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Conservation Caravan Open Houses (III)

PART III: Q&A

Below is a collection of the questions/comments from open house attendees. The answers expand upon our previous post(s) that introduced the open houses, their purpose and main points (see links at bottom of page). Feel free to leave your own comment or question on this blog post—we’d love to have you join the conversation!

Organic? Grass-finished? Conventional? Sustainable?

Q. How many of OGC’s members are organic?

Fewer than 5% of our 300+ members are certified organic. The same statistic is true of grass finished beef producers. Rather, our membership reflects the average cross-section of prairie cow-calf producers – that of conventional production where their calves are raised on grass and then sold to feed lots for grain-finishing.

Q. What is “natural”? Is it different than organic?

Please refer to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) for definitions of Natural and Organic.

Q. How do we know if a beef product is “sustainable”?

The quick and unsatisfactory answer is that we don’t know. The long and hopeful answer is that “knowing” isn’t far off – social & environmental scientists, producer & consumer groups, politicians, economists, and grassroots conservation groups are all working collaboratively both regionally and globally to address this very question. Whatever the ultimate answers, sustainability will require that environment, economics, and community are in balance. As of today, you can rest assured that buying beef raised in Alberta means that you are helping to sustain remaining grassland habitats. This is not to diminish the importance of questions that require answers, nor to imply that there are no changes that may need to be made. What this movement requires today is an engaged and informed consumer, so that when these answers are uncovered, they will be both heard and understood. Your engagement and understanding moving forward will better enable we hit the ground running, and provide the correct support for what is truly sustainable beef production. The market will respond accordingly. However, if you are buying beef in a place that allows direct interface with the producer, don’t be afraid to ask questions that are important to you from a sustainability standpoint: “What does your operation do to maintain/improve water quality? Soil quality? Native biodiversity?” Take it a step farther—ask a producer about barriers they face in implementing sustainable practices—and let us know!

Where to buy? Who to support?

Q. How do we support ranchers that steward our landscapes, but are not at the local farmer’s market?

Farmers Markets are a fantastic way to support local producers and develop a one-on-one relationship with the very people that grow/raise your food. But how can we extend that support to include the countless other incredible stewards we will never encounter at a market? Currently, this is the very crux of the issue: A disconnect not only between producer and consumer, but all the way down the value chain. Once the calf leaves the pastures upon which it was born and arrives at the feedlot, we lose traceability. Whose cow? Where was it raised? How was it cared for? Much is being done on local, national, and global scales to address these questions. Traceability and sustainable branding is on its way. But, for the time being, you can rest assured that buying Alberta beef means that you are also supporting prairie grasslands and the species at risk that depend on those habitats. For the time being, you will not necessarily meet specific ranchers, but you are supporting ranching stewards in general. In the meantime, check out our Meet Our Members page for stories on some of our OGC ranchers, many of whom are not at local markets, but are still closer than you think.

Q. When you say “local food” many people take the large farm right out of the equation….so for you guys [OGC] to be doing this on a large scale is really excellent, but whether it be permaculture or not, unless it comes from a hobby farm, people don’t consider it local. It’s another conversation we have to have on behalf of the farmers regardless of the size of the farm or how much land they have or how many animals they’re producing; it’s still a family farm and a valuable resource.

Agreed! Many of our OGC producers aren’t HUGE but they’re definitely not the hobby farms many people think of when they think “local”. How local is local? Is it within city limits? Provincial limits? Neighbouring provinces? For example, at many of Alberta’s urban farmers’ markets, apples from British Columbia qualify as “local”. We need to ask – what is reasonable, AND what is realistic.

Q. Is it better to buy from organic producers or local producers?

Let’s compare buying local non-organic strawberries with organic ones shipped from California; your choice depends on what you value and about looking at the whole picture about what we want to support. There answer isn’t necessarily obvious and there may not even be a “right” answer. It’s also about being more aware of what your food choices are about. Maybe you want to support your community’s sustainability…and that’s not about choosing between organic or natural foods, but rather about having schools in small towns because there are enough small farmers left. What about a product’s carbon footprint, or how workers are treated? There are many facets to the sustainability picture that inform the whole picture, and that must also inform our decisions. This doesn’t provide a cut-and-dry answer, but a greater awareness that the answers aren’t necessarily simple, and a willingness to engage and continue asking questions along this journey of discovery will be critical to ensure uncovering the overall “best” approach down the road.

Policy, Regulation, Compensation, Incentives

Q. You talk about the “good” guys who are stewarding the land, but shouldn’t we be converting the “bad guys” who are not?

The purpose of the CC initiative is to highlight the current practices being implemented that aren’t being recognized. We need to start with what’s already being done right, and set that as a precedence. People already hear about the bad, and that’s fuel for their “human land use is bad” fire and exacerbates the blame game. YES, there should be incentive to change bad practices, but we first need to acknowledge (and incentivize) the good practices. This is the very message of the Conservation Caravan.

Q. Are there any political movements going on right now about this topic?

Not that we’re involved in—we’re not an advocacy program.—BUT there is a growing movement.

Q. What are some of the current “payment for Ecosystem Goods & Services (EGS)” initiatives out there? Any specific to Alberta?

A report released by the Miistakis Institute gives examples of programs that targeted EGS payment and is worth reading if you are interested. There are some smaller non-incentivized (sometimes government funded) programs that focus on stewardship and best management practices, i.e. Environmental Farm Plan actions, Growing Forward, and other cost-sharing measures. These programs aren’t necessarily providing compensation for EGS, but they’re intended to benefit water and soil quality protection. Finally, there are numerous conservation groups that work on a smaller scale with landowners (i.e OGC, Cows and Fish, MultiSAR, ALUS, etc.). For example, OGC is able to cost share on some of our habitat enhancement projects, and so indirectly this provides a value to the landholder by reducing his or her costs. Often our habitat work would have been otherwise cost-prohibitive to the rancher. These are important projects, but by virtue of our limited funds as a small non-profit, we can only impact at very small and local scales. The discussion must be expanded to consider the entire landscape if we are to have any lasting or significant impact.

Click here to read PART I: Overview
Click here to read PART II: What’s Next