This series consists of reports, working papers, and records used in the creation of final reports for the Select Standing Committee on Agriculture from primarily 1977-1978.
In April 1977 the Select Standing Committee on Agriculture led an investigation into the state of the province’s food industry, including an extensive research program to create detailed reports on the status of several food industries in the province, including production, processing and distribution of food products in the province. This included three phases of research:
I. The inventory and suitability of agricultural land; supply and demand for agricultural land and associated impact of land prices on food cost
II. Comparing production costs to neighboring regions; impact of marketing boards on farmer income and consumer cost
III. The cost factors, structure and performance of processing, wholesaling and retailing
The committee had its own research staff responsible for creating their final reports and created a variety of records in the process of researching and writing these reports.
Records include graphs, reports, tables, data, notes, drafts, surveys, correspondence, copies of legislation, marketing board annual reports, instructional manuals for computer systems and recording data, computer data print outs, and other reference materials used in creating reports. Records may be created by the committee or submitted to the committee from various industry groups for informational purposes.
Records address topics such as: the state of various livestock and other agricultural industries; creating a farm financial analysis system to process data; economic expansion and business practices of the food industry; consumer studies; results and impacts of government aid and legislation on farmers; marketing boards and farmer’s co-operatives for different food items and how they operate; and farming practices in various industries. Various food related industries are studied including: fish, dairy, eggs, meat, vegetables, grains, baking, and retail outlets.
These records are classified under Administrative Records Classification System number 201-01 (ARCS schedule 10001).
British Columbia. Legislative Assembly. Select Standing Committee on Agriculture