Thanks to everyone who has nominated someone for The Great Exchange. This idea has been brewing at the back of my head for a long, long time.
In case you’ve missed it, we’re going to be sending a local cowboy out east to a big city this May. At the same time, we’re bringing in a city slicker who wants to learn about the Southwest lifestyle and culture. And, we’re going to do the same thing again during harvest, but with different people.
It’s no secret I have a love/hate relationship with the cattle business. When I moved here, I immediately fell in love with its romance, history and culture. But I hated the sardonic way modern economics and globalism has whipped it into a seeming state of perpetual submission.
I’ve attempted over the years, to dissect all the possible issues. Concentration of power, vertical integration, demand for meat, captive supply, forward contracts, BSE, OIE, CFIA, COOL, OTM, ABP, CCA, SGA, E. coli, SCA, UTM, APHIS, SRM, USDA, NCBA, DOJ and countless other bureaucratic abbreviations. Some stand for something, some used to stand for something, some stand for bullshit and some just stand to be bulled.
But through it all, one thing became clear – if we want to save our collective hides, the average citizen needs to want Canadian beef.
It sounds so simple, I know. But it’s true – and never more so since BSE.
Canadians now make the assumption that all the beef they’re eating is Canadian. They just do. Especially after BSE when there was unprecedented support from citizens across the country to try and eat our excess beef. For a brief moment in time, there was cognitive awareness and emotional empathy. But that new story only had so long of legs, and it faded off into oblivion in favour of meatier stories such as Britney’s implants and fall from grace.
And as the public’s interest waned, so did that of our politicians. And we have watched this business deteriorate ever since. I guess I picked a bad time to buy a couple of cows, register five brands and tattoo my favourite one permanently as a reminder of my sometimes premature passion. Nonetheless, I can’t quite seem to give up on this wreck of a business.
Interview after interview, it always seems to come down to consumer choice, awareness, empowerment. And yet, we have no mandatory country of origin labeling in Canada. We have done little to win the heart and belly of the Canadian consumer, or to educate them in order to provide the tools they need to choose our beef, to choose a sustainable future.
Which is where the exchange comes in. It may be childishly idealistic, but I prefer that over impotent cynicism. I do believe we can make a difference. And I do believe it can begin with just one person.
Call it the pay it forward theory, but I think we can do this. If we bring out just two people every year to the great Southwest, we have a chance to share our culture, our shared history and a rapport that will last a lifetime.
And imagine if the people we bring out west are able to share with their friends and family what they’ve learned. And imagine if that impacts their buying decisions – for the rest of their lives.
Thanks to former Eastender Evan Thornton who edits a magazine in Ontario and runs a news website serving Ottawa, our exchange program will be showcased to tens of thousands out east. Evan has partnered with us and will cover the daily escapades of the producers who are selected to become a temporary urbanite.
Can you imagine your favourite cowboy or gal working in a vegetarian cafe? A posh art gallery? Those are just two of the jobs they’ll have while working in the city, but there too will be an opportunity to share our culture, way of life and the values we hold dear.
And, it’ll be a lot of fun. This May, our city slicker will transform into a NWMP officer at Fort Walsh, learn how to calve and to brand, take in a rodeo and a cattle auction.
Some harvest time, we’ll have another go at it as the golden fields are ripe with the promise of blood, sweat and tears. We may be known as the breadbasket of the world, but it’s time Canadians begin to learn the importance of a sustainable, domestic food supply and how they can ensure our continued survival as producers.
It may be a small effort, but it gives us all something to latch onto, something we can do as a community to harness our spirit to try and elicit change.
But we need help! We need more nominees and we still need sponsors. We’ll need to get these folks clothed, fed, entertained, transported and schooled in the ways of the Southwest. We are also (very gratefully) accepting sponsorships, which start at $50 and include advertising recognition. I know it’s tough times out there, but I really feel this is a worthwhile endeavor and I’d sure appreciate any help our local ranchers, farmers and businesses can lend.
Anyone wishing to help sponsor this event, call us or send in a cheque denoting “Exchange” – we’ll include your brand and/or family or farm name on a commemorative plaque for our urbanite to take home and you’ll receive recognition online and within the pages of The Badger. Nominate a cowboy or girl by filling out the form on page 16 and mailing it to us, or you can log onto www.thebadger.ca. And if you can volunteer or help out in any other way, email me at sheri@thebadger.ca or call me at 628-4349.
We can do more to take back this industry than printing recipes in the Reader’s Digest. Together, let’s get done what a herd of dignitaries in a meeting room never could never manage and take back this business one by one!