Regulations blamed for loss of abattoirs
News
Posted By MARY GOLEM, SUN TIMES CORRESPONDENT
Posted 2 months ago
Holding up a thick binder of rules and regulations, the owner of a small local butcher shop said over-regulation and "confusion over how those regulations are being interpreted" are making his life difficult.
Kelven Arnold of Sullivan's Butcher Shop in Wiarton told a crowd at a meeting in Elmwood Wednesday night that some of the provincial meat industry inspection regulations are "physically impossible" for him and other small butcher shop and abattoir owners, "and extremely costly." Arnold says he's spent more than $75,000 in the last three years trying to comply.
"But there's no way you can question the rules, or not do what they want," he added. "They'll just shut you down."
Stricter regulations are destroying small abattoirs across Ontario, threatening also the farmers who use them and reducing opportunities for people to buy local food, said Barb Klages, a member of the Malcolm Women's Institute, who spearheaded the organization of the information meeting.
Large and small plants are expected to meet the same compliance standards "and for many small operations, that's just simply impossible," says Louis Roesch, one of four key speakers at the meeting.
Fifteen years ago, Ontario had more than 900 businesses to process meat and poultry. Today, there are about 130.
Freeman Boyd, co-ordinator of the Buy Local Food project, said a year ago Grey-Bruce had nine provincially inspected plants and one federally inspected operation.
"We lost one last year, one closed this year and another is for sale. Two more might close and two are in immediate danger of closing . . . we may be down to five or less slaughter plants in the area in the not too distant future. That should be of immediate concern, not only to producers, but consumers as well."
Boyd said the high costs of meeting standards eliminates the opportunity for business owners to make accurate business plans or plan for the future. He said there needs to be a tiered set of regulations for small and large operators "and someone to rationalize all these regulations. It's almost impossible for the small guys to find out what the regulations even are."
Ontario, Boyd said, is the only province "pushing this agenda."
Anne Finlay-Stewart of Owen Sound, a local food market retailer, said Ontario consumers "are far more confused and even scared about the safety of their food . . . they leave the impression things are potentially unsafe when that isn't the case, and it makes it very hard to promote local food."
Paisley-area farmer and NFU spokesman Grant Robertson called small abattoirs "the small jewel in the food system who must be protected" and urged those in attendance to make their voices heard.
"This is a province-wide issue . . . we have a lot of allies in the cities. They want to know where their food comes from and how it is processed . . . we need to get the message out to them. After all, it's folks in the city who government listens to. Consumers will have to be the ones to push this agenda forward."
Roesch, a hog farmer near Chatham, owns and operates a small abattoir.
He's been part of a committee since April that is trying to negotiate with the provincial government regarding the regulations.
"There have been no new regulations since 2005," Roesch said. The regulations now being imposed "have filtered down from large to mid-size and now small abattoirs. So everyone is expected to meet the same compliance standards. The problem is there's quite a difference between a plant that never shuts down, running two shifts seven days a week and a small plant where pride of ownership is evident and quality of workmanship is key to survival," he said, adding the only way for a small abattoir to stay financially viable in his community "is to provide a top-quality product every day. That's what consumers want and that's what we provide."
Roesch said the average cost for a small plant to meet all the new standards is $165,000 and says up to 75% funding is needed in order for small owners to meet the regulatory changes.
Roesch insists there needs to be a separation of standards relating to health and food safety and what he called "cosmetic changes", along with a review of regulations "to improve consistency" among inspectors, who others in attendance claim "interpret the rules differently."
"I have a hard time running my plant because of OMAFRA and its rules. They tell me to do something and it takes me the rest of the year to make all the corrections, but then they're still not satisfied," Dundalk-area abattoir owner Alex Marko said.
While he admits some of the regulations are needed, "others are just ridiculous, like measuring the amount of a light in a room. So I changed a lightbulb."
Like others, Arnold and Marko say "a fear of reprisal" exists. "You can't question an inspector . . . each one has a little different interpretation of the rules," Arnold said. "There's no basic common sense."
Marko agreed. "You're always bound by some small thing . . . if you try to disagree, they threaten you with closure."
A survey was recently sent to 546 affected abattoir and small butcher shop owners, Roesch said, with a 30% return rate, and 97% of those surveyed mention fear of reprisal for questioning an inspector about something.
Roesch said the negotiating committee has until July 30 to explore options and suggest improvements for consistency. He'd also like to see a two-tiered system with one set of regulations for large plants and another set for smaller operations.
Finlay-Stewart said she's found "people in the city want to know where their food comes from and they want to support their neighbours . . . Abattoirs are an important part of that process. If local processors can't meet the requirements, where will the consumers get the local food they want and have been encouraged to buy?"
Judy Trimble of Desboro, a farmer who sells directly to consumers from her farm, admitted the loss of local small abattoirs "may end our enterprise" after 22 years of selling "what consumers want -- lean, fresh, smaller portions of beef cut just the way they want. Small abattoir owners have outstanding skill sets . . . for them it's a calling, not a job. When we lose them, we all lose."
Later, Trimble said she will "continue to fly under the radar and when they catch me, I'm done."
