by Will Chabun
A veterinarian who’s also an epidemiologist and stock grower hopes the backlash to a restaurant chain’s decision to go out of Canada for beef supposedly raised in a “humane” way sends a lesson to that chain and others.
Leigh Rosengren, who practises and farms near Midale, is also heartened by the willingness of Canadians to show, through social media and other means, support for the Canadian cattle industry.
That reflects the fact Canadians know we have “the safest food system in the world” and can “see through” claims that it isn’t.
The Earls restaurant chain triggered this controversy by announcing Tuesday it would become the first chain in North America to serve only “Certified Humane” beef — meaning beef raised without the use of antibiotics, steroids or added hormones, and slaughtered according to the specifications of animal welfare expert Dr. Temple Grandin.
Earls — which uses more than two million pounds of beef each year — claimed it was unable to find a Canadian supplier that could meet the chain’s demand for the product, though it said nothing about working with Canadian producers to do so. That means that beef served at Earls restaurants nationwide will no longer come from Canada, but from Kansas.
This prompted Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall to tweet: “So @earlsrestaurant didn’t even consult with Canadian cattle producers before opting for US beef…”
Read the full article here.
A veterinarian who’s also an epidemiologist and stock grower hopes the backlash to a restaurant chain’s decision to go out of Canada for beef supposedly raised in a “humane” way sends a lesson to that chain and others.
Leigh Rosengren, who practises and farms near Midale, is also heartened by the willingness of Canadians to show, through social media and other means, support for the Canadian cattle industry.
That reflects the fact Canadians know we have “the safest food system in the world” and can “see through” claims that it isn’t.
The Earls restaurant chain triggered this controversy by announcing Tuesday it would become the first chain in North America to serve only “Certified Humane” beef — meaning beef raised without the use of antibiotics, steroids or added hormones, and slaughtered according to the specifications of animal welfare expert Dr. Temple Grandin.
Earls — which uses more than two million pounds of beef each year — claimed it was unable to find a Canadian supplier that could meet the chain’s demand for the product, though it said nothing about working with Canadian producers to do so. That means that beef served at Earls restaurants nationwide will no longer come from Canada, but from Kansas.
This prompted Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall to tweet: “So @earlsrestaurant didn’t even consult with Canadian cattle producers before opting for US beef…”
Read the full article here.
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