It’s a small price to pay to feed the hungry.

The Progressive Conservatives are pushing legislative changes that would give tax credits to farmers who donate excess produce to food banks.

Conservative MPP Bob Bailey said amending the Local Food Act would cost the provincial treasury about $750,000 annually in breaks for producers.

But it could translate into five million pounds of vegetables otherwise headed for landfill.

“We could fight two problems in our province: hunger and waste,” Bailey told a Queen’s Park news conference Wednesday.

“Many Ontarians struggle to put food on their tables and need to look to their local food bank for assistance. This is a simple thing we can do that will make a big difference to those families,” he said.

Bailey said a non-refundable tax credit for farmers worth 25 per cent of the wholesale value of the produce would divert from landfill some of the 25 million pounds of surplus fruits and vegetables discarded annually.

“They won’t get all that 25 million pounds obviously, because of the issues with transportation, but it would definitely increase the amount that is available,” the Sarnia—Lambton MPP said.

Tory MPP Ernie Hardeman, a former agriculture minister, noted dairy, pork, poultry and beef producers have long donated to food banks through different programs.

Hardeman (Oxford) said it is unlikely anyone would abuse a tax break for fruits and vegetables.

“All farmers would be quite aware that if you’re going harvest it and get 25 per cent tax credit of its wholesale value, you’re not going to grow it for that tax credit,” he said.

Premier Kathleen Wynne, who is also agriculture minister, is open to the Tories’ idea.

“After stalling the bill for months in the legislature, we are encouraged the PCs are ready to work with us to increase access, availability, and sales of the good things that grow in Ontario,” an aide to Wynne said.

“We welcome input from stakeholders and the opposition parties, and look forward to reviewing the proposal in committee and working collaboratively to make this important legislation as strong as possible.”

NDP MPP John Vanthof (Timiskaming—Cochrane) said “it’s a good start, but a bit simplistic.”

“It’s not just showing up at the food bank with a sack of potatoes,” said Vanthof, a former dairy farmer who participated in similar donation programs for milk.

“There’s very little food that doesn’t have to go through some type of processing . . . so the processors should be included in this as well.”

The Ontario Association of Food Banks’ Amanda King said such changes would be good news in the fight against hunger.

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King noted 412,000 Ontarians — 150,000 of them children — use food banks every month.

“These are huge, huge numbers,” she said.

“In Ontario, it’s hard to believe that people are hungry.”

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