The Canadian Beed Industry Conference, the inaugural event, was held this past week in Calgary, Alberta. Adrienne Ivey, who blogs under the banner, View from the Ranch Porch, says that every winter provincial gatherings take place, but the time had come to gather from all parts of the country.
The event brought the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, the Beef Cattle Research Council, Canada Beef and the Canadian Beef Breeds Council, along with hundreds of beef producers, together.
It’s part of the “national beef strategy” that was formulated in 2013, and identified uniting and connecting as a necessity.
One of the most anticipated speakers at the Calgary event,however, was Mo Jessa, head of the chain of restaurants known as Earl’s. Last year he raised Cain when he announced that the restaurant would be sourcing their beef in the United States from then on in order to get the quality of beef they wanted.
certified humane, ethically raised and anti-biotic and hormone-free cattle
In order to satisfy increasingly selective clients with queries about ethical treatment and hormone and anti-biotic free animals, the decision had been made to go south of the border.
Canadian beef ranchers and farmers went viral! A boycott of Earl’s got off the ground rather quickly, and eventually Mo Jessa announced that after looking into the situation, Earl’s would be happily using the best Alberta beef.
Adrienne Ivey says she gives Mo Jessa full credit. “It must have taken a very brave man to stand up on that stage in front of 670 cattle producers and talk about “the incident” as he called it, and what all had gone down, so I give him and Earl’s as an organization, full credit for being there and for wanting to talk about what happened and how to move forward.”
Earl’s got going in 1982 and has grown to 67 locations, mostly in western Canada. Now Earl’s Kitchen & Bar is opening locations in the United States. Mo Jessa, who started working for the company as a part-time student, grew with the company and eventually into the position of president, the first non-family member to do so.
“The incident” was a wake-up call for both sides. Adrienne Ivey says “It just raised a lot of questions, I would say that’s definetly a positive of what came out of this Earl’s incident is that it started a lot of conversations and gave us an opportunity as producers to talk more with the public about what we do and that’s definetly a bright point.”
Ivey says the certification of “humane treatment” was received as an insult as it implied that other cattle were not well-treated which did not sit well with many cattle ranchers. And then the conundrum of anti-biotic free, when an animal may need the medication left many wondering what it was all about.
With careful consutlation, Mo Jessa came to understand how the best quality beef was being raised in Canada, and the beef industry realized they have to up their game and let consumers know what’s going on and how they raise their animals.
Adrienne Ivey says she, like many who attended the conference, is returning home inspired and refreshed. And plans are underway for the next year’s national gathering, same time same place.
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