Why Farmers in NB are Losing Money with National Farmers Union NB Suzanne Fournier

In this in-depth conversation, Ben sits down with Suzanne Fournier, Executive Director of the National Farmers Union in New Brunswick, to unpack the state of farming in Canada today — from corporate control and export dependency to food sovereignty, small farm challenges, and climate resilience.Fournier shares candid insights on how government policy, market concentration, and bureaucracy impact small farmers, and why buying local and supporting primary producers is essential for the future of food security. This discussion covers everything from farmland loss and supply management to garlic imports and farm profitability — and why farmers in New Brunswick paid to farm last year.🎥 Full interview topics include:Agroecology and the NFU’s missionCorporate concentration and policy failuresSelf-sufficiency, export focus, and farmland protectionThe state of supply management in CanadaClimate resilience and government inactionBureaucracy, communication failures, and red tapeCultural loss of food knowledge and wasteFarm income crisis and the need for systemic reform📍 Chapters00:00 – Intro: Who is Suzanne Fournier and what is the NFU?02:00 – How the NFU stays independent from government and corporate control04:00 – What “corporate control” really means in agriculture06:00 – Why New Brunswick’s food self-sufficiency is only ~7%10:00 – Government export focus and farmland loss14:00 – Local procurement: what it means and why it matters17:00 – Lessons from Europe on food sovereignty and local systems21:00 – The decline in food quality and the monoculture problem25:00 – Consolidation, factory farming, and pricing control30:00 – Fixing monopolies: Competition Bureau and collective marketing35:00 – How supply management works (and its limits)40:00 – Climate change and small farm adaptability45:00 – Bureaucracy, regulation, and communication breakdowns55:00 – Why young farmers give up — red tape and fear of penalties01:00:00 – Political will, food insecurity, and public action01:05:00 – The NFU’s role and how to get involved01:10:00 – The farm income crisis: farmers paid to farm01:15:00 – Garlic imports, food waste, and lost food culture01:25:00 – Gleaning, preservation, and community solutions01:35:00 – How to move toward true food sovereignty in New Brunswick01:45:00 – Closing thoughts: why small farms are the future🔗 Learn more:National Farmers Union New Brunswick — https://www.nfunb.orgNFU Canada — https://www.nfu.ca#FarmingInCanada #FoodSovereignty #NationalFarmersUnion #BuyLocal #SmallFarms #FoodSecurity #NewBrunswick #Agroecology #FarmersVoiceLeave a Like and Subscribe if you enjoyed! Subscribe! - https://bit.ly/SubscribeToHomegrownWatch Homegrown Season 1 on Patreon now! https://patreon.com/homegrownshowJoin our group chat!https://t.me/+HmK47zvGCNsxODlh↓↓ See more ↓↓https://instagram.com/cummingsbenjhttps://www.tiktok.com/@cummingsbenjhttps://www.facebook.com/cummingsbenjSupport Us At: http://homegrownshow.ca/