Another story written after my boss told me to take a break from writing for a while. Planning on sending this one out to non ag publications as well as our industry mags. Hope you are still out there reading once in a while Mr. Ostercamp.
Editorial
The survival of the domestic beef cattle industry in Canada is dependent on the consumer. I don't want to show you all of the perils that the beef cattle producers are facing in this country with this article. There are lots of papers written about that stuff these days and all of the blame that goes along with it. I would rather show the consumer of this country what he or she can do to help insure a consistent supply of healthy domestic beef and how he or she can keep the family ranch in Canada viable.
The first thing that a consumer can do is ask their retail or food service store if the beef they are about to buy is domestically raised. It is time for Canadians to start helping Canadians and not worry about the rest of the world so much. Of course we need compassion; and farmers in third world countries need to survive. However, Canadian farm families are being forced out of our industry by farm gate prices that can not sustain the increased costs associated with raising a healthy beef animal to harvest weight.
The second thing is to avoid the lost leader beef sales that retail and food service industry use to bring you in to their stores. Beef, once the "Food of Kings" has somehow become a lost leader and the effects of this are devastating to the primary producer. You can afford a 4 dollar burger, plain and simple, especially in our country where it costs almost as much to buy the gas for your vehicle to go to the drive thu or the cup of coffee to go along with a 2 dollar burger. Treat yourself and enjoy the 4 dollar burger for crying out loud. Not only will you have a better eating experience but you will know that you are helping to insure a future for the beef industry in Canada. Food service and retail will not mind if they have to go back to offering you imported product with far less health and safety standards than our own Canadian product. They may not advertise it when they make the switch though, and it will be up to you, the consumer to ask. Canadian beef has the best health and safety standards int he world, need I say more. The same idea applies to the retail meat counter. Why not enjoy the lean ground domestic beef or a Canadian grade A rib eye steak once in a while? If it means you cut back on a luxury item this week at the local mall, what will that hurt. I don't know how many folks are missing out on the enjoyment of a tender juicy Canadian triple A rib eye just so that they can make that payment on their big screen TV.
The third action that the consumer can take is to search out the direct market if they have not already taken that route. There are more grassroots beef value chains popping up in our fine country every year; run by entrepreneurial producers who have figured out a way to make there operations more viable. The retail and food service industry is starting to see the merit in value chain production as well, as meat counters do offer a choice. That choice, which is up to the consumer to make, could help make the family beef cattle ranch more profit. More profit on the Canadian family ranch means a consistent supply of safe healthy beef for you and your children and a strong agricultural economy which is a benefit to all Canadians.
Editorial
The survival of the domestic beef cattle industry in Canada is dependent on the consumer. I don't want to show you all of the perils that the beef cattle producers are facing in this country with this article. There are lots of papers written about that stuff these days and all of the blame that goes along with it. I would rather show the consumer of this country what he or she can do to help insure a consistent supply of healthy domestic beef and how he or she can keep the family ranch in Canada viable.
The first thing that a consumer can do is ask their retail or food service store if the beef they are about to buy is domestically raised. It is time for Canadians to start helping Canadians and not worry about the rest of the world so much. Of course we need compassion; and farmers in third world countries need to survive. However, Canadian farm families are being forced out of our industry by farm gate prices that can not sustain the increased costs associated with raising a healthy beef animal to harvest weight.
The second thing is to avoid the lost leader beef sales that retail and food service industry use to bring you in to their stores. Beef, once the "Food of Kings" has somehow become a lost leader and the effects of this are devastating to the primary producer. You can afford a 4 dollar burger, plain and simple, especially in our country where it costs almost as much to buy the gas for your vehicle to go to the drive thu or the cup of coffee to go along with a 2 dollar burger. Treat yourself and enjoy the 4 dollar burger for crying out loud. Not only will you have a better eating experience but you will know that you are helping to insure a future for the beef industry in Canada. Food service and retail will not mind if they have to go back to offering you imported product with far less health and safety standards than our own Canadian product. They may not advertise it when they make the switch though, and it will be up to you, the consumer to ask. Canadian beef has the best health and safety standards int he world, need I say more. The same idea applies to the retail meat counter. Why not enjoy the lean ground domestic beef or a Canadian grade A rib eye steak once in a while? If it means you cut back on a luxury item this week at the local mall, what will that hurt. I don't know how many folks are missing out on the enjoyment of a tender juicy Canadian triple A rib eye just so that they can make that payment on their big screen TV.
The third action that the consumer can take is to search out the direct market if they have not already taken that route. There are more grassroots beef value chains popping up in our fine country every year; run by entrepreneurial producers who have figured out a way to make there operations more viable. The retail and food service industry is starting to see the merit in value chain production as well, as meat counters do offer a choice. That choice, which is up to the consumer to make, could help make the family beef cattle ranch more profit. More profit on the Canadian family ranch means a consistent supply of safe healthy beef for you and your children and a strong agricultural economy which is a benefit to all Canadians.
Comment