Sustainable beef plan tested on Alta. farms

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The practical side of beef sustain-ability is being tested in Alberta.

For the McDonald’s fast food chain, a philosophy of sustainability in beef production is part of its future marketing plan for the billions of beef patties it sells each year.

Canada will pilot the project, starting in 2016.

“Producers in Canada are doing such an excellent job, but folks don’t know that,” said Fawn Jackson of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association.

The concept is based on the principles agreed upon by the Global Round Table on Sustainable Beef.

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Canada is one of the few nations to create its own round table, where concepts of sustainability can be shaped to fit domestic production practices.

McDonald’s and Loblaws are part of the Canadian group, along with JBS and Cargill. Producer groups are also involved. Calgary area rancher Cherie Copithorne-Barnes chairs the initiative.

McDonald’s chose Canada to launch its sustainable program partly based on what has been done with traceability, the Environmental Farm Plan program and the verified beef program. Eighty percent of Canadian beef producers have taken the quality assurance program training, but only 20 percent have taken it to the next step, in which they are audited and certified.

Jackson said one of the goals is to encourage more producers to complete the full certification.

McDonald’s has developed a steering committee comprising stakeholders to advise on the pilot project, which will include testing the concepts from the ranch to the feedlot.

“They are willing to listen to producers about what they have to say and gather the knowledge they have,” she said.

There is no prescribed way of doing things. It will be outcomes based, in which each operation must show how it meets the criteria of protecting the land, air and water as well as taking care of animals and people.

McDonald’s is a member of the global round table, which arrived at a definition of sustainability at its recent meeting in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

There are over-arching goals, but each region can decide how it wants to prove its beef sector is sustainable.

The round table defines sustainable beef as a socially responsible, environmentally sound and economically viable product.

The round table includes 70 groups, including the Rainforest Alliance, World Wildlife Federation, beef processors, producer associations, retailers and food companies that want continuous improvement for the beef sector.

The Global Round Table on Sustainable Beef’s core principles are: