Wednesday, June 13, 2007

A Ray of Hope?


Just as I was thinking there was nothing happening out there, something appeared on the CBC. The story was good but in my mind, anyway, it needs to be developed and expanded further.

As much as I love the CBC, you haven't really made the news until all National media are putting forward their own elements of the same story.

After all, it is the consumer here, who is being hosed over "made in Canada" labeling and the food processors who are buying that 'least cost' stuff from China. The food retail industry is also not without blame. Their drive for higher profits and lower cost suppliers is all part of the package. Since they purchase much of their fresh stuff from the 'Food Terminal', they are the problem here, in spades!

See 'Product of Canada' labels misleading, consumer group says

Check out the video cast under "related stories" for the full CBC National story from Monday, June 12, 2007.


In the meantime, consumers are still being exposed to risks and the 'Made in Canada' label is worse than useless.

Time for Dairy Farmers of Canada to put some real media weight behind efforts to educate their consumers. As one of the few farm organizations with a large media budget this opportunity needs to become full blown.



The proposed new standards for cheese are also part of this story. I fail to see why processors do not understand how the "China" issue affects them too. They are also missing an opportunity to get media buzz by voluntarily offering to comply for the benefit of their consumers. This would definitely be newsworthy and garner millions in free publicity. They could even list those cheeses they would be applying these new standards to.

Instead, they are locked in a battle to keep their cheap products and put all of us at risk.-CG

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