By Bruce Cochrane.
The Chair of Manitoba Pork says ensuring consumers are aware of the issues surrounding the production of the food they eat will be a high priority for Manitoba's pork industry in 2017.
Public relations and public education has become an increasingly important aspect of food production, heightened by the proliferation of social media.
George Matheson, the Chair of Manitoba Pork, says it's hopped the public is aware of the efforts of pork producers but it's tough to determine the public's level of knowledge about agricultural issues.
George Matheson-Manitoba Pork:
We've made great improvements in the industry since I've been a producer in the last 30 years in regards to animal care and food safety, environmental stewardship or work place health and safety.
On the horizon there will be greenhouse gas reduction and carbon taxes that the governments might impose.
We want to make sure that the general public knows about these things that we're doing to continue the trust that they have in us.
We will continue to press forward with educating them on the realities of our industry and the improvements we have made and our focus.
It's important.
Food is a necessity to human life and we are in the business of making food and it's important that they trust the products we produce and it's important they trust the process in which they come to be and that includes manure management and animal care and ultimately, when the animals are processed, food safety.
Matheson says public relations remains a top priority and is probably an area Manitoba Pork spends more on than anything else in its budget.
Source: Farmscape