Is it necessary for our food to be labeled with the origin of the product? Absolutely not! Labeling food with “Produced in …” creates a false sense of food security for consumers. To fully understand the complexities of this issue let’s start by looking at the example of a person. We’ll call him Bob. So Bob was born in the United States but when he was 16 one of his parents lost their job and they relocated to Canada. He decided to get his education at a Canadian university and eventually settled down and had a child named Beatrice. Was our friend Bob a product of the United States or Canada? Although he was physically born in the United States a large chunk of the money that went into making Bob the talented professional that he is now was invested in Canada.
How do you define where something is produced? To maintain the genetic diversity of herds it is common for animals to be sold across provincial and international borders. A bull from southern America might inseminate Canadian dairy cows; beef cattle from Canada might be used to start a herd in the United States. The location where something is produced is often determined by where the most money is spent on it, where livestock is slaughtered or packaged as opposed to where livestock was raised. According to the List of Federally Registered Meat Establishments and their Licensed Operators there are only 101 slaughterhouses in Canada. This means there is approximately one slaughterhouse per 340 000 people. Each slaughterhouse draws on a large geographic area. The meat from these facilities is then shipped all over Canada.
Health concerns are often a reason that people want the “produced in” labels. What is the difference between a cow slaughtered in Alberta and shipped to Toronto and a cow slaughtered in Asia and shipped to Vancouver? The currencies are different, the feedstock may be different and possible environmental toxins might be different. However, for meat to be imported in to Canada it must meet stringent guidelines. Animals and meat products produced overseas must follow strict guidelines including being processed in frequent inspected facilities and they must be inspected upon reaching the Canadian market. The meat that reaches the Canadian market will be equally safe if not of equally good quality to that of Canadian meat. We outsource clothes, gadgets and many other products so why not trust those countries to produce our food as well?
Canada has had its fair share of health scares related to meat products. Who could forget the years when Mad Cow disease led to North American meat being shut out of many international markets including Japan, New Zealand and Cuba? The United States also closed their borders to Canada despite both countries having incidents of Mad Cow. There are also frequent E.coli scares where inadequate inspections allow sick animals to end up on the slaughter house floor contaminating the meat products and potentially contaminating equipment. Inadequate temperature and humidity control can also be culprits of contamination. Meat products are not 100 per cent guaranteed whether they are produced in Canada or produced elsewhere. Accountability to the quality of a food product and the ability to speedily recall contaminated products is assured by Canada’s Meat Inspection Act. Tracking of food products is likewise a complex and well organized system which assures health and accountability for all meat products.
In today’s global market, food is a global issue which transcends national borders. A contaminated batch of meat products can easily become an international issue. This was the case when Mad Cow disease hit first Europe then North America. A long incubation period meant that Mad Cow in North America would peak six years after European Mad Cow exploded around 1997. While the initial outbreak caused many borders to close to beef products the long term result of this incident was serious restructuring of international markets.
Humane treatment of animals is something many consumers consider to be an important factor in their purchasing decisions. Having a “produced in” label would allow them to make meat purchases based on region specific information. Industrial farming is a messy, sometimes seemingly inhumane industry. People have to make their own decisions. The best way to ensure you approve of how your food is produced is to buy from a local farm where you can see the farm in action.
Putting “Produced in…” labels on products gives an unrealistic sense of security to the consumer. Place of origin should be an unimportant factor in food purchases because all food products available on the Canadian market should meet or exceed minimum standards of quality which ensure consumer health. Food is something that has become a global issue and foods are now routinely a global resource which ignores borders and nations. There is no difference between meat having been shipped from Asia to Canada and meat that has been shipped from coast to coast within Canada itself.
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