Working Group Update: Letter to OMAF on Ontario’s Meat Regulations
Posted: July 2, 2013
Categories: Food in the News / The Meat Press
Over the past several months, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) has been seeking feedback on a series of changes to Ontario’s meat regulations that they have proposed. These changes would primarily affect butchers, but also restaurant operators and others in the food service industry, and the Meat Working Group at Sustain Ontario has been involved in these discussions in a few ways.
For one, we hosted a successful meeting in late May in which butchers, abattoir operators, farmers, restaurant owners and others came together to talk about what the proposals had to offer and what might be adjusted. We also drafted a letter as a group which was submitted as feedback to the ministry.The proposals themselves consist of three main changes that would change what meat-related activities would qualify particular businesses as official “meat plants” (requiring that they meet more stringent regulations set by OMAF, as opposed to being regulated by the ministry of public health). The proposals reflect, in part, a recognition that some of the changes made to the regulations in 2005, which dramatically increased the number of businesses considered meat plants, may have been too wide-reaching and may have unnecessarily burdened some small businesses that really should not be considered “meat plants”.
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In our response, we applauded OMAF for its willingness to revisit Ontario’s meat regulations and to consult broadly with affected individuals. We also offered a series of modifications to the proposals that might be considered, and emphasized that there are still many other aspects of the provincial governments’ role in the meat industry that impacts the extent to which Ontario producers can raise livestock for local markets in sustainable ways. Suggestions touched on the need for butcher and slaughterman training programs, support for rural and remote meat plants, funding for value-chain planning, and closer monitoring of the impacts of regulatory changes and new programs in the provincial meat sector.
All in all it’s been an exciting month of conversation about local and sustainable meat!
We look forward to hearing about the outcomes of OMAF’s consultation processes.
4 responses to “Working Group Update: Letter to OMAF on Ontario’s Meat Regulations”
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I am appealing on behalf of Amish farmers who raise animals on non GMO grains/grasses, cared for if needed using naturopathic medicines/ mineral salts and getting to live their lives in a stress free environment, who then must deal with the stress of arranging long distance travel to butchering facilities when preparing for sales for their customers.
They need closer facilities or better still, portable facilities for butchering.
Thanks for your thoughts, Pauli. We continue to conduct research into the possibilities of mobile and/or modular slaughter units. If you’re interested, you can join our meat working group to keep updated.
Email: meat@sustainontario.ca
In BC a few years ago we too lobbied for change of meat regulations. In that particular case, it was three cities, considered geographically isolated from slaughterhouses, that were appealing for changes. We, like Pauli, wanted to raise our animals stress-free. Many of our consumers desire this as well. But in order to comply with regulations, we were required to transport them on trucks on ferries, very long distances to reach the nearest federally-inspected slaughterhouse. We argued (successfully) that this was unfeasible financially, and were granted the right to apply for Class D licenses. These exclude Class D holders from the provincial regulations, allowing them to slaughter on-farm while still retaining the right to sell farm-gate. It was encouraging to see that these usually all-encompassing, too-broadly-applied provincial laws were reconsidered and adapted to meet our special circumstances. Good luck, Ontario!
[…] hosted a meeting in Toronto where we discussed the proposals and compiled more comments on them (go here for more about the meetings or here to read the Letter of Recommendation that we submitted as an […]