Braid: Quiet desperation masks larger cattle crisis
REUTERSCALGARY — In all the photo ops staged by governing politicians to reassure us about the beef business, one senses a kind of veiled desperation. They seem to feel powerless in the face of something much larger.
And here it is: Alberta’s iconic industry was is deep trouble even before the XL Foods recalls erupted into the biggest Canadian food disaster story since BSE and listeriosis.
The recall story has now raised endemic troubles to the level of genuine crisis, enormously magnifying dangerous trends that were already clear.
These problems are clearly laid out in a report that was posted online just about the time the XL story began to emerge.
Produced by the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, a non-profit agency created by the federal government, the study emerged from many months of consultations last year and this spring.
It isn’t about food safety; in fact, the report’s one and only irony is that it lists safety as an industry strong point.
The beef business has “food safety systems considered as good, or better, than anywhere in the world,” it says.
Nobody would write that now.
Setting safety aside (as if we could), the state of the industry is dismal.
The report notes this astonishing pair of numbers: Canada’s balance of trade in beef was $1.4 billion in 2002. Last year, it was $42 million.
In any business that not just trouble — it’s a potential collapse.
The decline might not look so bad if Canadian beef were doing well at home. But it isn’t.
Our producers now supply 75 per cent of domestic beef, down from 87 per cent in 2005. The herd has declined by one million animals.
Exports to the United States are worth only 60 per cent of American beef shipments to Canada.
“The country is at risk of becoming a net importer of beef with the U.S.,” the report says.
BSE caused much of this damage. The recall crisis could wreak even more, especially at a time when the entire developed world finds steaks and burgers less appealing.
One reason for the decline in consumption, the report says, is that “consumers are increasingly concerned about the environmental footprint of the beef sector.”
Add the biggest recall in Canadian food history, and that trend surely escalates.
To judge by the report, the industry may not have the internal strength to rectify any of this. It appears beset by resentments, miscommunications, and lack of trust.
“Many beef stakeholders told us that the sector is operating without a strategy, minimal collaboration, no vision, no sense of common objectives and fragmented leadership,” says the study.
Not surprisingly, “the beef sector is foregoing economic opportunities and its competitive position is falling behind.”
Industry veterans recall the days when the rancher and packer collaborated on quality and safety. Retailers once went to plants to pick their own sides of beef.
Now, the focus on fast, high-volume production in huge slaughterhouses seems to destroy those relationships.
The report calls for leadership from industry and government “champions.”
Some experts believe that if the players resist the urge to cover up, and confront problems honestly, the cattle business could restructure and thrive again.
But to this point the main actors — the Alberta government politicians, the federal safety crowd and XL Foods — aren’t acting like leaders. They seem more like people who suspect they’re walking the wrong way in a train tunnel.
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald
dbraid@CalgaryHerald.com
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
REUTERSCALGARY — In all the photo ops staged by governing politicians to reassure us about the beef business, one senses a kind of veiled desperation. They seem to feel powerless in the face of something much larger.
And here it is: Alberta’s iconic industry was is deep trouble even before the XL Foods recalls erupted into the biggest Canadian food disaster story since BSE and listeriosis.
The recall story has now raised endemic troubles to the level of genuine crisis, enormously magnifying dangerous trends that were already clear.
These problems are clearly laid out in a report that was posted online just about the time the XL story began to emerge.
Produced by the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, a non-profit agency created by the federal government, the study emerged from many months of consultations last year and this spring.
It isn’t about food safety; in fact, the report’s one and only irony is that it lists safety as an industry strong point.
The beef business has “food safety systems considered as good, or better, than anywhere in the world,” it says.
Nobody would write that now.
Setting safety aside (as if we could), the state of the industry is dismal.
The report notes this astonishing pair of numbers: Canada’s balance of trade in beef was $1.4 billion in 2002. Last year, it was $42 million.
In any business that not just trouble — it’s a potential collapse.
The decline might not look so bad if Canadian beef were doing well at home. But it isn’t.
Our producers now supply 75 per cent of domestic beef, down from 87 per cent in 2005. The herd has declined by one million animals.
Exports to the United States are worth only 60 per cent of American beef shipments to Canada.
“The country is at risk of becoming a net importer of beef with the U.S.,” the report says.
BSE caused much of this damage. The recall crisis could wreak even more, especially at a time when the entire developed world finds steaks and burgers less appealing.
One reason for the decline in consumption, the report says, is that “consumers are increasingly concerned about the environmental footprint of the beef sector.”
Add the biggest recall in Canadian food history, and that trend surely escalates.
To judge by the report, the industry may not have the internal strength to rectify any of this. It appears beset by resentments, miscommunications, and lack of trust.
“Many beef stakeholders told us that the sector is operating without a strategy, minimal collaboration, no vision, no sense of common objectives and fragmented leadership,” says the study.
Not surprisingly, “the beef sector is foregoing economic opportunities and its competitive position is falling behind.”
Industry veterans recall the days when the rancher and packer collaborated on quality and safety. Retailers once went to plants to pick their own sides of beef.
Now, the focus on fast, high-volume production in huge slaughterhouses seems to destroy those relationships.
The report calls for leadership from industry and government “champions.”
Some experts believe that if the players resist the urge to cover up, and confront problems honestly, the cattle business could restructure and thrive again.
But to this point the main actors — the Alberta government politicians, the federal safety crowd and XL Foods — aren’t acting like leaders. They seem more like people who suspect they’re walking the wrong way in a train tunnel.
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald
dbraid@CalgaryHerald.com
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
Comment