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Alberta Ecotrust Foundation has put millions into environmental projects across province » PG 2

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No uproar over irradiation proposal When irradiating ground beef was first proposed in 2002, consumers were wary By JENNIFER BLAIR AF staff

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he expected consumer outcry over irradiated ground beef has been more of a whisper — a complete sea change from the early 2000s when the technology was first proposed. “Many consumer groups are receptive to the concept, much more so than 14 years ago when Health Canada was seriously considering moving forward on this,” said food marketing expert Sylvain Charlebois. “It seems that the landscape has changed regarding irradiated beef.” Health Canada first broached the idea of irradiating ground beef — a process that kills bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella — in 2002, but quickly shelved the idea due to lack of consumer support. But following Health Canada’s announcement in late May that it will soon propose regulations allowing irradiation in ground beef, consumers seem to have changed their tune, said Charlebois, dean of the faculty of management at Dalhousie University. “I think more and more people are understanding that there’s always a risk in anything we do, but there are ways to mitigate the risks. If the technology exists, why not use it? I think that’s where the Canadian population is right now.” Beef industry expert Mark Klassen agrees.

see IRRADIATION } page 6

‘ Sustainable’ beef pilot a success — but the job isn’t done yet McDonald’s pilot is complete but now the Canadian beef industry has to create and implement its own standards By ALEXIS KIENLEN AF STAFF/CALGARY

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fter being the first to source and track “verified sustainable” beef for McDonald’s, the Canadian cattle industry has a new challenge — create its own standards that all of its buyers can use. The wrap-up event drew more than 300 ranchers and industry players to celebrate the accomplishment — a sharp contrast to the quiet, behind-the-scenes start to the project, which only became public knowledge when Alberta Farmer broke the story in May 2014. Attendees praised the fast-food giant, the largest buyer of Canadian beef, for choosing Canada for its global pilot. “Not many people are aware of the actual investment that McDonald’s has put in our Canadian industry,” said Cherie Copithorne-Barnes, chair of Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef. “Their time and their financial commitment to this has been a gift for us. We would never have been given that kick in the butt to get this off the ground as quickly as we have.” The roundtable, the Canadian cousin of a global organization that launched the push for sustainable beef, was created just as the McDonald’s pilot was being conceived. It worked with the company to develop its “indicators,” which cover areas such as environmental stewardship, animal health and welfare, and food safety in beef production. And although the pilot project is over, it was clear McDonald’s expects the roundtable to create a national standard that will cover the entire Canadian beef supply chain. “For McDonald’s, it’s the end and the beginning,” said Andrew Brazier, director of the company’s worldwide supply chain. “McDonald’s will have a long vested interest in the industry and this will evolve into the next stage of our partnership with Canadian beef.” Throughout the 2-1/2 years of the pilot project, McDonald’s tracked and verified 8,967 cattle from birth to burger. That fulfilled its bold promise in early 2014 to begin sourcing sustainable beef by this year. “Of these almost 9,000 head of cattle that came through the system, they came from 13 of 20 verified feedlots and 86 of 121 ranches,” said Emily Murray, general manager of the Cargill plant in Spruce Grove that produces beef patties for McDonald’s Canada. “This supply chain is not about one ranch

Fawn Jackson (l), executive director of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, and Cherie Copithorne-Barnes, rancher and roundtable chair spoke about creating a new definition of verified, sustainable beef in Canada.   photo: alexis kienlen or one feedlot. We needed the entire group of people that participated in the pilot to make this 9,000 cattle happen. “This initiative was to build consumer confidence in the Canadian beef industry as a whole. The initiative was not about creating winners and losers, but about all doing the right thing together.”

What’s next

Now it’s up to the Canadian roundtable to take on the initiative. “McDonald’s has got us off on the right foot,” said Fawn Jackson, the roundtable’s executive director who is also manager of environment and sustainability with the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. “Now, with the pilot concluding, we’re going to be transitioning to developing a national framework to source and supply verified sustainable beef. The team will take that information and accelerate the implementation of the verification framework all across Canada on an even bigger scale.”

But even though McDonald’s has already served 2.4 million burgers made of verified sustainable Canadian beef, it will take until the end of 2017 before a similar national system is up and running. “We will get it right, and this will take time,” said Jackson. Certification was a critical component to the McDonald’s pilot, with the company using a third-party auditor named Where Food Comes From. It visited and verified 154 ranches, 24 feedlots, both Canadian packers, and the Spruce Grove burger plant. But the roundtable won’t take on the role of auditor, said Copithorne-Barnes. “Our focus will be on facilitating what the framework of sustainability will look like here in Canada,” said Copithorne-Barnes. “We’re not going to be a verifier. Our purpose is to create whatever tools will be necessary to design a program or label that we, the Canadian industry, will be able to live with.”

see sustainable beef } page 6


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