Day 20, January 25, San Francisco, California

Marc LePage is Canada's consul general in San Francisco. He had us over to his office for continental breakfast. He made a short presentation about Canada-California trade. Interesting facts about California:

—It is the fifth biggest economy in the world.

—It has 38 million people, more than Canada.

—In 2006, Canada exported $21.2 billion in goods directly to California (plus some petroleum that goes into Washington state and then down through the U.S.), of which more than half was in the "transportation" (cars and trucks, etc.) category. Agriculture exports were about seven per cent.

—California exported $10.5 billion in goods to Canada in 2006, of which about one quarter was agricultural goods.

—500,000 Canadians live in California, including 250,000 in the San Francisco Bay area. These ex-pats are not included in our list of exports, but this brainpower is incredibly valuable to the universities and Silicon Valley businesses in the area. Marc LePage had a slide of the top 20 universities in the world, according to The Economist. Almost all of them are in the U.S., and six are in California. Silicon Valley, which is in the bay area, attracts 36 per cent of all venture capital dollars in the U.S.

After lunch we met with Dave Stockdale, executive director of the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA). The office is the Ferry Building — the ferry terminal —at the end of Market Street in San Francisco. CUESA started in 1994 in response to a very popular harvest fair held in the city. The organizing group decided to keep it going, holding regular markets and educating the public at the same time. CUESA now holds markets all year long, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Not only does it screen its farmers closely, holding them to certain standards, it also goes so far as to set the standards and monitor farms to make sure they comply. Here are some features of the CUESA market:

—Farmers apply to take part in the market, and CUESA picks them based on merit and goods for sale. The  application is 20 pages long, and CUESA staff go out a visit the farm before inviting the farmer to participate in the market. Farmers have to meet CUESA standards, and CUESA wants to make sure the market has a variety of foods. It doesn't want all the stalls taken up with citrus growers, for example.

—The farmer has to show up in the booth at least once a month. He or she can't just send staff.

—CUESA holds seasonal cooking demos at the market, in which one farmer introduces a seasonal food he or she produces, then a local chef gives a demo to show people how to use that food.

—CUESA is also working on a precise definition of "sustainable agriculture." It wants to provide farmers with examples of best management practices that CUESA marketers will be expected to follow. You've heard about certain retailers in Europe setting their own food quality standards. CUESA is doing the same.

The end...

With that, my three weeks in the U.S. came to an end. I had hoped to spend my last evening wandering Fisherman's Wharf, but it was pouring rain all day. Instead I went to some high end art shops (selling original Marc Chagall, Joan Miro, and Camille Pissarro, among others) and wandered around a mall (Yuck!). We did go to the Franciscan Crab House on Fisherman's Wharf for supper. I had Dungeness crab, which was good, and Stephanie, Stephane and I shared a bottle of the "fruit juice" that made California famous — that super-sweet pink Zinfandel wine. After that it was hugs and handshakes all around. I look forward to seeing my new Canadian friends again, and making use of all my new contacts in the U.S. Thank you to the U.S. State Department, Brad and Mary at the U.S. consulate in Winnipeg, and our guides Ronn and Virgil. I will never forget these three weeks. But with my brain fully exhausted, I look forward to getting home.