CALF_News_Oct_Nov_2018

10 CALF News • October | November 2018 • www.calfnews.net Rumblings From the Great White North  CALF VOICES By Will Verboven Contributing Editor Canadian Beef Now Has Social License ... Well, Almost R ecently, there was a flurry of media announcements from Canadian cattle producer orga- nizations, the Canadian Round- table for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) and McDonald’s Canada touting the creation of a new sustainable beef production framework. The announcements tried to explain what the framework meant – they are production and processing standards that include more than 60 indicators across five principles for beef sustain- ability, all of which will be subject to on-site auditing. Beef meeting those standards will be eligible to be sold under an official CRSB certification label/logo. McDonald’s Canada will begin using such certified beef in its Canadian Angus beef hamburgers. That claim will be made if the certified sus- tainable beef meets at least 30 percent of the content. It all started four years ago with a pilot project using the existing Canadian beef-industry-sponsored “verified beef ” program as a basis. It morphed into the CRSB standards, which included additional things like social responsibil- ity – loosely defined as safe working con- ditions, supporting local communities, recycling and energy efficiency. One is perplexed as to how social responsibil- ity makes a better burger, but then this exercise is more about social license – that much-sought-after privilege that apparently allows producers to humbly offer (sustainably produced?) food to the over-indulged consumer. As exasperating as that approach may be, big retailers and fast-food chains have become captives of such trendy politi- cally correct whims and are browbeaten by self-appointed consumer lobby groups and the social media monster into capitulat- ing to even the most-inane con- sumer delusions about food. Be that as it may, the Canadian cattle industry did the right thing and took the initiative to lead the “sustainable beef ” movement in order to have some influence on its direction, intensity and timeline. They brought into the round- table process special-interest groups like Ducks Unlimited, the Nature Conser- vancy of Canada and the World Wildlife Fund; all helped the CRSB legitimize its quest to obtain social license – at least from such mainstream lobby groups. The CRSB standards that evolved from the pilot project have shown to be not that onerous for producers. Most standards, particularly those connected to codes of practice, were already in place, with others requiring fine tuning. But obtaining CRSB certification requires an auditing process, and that will cost money. Some feedlots and pro- cessors are already receiving premiums for CRSB-certified sustainable cattle and beef. How long that will continue is the question. One hopes that the CRSB certifica- tion label/logo that McDonald’s Canada and others will be using in their market- ing and promotion campaigns will be subject to a user fee. That would cover some of the program’s administration and auditing costs. Marketers/retailers regularly pay user fees to organizations that offer certifica- tion for a variety of purposes. Just look at the organic and seafood sectors. Most of their products feature a multitude of certification labels/logos from vari- ous groups that all charge fees to the retailer/marketer for their use. If McDonald’s Canada is a true believer in the CRSB sustainable beef program and wants to use it as part of their marketing program, perhaps they need to pay a penny for each Canadian Angus burger sold under the CRSB label. The millions of dollars from that small fee will go a long way toward paying for program costs and reduce the burden on cattle producers. Or is that bit of fairness too much to expect? But what about that hidden agenda that I believe the retail/fast food sector secretly want to extract out of the CRSB concept? Upon the media release about the CRSB sustainable beef certifi- cation program, a Canadian Broad- casting Corporation radio reporter interviewed the highly respected CRSB chairperson and prominent Alberta rancher Cherie Copithorne- Continued on page 11 