By Janyce McGregor, CBC News Posted

They hate it. They really do.

Building up to this week’s Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks in Hawaii, Canada couldn’t miss the message: the U.S. and other Pacific Rim trading partners want supply management scrapped. Or else.

‘Shrewd’ Canada playing long game as TPP talks begin in Maui U.S. may cut Canada out of Pacific Rim trade deal, sources say Canada can pursue trade deal while protecting supply management: Harper

Here at home, farm marketing boards are a bogeyman for Canada’s restaurant and food industry, who are under pressure to keep prices down for consumers.

A system of fixed prices for dairy products, poultry and eggs doesn’t give them the flexibility they say they need to make their margins profitable.

Overpriced yogurt? Blame the quota system blocking the cheaper American stuff.

Outgoing Conservative MP Laurie Hawn said last month that supply management was an “anachronism that needs to disappear.”

But he’s an outlier.

Canada’s politicians — from prime minister to backbencher, government or opposition — usually declare their enduring commitment to protect supply management.

• No bailouts

Supply management makes food consumers pay for the cost of producing it. By matching supply quotas with market demand, the industry sets stable, predictable prices.

These farmers don’t need government subsidies or bailouts.

Price comparisons for food can be fraught due to variable factors like transportation costs and retail competitiveness. But some studies suggest Canadians don’t pay any more for milk than consumers in unregulated markets. When Australia ended supply management, the consumer price for milk went up.

Other studies find small price differences. But unregulated farm prices in the U.S., for example, make taxpayers pay twice: the last major farm bill passed in Congress authorized some $1 trillion US in subsidies to keep American agriculture afloat.

• Food sovereignty

Like to buy local? Prefer fresh Canadian products? You’re not alone. But a 100-mile diet is only possible when local farm businesses are stable.

When export-driven beef, pork or grain farmers fall on bad times, their dairy and poultry counterparts, more secure with stable prices, sustain rural economies by continuing to employ people and patronize businesses like vet clinics, machinery dealerships and farm supply stores.

The experience of other countries suggests ending marketing boards could lead to more concentrated industries, with farms operating on a larger scale in fewer locations.

Fresh perishables that don’t travel or age well, like raw chicken, could be harder to find.