Food Quality

[parsley]

As producers, maybe we need to invite ourselves to the "value-chain" production line being promoted as our economic saviour.

As producers, shouldn't we take keen interest in the quality of the end product if we want to maintain our continuity as suppliers of raw product?

Do any producer associations you know of seriously focus on the quality of the finished product?

I have read France's producers are particularly fussy re end product. Pars

[riders2010]

No it's all about money and we allow world wide trade deals where entities can take advantage of some chineese or pakistani or bangledesh person who has nothing and therefore will work for a penny to produce a product it's labelled as more efficient only in terms of cost of prodcuction and workable for free trade etc. Free trade is a hoax that perpetuates the problem you have listed above.

Very good topic that is much more serious than many people take it' my self included. How do you get the consumer else where to value the best beef in the world for example if they make a penny an hour?

[riders2010]

Sorry should have read yes to your first question and no to the part of org. do not look at quality like they should.

[parsley]

I'll reply tommorow,as I've been writing on my novel all day and I'm wiped. Pars

[grassfarmer]

Who says we have the best beef in the world? Usually people who haven't traveled and tasted beef elsewhere, commodity producer groups like ABP and CCA who seem to have an interest is defending the status quo industrial food system.
How good can our mainstream commodity beef be when sizable parts of the consuming world won't allow it's importation due to the use of artificial growth hormones? and domestic consumers are turning in droves to buying direct from the producer whether it be hormone free, organic, grass-fed, ethically raised, welfare friendly raised etc?
I think we have the conditions to produce some of the best beef in the world but unfortunately are choosing to play the commodity, low quality, industrial ag game instead - and we are losing the game.

[parsley]

I am holding in my hand, a magazine called Baker's Journal,August/September 2010 Edition.

It goes to the baking trade.

There is an article in it called:
"Alberta/Duchess owners Discover Edmonton is ready for a Parisian-Style Patisserie.

"All products are baked from scratch. using natural ingredients and no artificial preservatives or stabilizers. Duchess is also particular about sourcing-for example, butter comes from New Zealand....."

New Zealand

New Zealand

[parsley]

I am an eater. A good one. I can recognize smells of over 50 different herbs and spices. I am a good eater.

Many people who source and buy raw materials and ingredients are also good eaters.

This company is buying NZ butter.

Why?

Because New Zealand has the best dairy products in the world. I have stayed in NZ and gorged on their dairy.

We can only compete with them when we learn from them.

Excellence. It is the hallmark of future premium sales.

Canadian farmers have to decide if they want to grow and sell non-premium raw materials by the s#%tload, and send it to China and then buy back the manufactured food to feed your kids, or if they want to grow premium raw product, and supply premium domestic and foreign buyers' requeats.

The complaints on AV increasingly refer to diminishing margins on quantity shipments.

Does the biggest profit lie in quantity or quality?

Who do you want to be?

[parsley]

Here I go talking to myself again furrow, lol. Be nice , or I'll make you a character siphonoing gas in one of my books. LOL

Okay, here's a couple of headlines that arrived today:

1. "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned the Michigan-based Penguin Juice Company that its products are considered adulterated as they are not pasteurized, despite being labeled as such..."

2. "China warns of death sentence for serious food safety violations

Imposing the death penalty for the worst offences and the mulling of a ban on a bakery bleaching agent are the latest measures unveiled this week by Chinese authorities as part of its ongoing battle to tackle food safety breaches..."

and then grassfarmer, this blip addresses what you wrote:

3."Innovation key to keeping up with growing private label, report

Increased competition from private label products means that food and beverage manufacturers must focus on innovation in order to maintain market share, warns a new report..."

Quality.
Excellence

Canadians are the folks with enough money to buy quality food. IMHO Pars

[gustgd]

Parsley
I find it hard to believe you have the expressed written consent of MLB to repost in whole or part any of the above articles.
Your going to lose your mother of a lawyer of the year award

Whatever happened to Parsleys notebook?
You put so much into it.

[parsley]

It's reasonably decent and actually legal to quote an exerpt. You can even copy exerpts from google alerts. I did copy ONR entire article to show the remainder are exerpts, for which I am certain I will be jailed. Especially tonight after considerable red wine.

Parsley's Notebook was hacked and all the posts about flax/biotech were targeted.

I haven't gotten back to it as I am working on a novel. I din't know you read it. Thanks for your time. Pars

[parsley]

wd, I chuckled at your "China has to be investigated" comment.

Good Luck!
But interesting reading about the results of recycling. Thanks for that.

[parsley]

Food safety is #1 when it comes to measuring food quality, isn't it.

Found this link on SDA this morning and thought both charliep and franscisco would be particularly interested to read it since both seem to be bulls on science based food:

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/43691
(poke poke at the old bulls)

Pars