Another interesting article

[cpallett]

burnt my brother, be careful what you wish for:

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/763791--tar-sands-snubbed-by-green-retailers

[burnt]

The article had not escaped my attention. Neither did the following quotation:

"But in announcing its oil sands ban, Whole Foods acknowledged the move is easier said than done. The company will avoid unprocessed petroleum from the oil sands at nine of its 10 U.S. distribution centres.

But fuels derived from Alberta oil sands will continue to power Whole Foods trucks "in the Rocky Mountain region because as of now there is no alternative source," said Whole Foods spokeswomen Libba Letton.

So there we have a prime example of flowery and idealistic rhetoric obfuscating reality. They could truck fuel into that Rocky Mountain Region but it would cost too much.

Profit ahead of principle. Or, in simpler terms, blatant hypocrisy.

Green sounds great until it affects my wallet!

[burnt]

I'm sorry, the previous post should have had quotation mrks after the name Libba Letton to indicate the end of the quote.

[kato]

I was told by a CFIA inspector shortly after the border closed that Canada was told not to test. That's the info I got. I'm sure there were lots of justifications brought up after, but right off the hop we were told "no", according to him.

The main problem with shrinking the cow herd as I see it is that unlike years ago when we only supplied ourselves, now we only have two main places to bid on our fats. Back then there were a number of Canadian companies running, and there were options on where to sell.

If the numbers drop enough, I don't see Cargill sticking around to outbid their one competitor. With our higher costs and stricter regulations, the first time that plant needs an upgrade of any size, they'll either be pulling a corporate welfare stunt, or they'll be gone.

Where would that leave us?

[burnt]

Where would that leave us?

Exactly where rcalf wants us - extinct.

And we should be partnering with them?

[rkaiser]

Mr. Pallett - I guess you could have had a chat with the Japanese Investment group that we here "again" last fall looking to open the Ranchers Beef Plant at Balzac and left when the testing issue was once again poo pooed.

As Sherry says - distractions distractions --- let's get on with the lawsuit and spend the money wisely...

[kato]

I agree.

If we're going to see our cow herd shrink to national supply levels, we need to get some alternative processors up and running. Foreign markets are all fine and well, but if there is no beef to send to them, then what's the point? A bit of coin in the pockets could tide quite a few of us over until we got some new alternatives worked out.

[cpallett]

Sorry Randall, I missed that one. Thanks for the heads up.