“Maybe somebody up there is finally listening,” the Leamington vegetable grower said Monday.

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said Monday the Liberals will help farmers get home-grown food on Canadian tables with Canada’s first comprehensive National Food Policy.

It would include a four-year, $80-million Buy Local Fund to promote farmers markets and local foods and $50 million over four years to improve food inspections and make sure imported foods meet Canadian standards.

Verbeke didn’t know the details of the plans announced Monday but said “any national food policy is a good idea.”

He said hopefully it would mean getting more Canadian food on Canadian tables. “This would be also great for the end user, the consumers to say ‘hey we do need this.’ It’s way, way long overdue,” Verbeke said.

Farmers have long argued it is unfair to compete with imported food from countries where farmers don’t have the same regulations and may be allowed to use pesticides not permitted in Canada. Verbeke would like to see imported food meet Canadian standards.

Farmers make up less than two per cent of the vote and farming wasn’t an issue during the last federal election, Verbeke said. So getting food and farming as an issue in the next election would be good, he said.

He didn’t want to endorse the plan because farmers haven’t had a chance to see the details of how the policy would work.

The Liberal party says it would like an $80 million Buy Local Fund that would promote homegrown foods and support a Farmers’ Markets Development Program. Other highlights include a new program to educate Canadians on healthy eating and how to minimize threats to food safety, new labeling regulations, new regulatory standards on transfats and a $40 million Healthy Start program to support existing programs that help low-income families get healthy local foods.

The Liberal’s national food policy would do a comprehensive review of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada and it would put $50 million over four years to improve food inspection and “ensure the same food safety standards set for Canadian producers are applied to food imported into Canada,” the Liberal party’s policy highlights said.

The policy would also restore AgriFlex, a risk management program for farmers, invest in clean energy on Canadian farms and expand export opportunities.