A Watershed Moment??

On CTV National news last night a segment of W-5's season opener: "Safe to Eat?", was aired as 'news'. Hot diggity.. maybe now the government will pay attention.

So, just for fun I visited our friendly neighbourhood CTV W-5 sites and CBC Marketplace to see what has been happening since both these shows aired.

Certainly the CBC site has more to offer in visible feedback from the consumers who viewed the show. Comments on the site are growing by leaps and bounds. Most consumers are shocked. Many seem to view to current state of affairs on "Made in Canada" as a government betrayal of a public trust!! Hmmmm. This sounds promising.

The comments do cover a wide range of thoughts on the issue, from alternate strategies to protect themselves to complaints about the choice of food retailers and processors. All of them are wonderfully illuminating.

Taken together, they point to the massive disconnect the public has with the source of their food. This is not their fault. The struggles farmers have had with WTO policies and the results, processors and their bottom lines and a lot of other stuff, just isn't 'out there'. If it does hit the media, few make the connection to themselves and their futures or their food. They just don't have enough information to do that.

Agriculture must help them understand what the risks are, what is going on out there and what we might need to do to 'fix' this current state of affairs. But if they come up with something, it must get media exposure. Somehow, it is to be hoped that their messages are heard.

CBC's Marketplace, Too?!

While the buzz about the up-coming show for W-5 has been spinning out there in Internet land, this came back in!

CBC's Marketplace did a show this week too! Aired on Wednesday evening they deal with the Made in Canada label and consumer's feelings both before and after their investigation. The headline reads: It says "Product of Canada" on the package, but the food is really from China. Or New Zealand. Or...

CBC also has extensive written information on how to ensure you really get domestic food AND a comments section that is quite revealing. If you have Facebook connections DO pass this around. As consumers we need to know and be educated about this farce in labelling.

Two networks on the same topic on investigative shows in ONE week. WOW!!!!

Watch CTV's W-5!!!

This Saturday evening, CTV's W5 has it's season opener. They have been advertising it all week. The topic should have every farmer in the country glued to the set. 'Safe to Eat?' should wake up and help to educate consumers. From talking to many of them I know that the average shopper still doesn't understand how little protection they have or how exposed they are by the inadequacies of the "Made in Canada" label.

The missing backbone in the "Made in Canada" legislation has also exposed many of our domestic farmers to ruin as processors take advantage of the "holes" in the labelling guidelines that allow them to import vast quantities of cheap food, simply to re-package it. The poor consumer thinks they are being protected by our pitiful "Made in Canada" label.

I can hardly believe that someone has finally picked up this issue. So far, mainstream media has skated around the edges of this one.

Farmers are being handed a prime time springboard and they better be prepared to leap!

On the Public Radar-Not Yet!

In the past few months, as environmental issues take over the public imagination, the term "Local Food", has become widely used. But our governments' and indeed many of the farm organizations in this country, have paid little heed or have been ignoring the immediacy of this issue.

There have been 'baby steps'. Ontario has pumped millions of dollars into it's Foodland Ontario program to help Ontario residents identify and look for Ontario grown produce and fruit. It has had some impact in that retailers were paying attention and put those products front and centre with the logo. So far it falls short of the mark I believe it needs to hit.

Consumers need more than that during the winter months when imports are rampant.

Quebec farmers have taken another road to raise the profile of the concept of 'food sovereignty', which ultimately should be any governments bottom line. A declaration has been signed on the issue by more than 40 Quebec organizations. The GO5 ( Coalition for a Fair Farming Model)intend to raise the profile with the Quebec government and other farm organizations in Canada.

Ontario supply managed farmers have a program as well. Not as well supported as it could be, never the less, it is supportive of the Quebec concept. Known as the FarmGate 5 , it has the attention of the Ontario Liberal Government caucus. Many individual MPP's have signed it too.

Dairy Farmers of Canada has started to talk about and discuss food sovereignty too.

Unfortunately, none of these groups have come to the realization that their consumers must howl, to really get some government attention. They have taken the slow road. A many pronged approach with big bucks is imperative. Consumers must go to their grocery stores and be angry they cannot get or identify, clearly marked, real Canadian food products. They need to understand the incredible danger current global food policies have exposed them to.

They need to be reminded that our border was closed in the not too distant past (BSE). It can and will happen again. It is only a matter of 'when'. They need to know that their food supply in this country is at risk because many food processors have moved (along with everyone else) to greener pastures off-shore. They need to know that this has not happened with supply managed food because of it's domestic focus.

This is a large undertaking and several levels of advertising support will be needed. It is the only way to empower consumers, who need to understand their own food system much, much better than they do now.

With environmental issues so high on the radar screen, there is a good news story to tell and an urgent warning to all Canadians. The land has to be preserved. The farms must survive. Domestic food processing is an imperative. We ignore these issues at our peril. Farmers must find a way to educate their base support, Canadians who care. They DO, in much larger numbers than anyone realizes. -CG

Cheesed Off!!!!

I was very surprised last evening to see an extensive report on the CTV National news about the new cheese regulations. CTV covered the story but to me the most important part of the issue for the public was either missed or ignored by the media.

They had quotes from several organizations, none who are happy about the new regs. All were referring to the old saw about increased consumer prices. Their new twist is this is bad for consumers because the additon of milk will make it harder to provide 'low-fat' cheeses!!! Back to the 'fat attacks'!!!!

There was a brief clip of the Chair of Dairy Farmers of Canada talking about this 'consistency' being good for consumers.

The real issue and message seemed to disappear in all the hyperbole. This is of course the fact that many ingredients in use now can be from Canada but are not necessarily from Canada. Expediency, amounts available and of course price, all impact the country used as the source of the stuff.

In my consumer mind the only thing I want to know is that the stuff IS from Canada. Period.

Not China, the USA or Europe or Asia or India ....... Canada. Until cheese manufacturers can answer that question, they need to get off the pot. Label the stuff so I don't have to guess. Lots of others do. The public wants decent labelling and 'made in Canada' laws that give us real information.

Sigh ...Not Again!!?

Well just like clock-work, we are back to WTO discussions. And just like the summer's heat I expected something from our famous right wing think tanks. To-day I got it.

The Montreal Economic Institutes latest offering is entitled: Supply Management of Farm Products: a costly system for consumers, it comes complete with a media release. It was a snippet on to-days noon news.

Here is a sampling:

$300 per family – Supply management of farm products: a costly system for consumers Montreal, August 23, 2007 -

As the commission on the future of Quebec’s agriculture and agrifood sector begins its hearings, the Montreal Economic Institute is estimating that supply management of milk, eggs and poultry costs at least $300 extra per year for a family of four. This amounts to $575 million for everyone in Quebec.

In an Economic Note published by the Institute, Marcel Boyer, its vice-president and chief economist, explains that astronomical customs duties and the setting of high prices for these food items constitute a particularly regressive tax on low-income consumers. “This system, motivated by protectionism, operates largely as a cartel and is obsolete, costly and unfair,” Mr. Boyer says. “The food and agriculture sector must adapt to international competition and stop penalizing consumers, as well as farmers themselves in the long run.”

(see more...)

Now I have to give them points for trying. But after some of the interesting articles lately, about the real cost of cheap food policies, I don't think they are going to resonate with the public. I do think the feds are willing to use this same old doggerel for their own purposes. That IS the part of this clap trap that bothers me the most.

For last season's effort see Dairiblawg's The Big Leagues Weigh In !!

A love affair with ice cream

The Star has been doing an amazing job of trying to educate it's consumers. This article deserves a re-print because it is specific about various ice cream makers and the fact much of the ice cream out there is NOT made from cream. I am positive many consumers will be shocked and the dairy industry had better be prepared for their next question: "So where does it come from?"-CG

Husband and wife team Martin deGroot and Ineke Booy operate a dairy farm, as well as an organic ice cream bar, near Elora, west of Guelph.

A love affair with ice cream

June 27, 2007

TheStar.com -We seem to associate it with good times, so it's no mystery why we love the creamy stuff

Katherine Elphick Special to the Star

When it comes to ice cream, Doug Goff is always "on the lookout for weird and wonderful" flavours.

"If there's a strange one on the list, I'm the guy who will try it," says Goff, a University of Guelph professor of food science who specializes in dairy, specifically, in ice cream.

Bizarre entries to his flavour inventory range from salmon and lobster to jalapeño pepper.
Sampling could be considered research for the ice cream expert. He's penned a textbook, published various studies on ice cream and taught courses on the subject for 20 years.

With such credentials, it seems only fitting to ask this ice cream guru: Why do we have a love affair with the stuff?

"It's a fun, social product, and people associate it with good times like vacations, family outings and birthday parties," Goff says. "It also satisfies a great number of taste needs and craving sensations. It's creamy, smooth, sweet and cold – and it comes in a wide variety of flavours."
Canadian per capita consumption is about 10 litres per year, but in the U.S., it's 22 litres per year.

Ontario is the hub of ice cream manufacturing in Canada, Goff says, with about 90 per cent of the national production. The three biggest players in Canada's market are Chapman's, Nestlé and Unilever, which has brands such as Breyers.

But there are smaller, independent manufacturers, often attached to dairies, throughout the province, such as Kawartha Dairy in Bobcaygeon, northeast of Toronto. Once exclusive to cottage country, the dairy's popular brand is now available across central Ontario.

Despite its expanding market, Kawartha Dairy's vice-president and general manager Blake Frazer says its premium quality hasn't been compromised.

"We still make ice cream the old-fashioned way," says Frazer, whose marketing strategy recognizes that cottagers might need that Kawartha fix during the off-season. "If you look at the ingredients, the first two items are fresh milk and fresh cream."

On hot summer days, customers can wait up to 30 minutes for an exceptionally creamy cone.
Other company-owned retail outlets are located in Minden, Bancroft, Lindsay, Uxbridge and Huntsville. This year, the company will churn out about 2 million litres of ice cream.

While Kawartha Dairy is sticking to old-fashioned methods of production, a growing number of manufacturers are abandoning the popular milk and cream formula. Several are now using mixes or, imported butteroil-sugar blends. Nearly half the butterfat used in ice cream comes from imported blends, according to industry estimates. In short, it's a substitute for Canadian-based dairy fat, an issue that angers some Ontario dairy farmers.

"The larger players are doing this for cost savings," says Frazer from his office overlooking the dairy, which has been owned by the Crowe family for 70 years.

A good cone can still be found at Mapleton's Organic Dairy near Elora, west of Guelph.

Traditional favourites and specialty flavours, including dandelion, are offered at this scooping shop, located on a 240-hectare dairy farm. Mapleton's products are also sold at health food stores and higher-end supermarkets.

"My wife's really creative," says Martin deGroot, who owns and operates the farm and dairy with his wife, Ineke Booy. "She's always coming up with new flavours."

Mapleton's processes its own milk (from 70 resident cattle) into certified organic premium ice cream, frozen and fresh yogurt.

"Our products really are farm fresh," says deGroot, while relaxing at the dairy's ice cream café and organic grocery store. Dressed like a scientist, in a white lab coat and hair net (he just finished making a batch of cappuccino ice cream), he stresses the importance of bringing people to the farm.

"It's a great way to reduce food miles," he explains. "The more we can sell off the farm, the better it is for the environment."

Ice cream aficionados should also check out Steen's Dairy in Erin, northwest of Toronto.
"We're a real old-fashioned kind of place," says Marie Maltby, 68, who has been the manager of the dairy bar for 31 years. "It's like stepping back in time when you come here."

The 60-year-old dairy bar features 16 bar stools where customers can indulge in a dish of handmade ice cream. The Steen family also runs the on-site dairy, which processes organic milk.
"Our ice cream is very creamy," says Maltby, who readily admits to doing lots of quality control. But the dairy bar is most famous for its homemade milkshakes.

Regular customer Robert Turnbull agrees. "The chocolate milkshakes are fantastic," he says, while waiting for his order. "They just have that small-town dairy taste, and nothing else can match it."

Maltby says that the best part about ice cream is its universal appeal. "You're never too old to enjoy it."

Katherine Elphick is a Barrie-area writer and recipe developer.