Twitter Battle: Brad Wall calls out A&W on claims regarding Canadian Beef quality.

[the big wheel]

Yep that's true. Where are they getting their antibiotic and no hormone beef from? Where are they getting it so
Cheap to compete with the others

[Blaithin]

The price debate is hard. On one hand, I can easily see many people not wanting to pay for the grass fed option. On the other hand...

Well, as an example, I have proliferate chickens and extra eggs. I almost can't give them away around the local farm community. For $2.50 a dozen, less than almost all store bought eggs, I rarely get any orders. Yet I can charge $4-$5 a dozen and will sell out every time I go to Red Deer.

Urban people seem to be much more willing to pay for what they consider to be quality products than rural people. To an extent anyway.

[sawfly1]

really no need for them. so what if it takes 3- 7 % more cows to get the same beef.
if they are banned for everybody.
level the playing field.

same for BSE in milk.
and antibiotics as a regular supplement to cattle.

probably just not a good idea.

but the chem . cos that sell it will fight because they are the only ones , that would really lose anything if they were banned

A&W is full of it. too but the adds cater to a narrow mindset.
kinda like pretending to have good cigarettes,

i guess if it works,for them go for it.

as for wall , he is as full of it as a&w

for the most part , those things really do not need to be there at all. so who is wall defending other than the chem. co.s

[farmaholic]

Ask A&W why they stop making claims at the beef? What about the potatoes that make the fries, or the oils they're deep fried in. The lettuce in the burgers and salad and vegetables in their "healthy choice" menu items. The production practices of the wheat flour in the buns.
The processing practices of all those ingredients then how they're prepared before they're presented to be eaten.

It's the hypocrisy I find hard to handle! Just appealing to the mindset of some of their customers but not telling the whole story at the same time!

Edit...sawfly...we both used the word mindset. I was composing my post before I read yours. ..

[GDR]

I find the A&W boycotts and call outs irritating.

As always, we as producers provide a product to consumers. If they want a specific product, we supply it or lose out on their money.

Who are we to get mad that they want something that hasn't received implants or prophylactic antibiotics. Who are we to nitpick marketing wording and consumer intelligence.

Sure, buy local and buy Canadian whenever possible. I do. But I do not like supporting feedlots or their practices. So if it comes down to local vs CAFO... it's not always an obvious answer. I would rather help drive the industry in a direction I believe in than support practices I want to see discontinued, even though they're local.

I do agree it's rather pointless to argue the quality of meat when it's fast food... but lips and assholes can be treated differently while alive and for some people, that's the issue.

I haven't been to A&W since this message started. Like Hamloc have switched to Mcdonalds and too have been pleased compared to 20yrs ago.
Blaithin,
No one cares if they want to promote a product to a certain clientele, that's just good business. It's the insinuation that traditional beef is bad for you that is a problem. Keep in mind that they toned down their original campaign after a couple weeks after pressure from industry.

Our ag industry has few producers compared to consumers. A negative attack on any aspect including beef production is a negative mark on all of our ag industry. No one wins in a battle of mine is better than yours because it's a full circle and sooner or later your on the bottom.

[GDR]

Growth hormones are a lot worse for you than people realize.

Do some research so you know what you are talking about. The amount of estrogen in a serving of beef from an implanted animal is like a miniscule amount compared to naturally occurring serving of spinach.

You go ahead and spray your crop 4 or 5 times a year then criticize the use of hormones, come on !

I don't use implants myself but it's not the problem it's made out to be. And yes the precautionary antibiotics and feed additives are a bit scary but When the public bans general antibiotics from use there is a huge animal welfare crisis brewing. Sick and dead animals aren't a pretty picture either. I'd rather eat a healthy steak!

[the big wheel]

But who is hormoned up and anti biotic full beef good for? Antibiotics have their
Place but some of these places put it steady at a low dose just in case which
Is wrong.
There also is a wrong connection from the rancher to the feedlot. I think
Majority of ranchers are responsible
But when they hit the feedlot it's where the problems start all to save money.

[the big wheel]

Not defending a and w because I
Really don't know if anyone is verifying
Any of the claims how
Do we know they're doing what they say?

[farmaholic]

Sometimes I wonder what the Franchisees think of their parent company's ad campaigns. I bet most Metro Urbans are on board but the Western Canadian ones might think differently.....maybe!

Does it matter who in the beef production cycle is perceived to be doing the most harm? The A&W message being relayed affects the whole Industry.

[GDR]

really no need for them. so what if it takes 3- 7 % more cows to get the same beef.
if they are banned for everybody.
level the playing field.

same for BSE in milk.
and antibiotics as a regular supplement to cattle.

probably just not a good idea.

but the chem . cos that sell it will fight because they are the only ones , that would really lose anything if they were banned

A&W is full of it. too but the adds cater to a narrow mindset.
kinda like pretending to have good cigarettes,

i guess if it works,for them go for it.

as for wall , he is as full of it as a&w

for the most part , those things really do not need to be there at all. so who is wall defending other than the chem. co.s

If would take a lot more cattle to replace the same pounds of beef without hormones and feedlots as we know it, I'd bet double.

Assume you meant BGH in milk production not BSE. It is banned in Canada that's part of the reason the dairy guys don't want to lose supply management cause it is used in the states.

Agree on the level playing field but it's no different than grain markets, it's a world wide trading program not just Canada.

Now you guys got me all worked up!