Successful Local Beef Campaign Shows Need for Community Support and Infrastructure
The beef and pork industry in eastern Canada appealed to local consumers with a buy local campaign that is paying off. In a move typical of the community minded region, consumers jumped at the opportunity to support local farmers. Prince Edward Island (PEI) has a population of about 135,000 residents, with over half the population living in economically depressed rural areas. PEIers understand in an intimate way the importance of preserving local rural communities.
Image by Brett Lamb, istockphoto.com
Fuelled by the December 2007 rescue of the PEI federal inspection certified meat processing plant (the only facility of its kind in the Maritime provinces), meat producers have appealed to consumers to buy local meat, and have pressured large grocery retail chains to promote and stock local product.
This unusually aggressive move by the farmers to take the marketing of their product into their own hands comes as many in the region risk losing their family farms. The meat plant is an important link in the local food chain as it services all three Maritime provinces (PEI, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick). Thanks to its federal certification status, surplus meat from this plant can be shipped outside the region to other parts of Canada and the world. While the meat plant is not self-sustaining financially, it is moving towards profitability - its losses have fallen from $600,000 to $100,000 per month. The multi-pronged approach adopted by farmers is paying off, as local producers now see they may have a future in farming after all. ABP*
*Alison-Blay Palmer, Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies at Queens University, is a Contributing Editor to Foodforethought.
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