Mike Leslie has been in touch with all his friends in Japan, and they are safe.
The chief executive officer of the Alberta Barley Commission knows the areas most affected by the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan earlier this month, having spent five years living in that country.
“It makes the situation more real when you’ve been there,” he said.
Since the disaster struck, Leslie has talked with grain industry contacts in Japan who have advised commission members not to travel to Japan and to hold off on donations until more is known about specific need.
Leslie said he was advised to tell producers that if they wish to donate to the relief effort, they should do so through the Humanitarian Coalition, Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders.
Darcy Kirtzinger, the commissions’ policy and research co-ordinator, also has direct Japanese connections. A commission news release said he has been working on a project to develop premium barley for shochu, a distilled liquor popular in Japan.
Leslie said Kirtzinger recently cancelled a planned trip to Japan on the advice of people in the grain industry.
Major devastation along the coast is unlikely to affect barley trade in a major way, said Leslie.
So far this year, Japan has imported 400,000 tonnes of feed barley with another 75,000 expected before year end. It has also imported 23,000 tonnes for barley tea, 17,000 tonnes of malting barley and 100,000 tonnes of malt.
Last year, Japan imported more than 235,000 tonnes of barley, making it Canada’s fourth largest barley buyer.
To donate to the Japan relief effort, contact the Humanitarian Coalition at 800-464-9154 or www.together.ca, the Canadian Red Cross at 800-418-1111 or www.redcross.ca and Doctors Without Borders: 1-800-982-7903 or www.msf.ca.
