of Parliament for Fredericton, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for ACOA.
ACOA approved a $35,655 contribution to the Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick through its Business Development Program to help with the campaign.
“It’s important that New Brunswickers understand and appreciate the benefits of buying locally-produced products,” said Minister of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries, Ross Wetmore. “Doing so keeps our food buying dollars in the province and our farmers working for generations to come. This investment demonstrates our commitment to supporting the efforts of the Agricultural Alliance to promote local farming, local products and to encourage youth to consider farming as a career.
The campaign was developed following extensive engagement with New Brunswick farmers. They shared their ideas about what constitutes local, why local is important and why New Brunswickers should consider buying local whenever it makes sense. The campaign is also designed to complement and work with partner campaigns including buylocalnb.ca, excellenceNB.ca and buy.achetez.nb.
The campaign highlights key benefits of buying NB farmer grown products and draws attention to the many career opportunities that agriculture can offer to young New Brunswickers. For more information, please visit www.whylocalwhynot.ca.
Media Contact:
Josée Albert, AANB CEO or Christian Michaud, AANB President (506) 452-8101
Bronwen Mosher, Communications ACOA NB (506) 292-7524
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