Re. Michelle Stirling-Anosh’s June 3 column, headlined Why is our beef coming from out of the country?
The Internet is rife with blogs and opinions and anyone reading them is free to form an opinion knowing that the articles reflect a certain bias and may not be totally accurate. However, when a columnist writes in a respected newspaper, even under the heading “opinion” there are many who may mistake parts of the article as factual.
The previously mentioned article demands a response.
Anyone reading it and not knowing anything about the beef industry would be rightly outraged if any of it were true.
I could not find one “fact” in it that had any element of truth.
If the Ponoka meat packer who brought this conspiracy to the writer’s attention is not still laughing because the author was gullible enough to believe her then she should be appreciated for her work but certainly not respected as a reliable source of information.
The answer to her question “Why does it fall on me to tell you this?” is: it doesn’t.
If Stirling-Anosh had done even two minutes of research or even called any local grocer, she would have known there was nothing in her article that was true.
I doubt if anyone can even remember when live cattle were imported to Canada from Australia for anything but breeding purposes. And yes, even then, they are quarantined.
There are very strict rules for even moving cattle inter-provincially, never mind from another country.
Perhaps the author could advise where she thinks all these imported cattle are being kept while they wait to be slaughtered.
One can still enjoy Alberta beef from any local grocer and can be assured it is both inspected and safe.
If anyone has any doubts, call the meat manager at any local grocery store and you’ll probably find he’ll be very happy to even do a crown roast for you as well — just the way you like it.
Ron Tomalty
Red Deer