http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/434551
It was supposed to be a bonanza for the growing ranks of Ontarians relying on food banks: free, fresh meat from the slaughter of hundreds of pigs a day under an unprecedented federal effort to shrink the nation's hog herd.
Instead, for weeks now, hundreds of thousands of pounds of pork have been sent for rendering, destined for such products as pet food, and soap.
It's a situation that has been angering pig farmers who had hoped their life's work, raising pigs, would go to feed people.
"From my standpoint, putting the animals into the pet food chain, or fertilizer, or meat and bone meal, goes against all the principles of a farmer," said Greg Haskett, 36, a hog farmer near Woodstock.
Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba allocated money shortly after the nationwide cull began April 14 so that the meat could be processed into sausages and ground pork and sent to food banks.
The U.S. last month announced a similar program, explicitly ordering the meat go to food assistance.
Belatedly yesterday, a day after the Star began to ask industry representatives questions about the program, and after more than 2,500 animals have been culled in the program, the province confirmed it would follow the others' lead.
The government will pay $110,000 to process the meat, provincial Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Leona Dombrowsky said in an interview after an agriculture ministers' meeting in Toronto.
That will translate into about 67,000 meals, says Adam Spence, executive director of the Ontario Association of Food Banks.
"We've made it this far with the government and that's fantastic," Spence said upon hearing the news. "If we can move quickly enough, we anticipate we'll make further requests to ensure the maximum (amount) of the product is processed and distributed to food banks across Ontario."
The Ontario commitment, which is what the food banks and industry asked for, is still far less than what's been allotted in other provinces. Alberta and Saskatchewan, whose sow herds are much smaller than Ontario's, committed $300,000 and $440,000 respectively for their food bank initiatives.
There were two hurdles food bank advocates had to overcome to get to this point. The first was the design of the program itself.
The "cull breeding swine program" is a $50 million initiative of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to deal with a hog industry crisis.
Experts say pig producers are actually losing money on each pig sent into the market. Though prices have been getting better of late, they still lose about $15 per head.
The farmers are facing an ugly confluence of record high feed prices, a higher dollar making exports less attractive, and food labelling initiatives south of the border that will make Canadian meat less attractive for processors.
The government's solution was to pay farmers to kill their pigs – $225 per euthanized sow. The farmer must agree to keep their barn empty of sows for at least three years.
The goal is to reduce the national sow herd by 10 per cent, which would mean about 3 million fewer hogs per year. Ultimately, the goal is fewer pigs, and higher prices.
And, says Ken McEwan, a professor of agriculture economics at the University of Guelph, the goal is to give those who want to get out of the industry a "compassionate way for that to occur." The program is unprecedented in paying farmers to get out of the business to reduce the livestock supply, he says.
The program specifically disallows any of the culled meat from entering the market. It didn't specify funding to allow the meat to be processed and sent to food banks.
When asked about that omission yesterday in Toronto, federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz said the Canadian Pork Council, which is administering the program, could have used part of the money for this purpose. "It could have been done with the $50 million if they wanted to," he said.
The Council's Francois Bedard disputed that, and pointed to the funding agreement, which allows for the cost of slaughter, transportation and disposal of the sows, but says nothing about processing or packaging.
Bedard said pork producers recognized early on the benefit of sending as much of the culled meat to food banks as possible, and ensured the government would allow that if the money could be found.
The second hurdle came with finding the money in Ontario.
While prairie provincial governments made funding announcements early, Dombrowsky deflected criticism that the program has taken too long to get off the ground here. She said the food banks and the pork industry in Ontario had to do the legwork to determine how the program would work.
"There are issues around capacity, where the processors are located" and whether food banks could handle all the meat, she said.
They also had to figure out how much it would cost.
"One sow processed into sausages runs us about $210," says Keith Robbins of Ontario Pork, which represents Ontario's pork producers. "For each animal to go into a food bank runs that dollar amount."
It was a matter of finding the money," Dombrowsky said. "This was not in my budget."
Spence says time was needed to organize the effort properly. And, he insists, "There's still a lot of pork to be put on peoples' tables."
It was supposed to be a bonanza for the growing ranks of Ontarians relying on food banks: free, fresh meat from the slaughter of hundreds of pigs a day under an unprecedented federal effort to shrink the nation's hog herd.
Instead, for weeks now, hundreds of thousands of pounds of pork have been sent for rendering, destined for such products as pet food, and soap.
It's a situation that has been angering pig farmers who had hoped their life's work, raising pigs, would go to feed people.
"From my standpoint, putting the animals into the pet food chain, or fertilizer, or meat and bone meal, goes against all the principles of a farmer," said Greg Haskett, 36, a hog farmer near Woodstock.
Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba allocated money shortly after the nationwide cull began April 14 so that the meat could be processed into sausages and ground pork and sent to food banks.
The U.S. last month announced a similar program, explicitly ordering the meat go to food assistance.
Belatedly yesterday, a day after the Star began to ask industry representatives questions about the program, and after more than 2,500 animals have been culled in the program, the province confirmed it would follow the others' lead.
The government will pay $110,000 to process the meat, provincial Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Leona Dombrowsky said in an interview after an agriculture ministers' meeting in Toronto.
That will translate into about 67,000 meals, says Adam Spence, executive director of the Ontario Association of Food Banks.
"We've made it this far with the government and that's fantastic," Spence said upon hearing the news. "If we can move quickly enough, we anticipate we'll make further requests to ensure the maximum (amount) of the product is processed and distributed to food banks across Ontario."
The Ontario commitment, which is what the food banks and industry asked for, is still far less than what's been allotted in other provinces. Alberta and Saskatchewan, whose sow herds are much smaller than Ontario's, committed $300,000 and $440,000 respectively for their food bank initiatives.
There were two hurdles food bank advocates had to overcome to get to this point. The first was the design of the program itself.
The "cull breeding swine program" is a $50 million initiative of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to deal with a hog industry crisis.
Experts say pig producers are actually losing money on each pig sent into the market. Though prices have been getting better of late, they still lose about $15 per head.
The farmers are facing an ugly confluence of record high feed prices, a higher dollar making exports less attractive, and food labelling initiatives south of the border that will make Canadian meat less attractive for processors.
The government's solution was to pay farmers to kill their pigs – $225 per euthanized sow. The farmer must agree to keep their barn empty of sows for at least three years.
The goal is to reduce the national sow herd by 10 per cent, which would mean about 3 million fewer hogs per year. Ultimately, the goal is fewer pigs, and higher prices.
And, says Ken McEwan, a professor of agriculture economics at the University of Guelph, the goal is to give those who want to get out of the industry a "compassionate way for that to occur." The program is unprecedented in paying farmers to get out of the business to reduce the livestock supply, he says.
The program specifically disallows any of the culled meat from entering the market. It didn't specify funding to allow the meat to be processed and sent to food banks.
When asked about that omission yesterday in Toronto, federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz said the Canadian Pork Council, which is administering the program, could have used part of the money for this purpose. "It could have been done with the $50 million if they wanted to," he said.
The Council's Francois Bedard disputed that, and pointed to the funding agreement, which allows for the cost of slaughter, transportation and disposal of the sows, but says nothing about processing or packaging.
Bedard said pork producers recognized early on the benefit of sending as much of the culled meat to food banks as possible, and ensured the government would allow that if the money could be found.
The second hurdle came with finding the money in Ontario.
While prairie provincial governments made funding announcements early, Dombrowsky deflected criticism that the program has taken too long to get off the ground here. She said the food banks and the pork industry in Ontario had to do the legwork to determine how the program would work.
"There are issues around capacity, where the processors are located" and whether food banks could handle all the meat, she said.
They also had to figure out how much it would cost.
"One sow processed into sausages runs us about $210," says Keith Robbins of Ontario Pork, which represents Ontario's pork producers. "For each animal to go into a food bank runs that dollar amount."
It was a matter of finding the money," Dombrowsky said. "This was not in my budget."
Spence says time was needed to organize the effort properly. And, he insists, "There's still a lot of pork to be put on peoples' tables."
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