A Beef with Earls
By Lynne Bell
Recently, Canadian restaurant chain Earls invoked a social media storm as it announced the company would be sourcing beef for its eateries from the U.S.-and shortly after, Earls reversed its decision after Canadian consumers called for a boycott of its restaurants.
In a news release, Earls president Mo Jessa said of the company's turnaround: “We made a mistake when we moved away from Canadian beef. We want to make this right. We want Canadian beef back on our menus so we are going to work with local ranchers to build our supply of Alberta beef that meets our criteria.”
Earls also released a video featuring Jessa, who stated the restaurant chain would get Canadian beef back on its menu “quickly.”
The Earls backlash began when the company announced that it would be buying beef from American suppliers because of customer demand for beef that was free of antibiotics and steroids and raised humanely.
The “Certified Humane” marketing program verifies beef raised and slaughtered according to criteria set by animal welfare proponent, Temple Grandin. This allowed Earls to meet its need for a consistent supply of beef that met these standards, as currently-according to the eatery-there are few Canadian suppliers that are able to do so.
Rob McNabb of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association says that this country isn't lagging behind the U.S. when it comes to meeting consumer demand for new products-nor does he think that Canadian producers are producing an inferior, unhealthy or inhumanely-raised product.
However, he stated that Canada lacks an effective certification system and says that this country's smaller cattle industry hasn't got the message out to the public about Canada's quality beef products.
If Earls makes good on its promise to assist Canadian beef producers with “building a supply of Alberta beef that meets our criteria,” the restaurant chain will create a win-win situation that will have a long-term, positive effect on the beef industry in Canada.
Earls initial announcement re: sourcing Certified Humane Beef was in response to customer demand. The company needed a consistent and considerable amount of beef for its restaurants that met the standards diners were demanding.
By assisting with setting up certification and supply in Canada-probably, mostly in Alberta- Earls is helping producers, making their own customers happy and of course, improving its bottom line.
Acknowledging Earls' misstep, company president Jessa said: We started in Edmonton and we have many operations and employees here. Alberta has supported us. We need to support Alberta, especially in tough times. We moved to a U.S. supplier as we thought they could supply all of our needs. It was a mistake not to include Canadian beef.”
Earls forgot their customer's patriotism at their peril. But if they do this right, they'll ensure customer loyalty-from Canadian consumers and producers alike.
What is “humane?”
By Kelly Running
It was a topic in and out of the news in Prairie Provinces… “humane” beef and the restaurants that sell it.
This particular topic, although everything gets blown up on social media these days, seemed to be everywhere.
I grew up in southwest Saskatchewan and although we didn’t have cattle, the majority of our neighbours did. We would go and help at brandings, listened to the stories of them checking cattle in the spring and pulling calves, bringing them in the house if it was freezing out to warm them, and ultimately caring for their animals.
One person in my newsfeed posted this: “I know how the meat we eat is raised, I know the sacrifice and commitment it takes. Feeding any animal is a lot of work and must be done multiple times of the day. I know that feeding cattle will mean making sacrifices. You give up weekend camping trips, you stay up all night baling hay for the animals you feed, as a young child you grow up knowing your mom or dad might not make every sports game to watch you or fishing trip. Your weekend plans change in a matter of seconds [because] of the weather changes…”
“The point is ranchers give up many plans to feed the world and produce meat for the people who can’t, so maybe the people who can’t should learn what it takes. I know for one I’ve [given] up camping trips, weddings, etc… to move cows or feed them. I wouldn’t trade it for the world either, growing up with it… At the end of the day if people are going to be critics about the food they eat, spend a month watching how the food is actually brought up, not what is falsely advertised.”
Another friend wrote: “It’s frustrating when people don’t understand the livelihood of farmers and ranchers. The amount of blood, sweat, tears and pride put into their production. Growing up ranching and living with a rancher I cannot count the amount of sleepless nights, social events missed, appointments missed, school missed, and sports games missed. Feeding and checking through all inclement weather thrown at us, whether we ourselves were sick or healthy. If putting our lives on hold, facing all types of weather in all degrees of health isn’t humane I don’t know what the [heck] they want from us.”
Ultimately, the idea of “humane” beef was a marketing tactic. It appeals to people who live in urban centres, away from production. It’s the people who, when they were kids, went to a grocery store and thought meat simply came from there, which had no idea where it actually came from. The problem is people who are misinformed, absolutely no meat in Canada has antibiotics in it when it is slaughtered, there are mandatory time periods one has to wait before their cattle can be sent to be slaughtered.
Additionally, antibiotics are used to treat sickness. How is it humane to let an animal suffer instead of treating it? If your child needed antibiotics because they were sick would you not take them to the doctor and ensure they became healthy, that they weren’t suffering? So, how is letting an animal suffer by not giving them their antibiotics humane?
The label is simply a marketing ploy, which the Prairie Provinces weren’t about to fall for.
