When making food purchases the consumer generally is looking for the cheapest, most nutritious food. For meat products this is achieved by asking questions such as “what type of feed did this animal receive,” “was it exposed to toxins,” “was it processed in a safe, disease free facility” and “is this a reasonable price given the current market?” For many people ethics also come in to play. The average Canadian consumer wants to know that the animal suffered minimally while it was alive.
Having a label saying “Produced in Canada” gives the consumer a sense of security when making food purchases. This label provides the assurance that a certain set of standard practices are followed throughout the production of the item. The Canadian Meat Inspection Agency claims to inspect the facilities used to process meat in other countries in addition to further inspections that take place once the product or livestock reaches Canada. However, in some countries the culture is one of corruption and local inspectors can’t necessarily be trusted not to overlook shortcuts. When shortcuts can result in contamination which could potentially sicken or kill consumers it is an unacceptable risk. Knowing the origin of your food is important to enable consumers to take the appropriate precautions.
Labeling on food products also allows Canadians to support other Canadians. Without the “produced in” labels it is impossible to tell if the meat in your grocery store is from a Canadian producer or an international producer. Some countries can produce meat at a cheaper price because of a lower dollar. Without labels consumers will naturally tend towards the cheaper product. The ramifications on Canadian farmers could be enormous. When you look in the grocery store produce section Canadian produce is present in equal or lesser amounts to that of international produce, even in the summer. Only 50 years ago grocery market shelves were stocked exclusively with Canadian produce with the exception of the occasional Christmas Orange. Could this end up being the future of Canadian meats as well? Money in the pockets of Canadian farmers allows them to further invest in their operations, improve the lives of their animals, fix up and buy equipment and stimulate the economy.
Meat produced in Canada is regulated by strict rules for the well-being of animals. Canadian Agriculture has strict rules regarding medicating livestock and mandates frequent testing for antibiotics in the animals. There is also a code of practice for the care and handling of livestock which details and where necessary mandates the use of pain control methods. This includes freezing and painkillers for procedures such as dehorning and castration. Buying Canadian meat assures that the animals involved were treated humanely.
How do you know where the meat came from? All Canadian sheep and cattle are individually identified through radio frequency identification (RFID) ear tags. These can be used to reliably track an animal back to the farm where it was born. It is illegal to move an animal off of a farm without tags. The infrastructure already exists to identify the origin of the animal and if it moves around Canada after it was born what difference does it make?
The United States and Canadian markets have long been closely intertwined. However, the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) law introduced by the United States in 2008 has strained that country’s relations with both Canada and Mexico. COOL requires all producers and processors to identify where an animal is born, raised and slaughtered. Canada and Mexico view this law as a protectionist measure directed towards the United States and have taken it to the World Trade Organization (WTO) multiple times. The US market accounts for 77.5 percent of Canada’s beef exports with grain fed Canadian beef being preferred over its American equivalent. Canadian Beef is three percent of the total beef consumption in the United States. Although COOL is a protectionist law which may inhibit our exports of many Canadian agricultural products for beef products, the Canadian label continues to indicate a consumer preferred choice.
Other types of labeling are already prominent within the food industry. “Registered Organic,” “hormone free,” grass-fed versus feedlot or grain fed are all ways that industry already associates their products with specific sets of practices and regulations. In Canada, national regulations and guidelines are constantly being updated to help improve the agricultural practices both for animal welfare and environmental stewardship. In Canada, this means that dairy farmers now have to work with nutritionists to develop nutrient management plans which will benefit their cows as well as decreasing pollution and algae blooms.
Labeling meat products with “produced in” is a valuable tool for consumers. Having the place of origin on food products is a powerful indicator for the rules governing how that product was treated as it went from animal to dinner plate. Knowing whether a meat product is from a Canadian producer or abroad allows consumers to choose to support their local economy, sets a base level of food quality and assures humane treatment of animals. Meat labeled “Produced in Canada” is an assurance of a high quality, reliable product that can be trusted.
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