Canadian restaurant chain Earls says it wonât serve Alberta-sourced steaks and burgers anymore because the province simply doesnât produce enough ethically-raised beef to meet their demand.
The B.C.-based company will instead source beef from a farm in Kansas where cattle roam freely in a âlow-stress environmentâ and cows are raised without steroids, added hormones or antibiotics.
The decision to serve U.S. beef has rankled Alberta beef producers and politicians, who argue that Alberta meets ethical standards â it just doesnât have the stamp of approval from a U.S.-based âCertified Humaneâ organization.
One cattle farmer called Earlsâ decision âa real insult,â while former federal Conservative cabinet minister Monte Solberg accused the restaurant of âcaving to hysteria.â
âThe innuendo is that we don't raise our beef, our cattle, humanely, which is absolutely wrong. You're not in business if you don't. It's just part of being a cattleman,â Bob Lowe, chair of the Alberta Beef Producers, told CTV Calgary.
The decision prompted backlash on social media as some called for an Earls boycott.
What they were thinking! Alberta farmers are working hard to supply best beef possible here and wont take it
â Inna Platonova (@CalgaryDignity)
Shame on Earls! Buying beef from Kansas instead of supporting and using Canadian Beef! Earls I am not supporting U rightback.
â Brenda Gallant (@blg2you)
Earl's abandoning CDN beef? I'm joining movement.Lots of other gr8 restaurants that use high quality *ca* beef to choose from.
â Andrew Scheer (@andrewscheer)
The thing I hate about 'Certified Humane' labels is the implication that other cattle aren't humanely raised. Patently false.
â Jennifer Blair (@FairfieldJen)
An Earls spokesperson agreed that Alberta produces ethically-raised beef. The problem, according to communications manager Cate Simpson, is that the province doesnât make enough.
âThe difference between what Alberta provides and Kansas provides is nothing other than volume,â Simpson told ŰÎŰ´ŤĂ˝ Channel on Thursday.
Earls has 64 locations across North America, with 25 restaurants in Alberta, 20 in B.C. and a handful throughout Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Yukon and the U.S.
Simpson said Earls considered the possibility of sourcing âcertified humaneâ Alberta beef for its Alberta restaurants, but the decision was ultimately made to solely serve U.S. beef.
Alberta beef producers say Earls didnât properly consult with them to find a solution.
âWe were a little disappointed with the lack of consultation,â said Rob McNabb, general manager of the Canadian Cattlemenâs Association.
âI think we could have provided some good options for Earls to consider in a certification-type program where auditing of certain production practices are done.â
The Kansas producer chosen by Earls is certified by the U.S.-based non-profit , which issues the âCertified Humane Raised and Handledâ label.
The certification is reserved for producers who meet a series of rules. Animals cannot be raised in cages or crates; they must be âfree to do what comes naturallyâ such as roam in pasture or fly; they must be fed âquality foodâ free of animal by-products, antibiotics or growth hormones; and producers must meet certain food safety and environmental standards.
Earls pointed out in a press release that Temple Grandin, the renowned autism spokesperson and animal science professor, is among the scientists who helped develop the âhumaneâ certification.
Alberta beef producers say a Canadian humane beef certification system is in the works and that Earlsâ decision could speed up those talks.
âQuite frankly, this will provide the industry with an impetus to get into these types of programs,â McNabb said.
But Alberta ranchers looking to get the U.S. âcertified humaneâ designation would likely need to make some production tweaks.
âThe name implies that itâs only the humane treatment of animals, but itâs much more than that,â he said. âTheyâve got other attributes such as not using antibiotics and growth hormones that would take a little time to change those kind of production practices.â
McNabb says that beef producers take a âprudent approachâ to using antibiotics and growth hormones and called the demand for âcertified humaneâ beef âsimply a production practice that seems to be catching on in some markets.â
âItâs only government-approved products that are used, and I think the result is the product that we are providing is no less safe or wholesome than any other,â he said.
McNabb pointed out that Earls is simply one customer and that the loss of business isnât âterribly significantâ to Alberta beef producers. He says Alberta produces about $3 billion worth of beef each year and distributes it on a global scale.
With a report from CTV Calgary