Debate on XL

[ASRG]

You would think after the 2008 Maple Leaf listeria wreck meaningful changes would have been made...after all many Canadians died?
I have no idea how meat inspection works in Canada. Perhaps there needs to be an truly independent commission set up to look into meat inspection and food safety?
Somewhere along the line someone dropped the ball. We all pay for it, through lower prices for our cattle and higher prices at the meat counter.
If we consider the 2003 BSE wreck as an example......who dropped the ball? Who paid for it?
The government dropped the ball...they failed to implement safeguards they knew were necessary. The Canadian cattleman paid the price. Some went broke because the government didn't do their job.....all of us lost major equity?
The government refuses to assume accountability for their negligence for BSE......why would they assume accountability now? We will get lies and spin.....and then it will be business as usual!

[grassfarmer]

I remember during the last labor dispute and lockout
at Brooks one of the workers complaints was that
they were only allowed to take scheduled bathroom
breaks - if someone had the sudden need to go they
had to remain in the production resulting in soiled
underwear being dropped in the garbage at the end
of every shift. Isn't that a great idea for food safety? -
having disgruntled workers crapping their pants and
being forced to keep on working like that.

I remember too during the BSE crisis the NFU
complaints of the dire situation ranchers were in
being refuted by minister Ritz - he said he had
spoken to his friend Brian Nilsson who had assured
him things were OK. Alright for who though? not hard
to see who is in bed with who here.

[littledoggie]

I can see that this conservative government would be reluctant to accept accountability for the BSE crises, because the negligence was caused by the liberals in power at the time.
But the accountability for this debacle falls on them. If the CFIA is an independent body, perhaps a few bureaubrats were bought off?

[rkaiser]

Crazy weekend in the retail game in Calgary. Opening our new Second to None Meats store in Willow Park Mall next Tuesday and having people rap on the window asking if our beef is "safe". Our two locations at Mission and McLeod are doing record sales. Partly the Thanksgiving turkey/ham thing however.

And guess which Natural branded product is being promoted in the local Safeway and other retail superstores this weekend. That's right --- Spring Creek Ranch beef. Partially owned and processed by the now infamous NB XL beef boys.... LOL Any way to make a buck eh.... what a wacked out world.

And to top it off, as the producers now sees his income drop once again, the big retail boys are increasing beef prices at the store because of reduced supply... In their words.

Does anyone reading this still think we need to support the "status quo"?

[loric]

My two cents. This story has become too big with
too many tentacles for it to turn around. There is
too much out there and the media doesn't know
who to speak to anymore as there are a million
spokespeople saying different things.

There should have been a compassionate
statement the day this happened. There should
have been a face to the story...not a picture of a
packing plant from the outside.

Because communications people did not act fast
enough, this is going to are a long while to get
over.

[grassfarmer]

Saw an "interview" on Global tonight with an XL
worker - obviously an African immigrant who had his
identity concealed because of his "fear of the
company" He was only talking about the impact of
not having wages coming into his house not to reveal
details of the ecoli outbreak. Gives you an idea of the
culture the plant is operated under.

[rkaiser]

You might be right Lori ---- OR --- maybe it is just damn well time for the shit to hit the fan - so to speak.

Time for us all to wake the hell up. Both producer and consumer alike. Time for producers to take some responsibility for this sustainably dysfunctional system that we keep feeding and time for consumers to wake up and understand the profit driven system that most of us are contributing to.


"No choice" says the consumer ---- BULL SHIT.

"No choice" says the consumer, "As he or she leaves the vertically integrated market because the beef price is too high and heads to the liquor store and then to 7 eleven for some cigs before stopping in at Future Shop to eyeball that new TV on the wish list.

"No choice" says the producer --- BULL SHIT.


"I gotta survive" says the producer. "I can't make any money unless I compromise the immune system of my steer with residual antibiotic, hormone injections and drugs like ractopamine which we are not sure what this shit will create for us in the future."

"I read all the studies done by companies like Monsanto" says the producer, "and I trust them just like the FDA, CFIA and USDA do. Piss on those Asian and European studies."

The Aztecs predicted a major evolutionary change in 2012 - I think it is coming in more ways than one. The awakening of the true mind of man. To stop the "out of control" poisoning of human kind with food that is devoid of nutrients and simply chemical filled calorie gut filler causing malnutrition and eventual obesity.

Damn that media for spreading the word and causing this problem...LMA OFF.

[ASRG]

Randy: At one time I really bought into the idea of "high tech" type of production. Lots of inputs/work against nature/maximize production. I thought the government, Monsanto, Dow, etc. were there to help me feed the world....I guess I was pretty naive!
I guess my first real wake up came with cattle implants. When little steer calves start roaring around like mature bulls and 350 lb. heifers come bulling....I started asking myself....what in the hell are you doing? What are you feeding people?

When BSE hit I went into survival mode. That included questioning every expense and cutting out everything that wasn't essential....including vet services and a lot of inputs that were related to winter calving! Calve on grass, get rid of the Charlais bulls, throw away the syringe, quit spraying the thistles, quit creep feeding and all grain products, reduce numbers!
It seemed to work very well. Less work, healthier cattle, more money in my pocket at the end of the day (I think).

One trend I really don't like seeing is this: A lot of the crops are being sprayed with round up just before
harvest. There has to be RU residue in that grain....and then cattle and people are fed that! Of course the chemical companies tell us it is completely safe......but is it really? Somehow it is the same feeling I had back in the nineties when I quit using implants.....what in the hell are we doing? What are we feeding people?

[kato]

A bit of reading...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/communication-breakdown-how-canadians-were-let-down-on-e-coli-response/article4595708/