The Calgary Herald ran the story on the front page and it was not about politics, religion or tragedy. The story was about the Calgary Co-op’s members’ non-binding resolution for management to consider phasing out the purchasing of pork and eggs produced in confinement cages. This reflects what some Calgary Co-op consumers have been asking for.
Industry’s response was to protect the current system and to warn that the alternative was higher prices. The test will be whether consumers vote with their wallets. Their loyalty to higher-priced items may be determined over time.
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In the debate there are the usual pros and cons of offering non-caged product. The first con is always price, as is the potential shortage of product from these open-production systems. The pros are supported by animals themselves. As David Webb said in the Calgary Herald article, there is already a movement in the egg industry to ensure that chickens can be chickens and have extra space and perches as well as a place to have a little scratch. And although the Herald reported that this is currently five per cent of the egg market, Webb confirmed that growth was huge at a full 27 per cent last year.
Regardless of the debate on “should we or should we not” afford animals with a more natural environment, the fact that the story was front-page news is rivetting. Agriculture is under the microscope and that tells us that folks do really care. The Herald is unlikely to run a story for which there would be no reader interest. They know what captures the reader and they also know that Calgary Co-op is popular with consumers.
Can it be done? Of course. Cage and crate free has been legislated in Europe for years. Certainly the cost of production is higher, but so is the number of live pigs and the margin is better. That is because consumers have proven themselves as willing to pay more. So the question of whether consumers will pay more may be related to how we tell the story. The Whole Foods grocery chain has an animal-care label that reflects detailed animal welfare practices. More than 200 producers in Canada contribute to the handful of Canadian Whole Foods stores. The story through the label sells in a big way and animal welfare has proven itself as a driver at the retail shelf.
Plenty of warning
As for the fear of product having to come from offshore because of a shortage, that could be challenged. There is no indication that a possible new procurement program at Calgary Co-op will be for all meat offerings. Nor will it happen tomorrow, and there is no evidence that the move will force a displacement of Canadian product. There is always time for industry to adjust, and it has had a decade of fair warning. Fast-food chains have demanded cage- and crate-free animal welfare practices because in the long run it was cheaper to spend the money and do it than to not. Tim Hortons is the latest to announce that it will participate in cage- and crate-free procurement. The meat industry has a choice in production practices, while at the same time being accountable to consumers and inform them of what it is they are eating.
There is no middle ground here. Meat trades in a transparent world. Just a few days after the Herald article, the Windsor Star ran a news article entitled “Ontario doctors call for ban on antibiotics in livestock feed.” Farmers responded by saying that meat prices would rise. The kicker was the beautiful photograph of cattle, implying this was a bovine problem. The folks interviewed were from the beef industry and the response was a weak rhetoric from the pork debate claiming that consumers would pay more and reminding readers that the problem is global in context. In the case of antimicrobial residue in foods, Canada does not fully address imported product.
The lack of the same regulations regarding imported product is core to the discussion of overall food safety. Banning cages, crates and pens and legislating antimicrobial use in Canada does not mean that Canada accepts only imported meat product with the same production criteria. There is no such trade restriction on imported goods. As for the claim from Ontario doctors, they are making a huge claim without fully supportive evidence. Yet the story is out there — in large print — with a cattle photo.
As an industry, we must prepare for increased media coverage and be ready with the answer. It is our time in the meat industry to be proactive and look at other production systems that work, are profitable and meet consumer demand for animal welfare and wellness.
