On the back page of this weeks paper, the first listing of Market Place IGA’s advertisement is “Fresh New Zealand Strip Loin Grilling Steak…” Before I get started, full disclosure ~ I’m eating very little meat these days. (for more on that, read this post). Regardless of what you feel about eating meat I don’t believe we should be importing beef from New Zealand to sell in our stores in Canada. The way to stop this is to not buy imported beef and bring this choice to the attention of the butcher.

Environmentally it is just WRONG! Beef has a very high carbon foot print to make a pound. Then you fly it from New Zealand instead of grass fed Pemberton beef or maybe Abbotsford, or the Caribou area or if we must Alberta (where arguably the best beef in the world comes from and where my Dad farmed and raised great beef cattle). There has been a lot of talk and understanding of the benefits of the 100 mile diet. In Whistler most of us know the challenges of the 100 mile diet concept as there are some foods we just can’t get from within 100 miles and we are not up to modifying our diet that much. But, flying beef (that already has one of the highest carbon foot prints just to produce) literally to the other side of the world where there is plentiful supply of exactly the same product makes no sense from an environmental standpoint?

Economically it makes no sense! Support our local industries! When you think of the costs to ship the product from a farm in New Zealand to the IGA in Whistler, you know the farmer in New Zealand is getting very little for his product. At the same time, Canadian farmers are getting government subsidies (that is your tax dollars) to offer lower prices for their beef to be competitive with New Zealand beef (who are also getting subsidies). Yes you got that right… by buying New Zealand beef a portion of your taxes go to Canadian farmers to offer competitive prices – so you really aren’t getting a bargain are you?

This is a rant ~ So please forgive me if the flow is a bit off or the logic as typed is not as clear as it is in my head.

(click on this image twice to see the large version) For the source article click here