Things would have been a lot easier if the Aug. 8 announcement about a partial ease of the United States ban on Canadian beef had occurred a couple weeks sooner.
As it was, I found myself in Cleveland, Ohio, July 27-30, quizzing everyone possible at the American Agricultural Editors Association conference about the status of the border closure and their opinions about Canadian beef and cattle.
Dan Kniffen, a teacher at Penn State University, said worries about the possible spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy from Canada to the U.S. continue to worry American producers.
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Kniffen suggested the news about Canada’s cattle health standards and its exhaustive investigation into the single case of BSE has not been well communicated to U.S. producers.
But with beef prices and producer returns remaining high across the border, he also said many hope the border will stay closed while they ride the price wave.
Walt Barnhart, director of trade media with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, agreed with the latter sentiment. His group officially supports the reopening of the border. Yet he also thinks the political will would be stronger if U.S. cattle and beef prices were weaker.
A day of speakers gave way to an evening banquet. There had been no clues on the agenda pamphlet, but the patter provided before the chow revealed partial sponsorship by Certified Angus Beef.
Steaks summarily appeared, along with a personally unprecedented case of indigestion before a meal.
Dare I ask if the serving was Canadian beef, as I’ve made a point of doing lately to show confidence in Canadian product?
I thought not.
I surveyed the slab on my plate. Is the American meat tracking system so extensive that the source of this particular steak could be determined, I wondered? Stories read in the Producer led me to think otherwise.
My stomach growled, reminding me of a small lunch eaten hours ago.
And where does the well-known integration of the Canadian and American beef industries fit into this, I asked myself. Isn’t it possible this very steak could have come from a healthy Canadian steer born in the placid pastures of Alberta or Saskatchewan, and then sold to a U.S. buyer and provided to a high-end hotel such as this?
My tablemates, oblivious to the ethical quandary faced by a Canadian beef eater, tucked into their meals.
Gingerly, I cut into the steak, and my questions were answered. The inner texture showed it had been mechanically tenderized. Such methods are unnecessary on top-notch Canadian beef.
So I only ate half.
