Canadians celebrate supply management

Jun 13, 2018

Producers shared their stories directly with consumers and government officials

By Kaitlynn Anderson
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Canadian farmers visited the country’s capital to share an important message yesterday.

Producers from supply-managed sectors hosted the Downtown Diner, an event where consumers can interact with farmers and learn how food is produced. Lynn Crawford, a celebrity chef, also served complementary meals to attendees.

“One of the main goals of the event was to try and bridge the gap between the farm and the plate,” Lyne Robichaud, senior public affairs officer for the Egg Farmers of Canada, told Farms.com today.

The pop-up diner provided members of the chicken, dairy, turkey and egg industries with a venue to answer the public’s questions about, and emphasize the importance of, Canada’s supply management systems.

“The event is a great opportunity to showcase (to consumers) how the system works for them,” Robichaud said. “It’s a system that allows Canadians to (access) Canadian food. We believe that it’s extremely important for food security, as well.”

Throughout the day, many government officials – including almost 40 members of parliament and senators, as well as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – stopped by the diner to chat with farmers, Robichaud said.

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The industry groups received positive responses from attendees.

“It was a really good day,” she said. “We’re very proud.”

R-J-Seymour/iStock/Getty Images Plus photo

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.