The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) recently launched a new group, one that is focused on the continuous improvement of sustainable Canadian beef.
June 10 marked the official opening of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB), which aims to open up the lines of communication between multiple stakeholders to advance economic, social and environmental sustainability of Canadian beef product.
“We have never worked this closely with stakeholders in the past,” said Fawn Jackson, manager of environment and sustainability for the CCA.
“There’s a growing disconnect between farmers and their consumers. We all want to see a collaborative improvement and to show how advanced the Canadian agriculture system is.”
The roundtable includes voices from agriculture groups and environmental organizations, as well as representatives from Walmart, Loblaws, A&W Food Services and McDonald’s Canada. Jackson said that’s only a selection of the names listed on the roundtable roster.
“It creates an open, transparent conversation,” said Cherie Copithorne-Barnes, chair of the roundtable and CEO of CL Ranches Ltd. “Then sustainable beef becomes a non-competitive issue.”
The CCA is a member of the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, which Jackson said provides a base foundation about sustainable beef.
The CRSB will take that foundation and plug it into a Canadian context, she said.
“We need to keep producing nutritious, high-quality beef,” she added.
McDonald’s Canada representatives recently took a tour of Copithorne-Barnes’ ranch in Jumping Pound.
The restaurant is looking to begin sourcing only verifiable sustainable beef in 2016.
“We are currently working with the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and other industry stakeholders towards an agreement on a pilot project with the goal of advancing the ongoing improvement in the social, economic and environmental sustainability of the Canadian beef value chain,” said a media statement from McDonald’s Canada.
“Beef is important to Canadians, and we are extremely proud to work with the industry around sustainability.”
At this point, the project is in its infancy and McDonald’s Canada representatives said they would not provide any more information at this time.Further details will be provided once available.
McDonald’s Canada sources 100 per cent of its beef from Canadian suppliers.
Copithorne-Barnes said being the first market to be able to provide verifiable sustainable beef would give Canada “an edge on a global scale.”
