Rules create hurdles for local food
News
Posted By Jim Algie
Posted 3 months ago
New Ontario meat processing rules threaten small-scale local food producers at the same time the provincial government seeks to boost local food sales, people in the business say.
"They're applying the same standards to us as a small producer . . . as they are to Maple Leaf," said sheep farmer Brenda Forsyth. "It seems to be fairly random how stuff gets interpreted."
An Ontario government inspector recently supervised the disposal of about $6,000 worth of meat pies Forsyth prepared in a commercial kitchen on her farm near Wiarton and delivered frozen to a customer.
Forsyth sells some of her pies at the farm and others through wholesalers and retailers.
The kitchen is inspected by Grey Bruce Health Unit officials and complies with public health requirements, but it is not licensed under fairly new provincial regulations for food processors that supply retailers and wholesalers, however.
Under the regulations of the provincial Food Safety and Quality Act, 2005, Facilities that prepare meat products for sale to wholesalers or retailers must be licensed.
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson Sarah Petrevan had no information about Forsyth's case specifically, but she did describe a recent incident involving the "voluntary" disposal of pies during an inspector's visit to a business that is licensed under provincial regulations.
Ministry officials have attempted to contact the producer of the pies to discuss the situation, Petrevan said.
Since 2005, the ministry has sought to boost the level of meat inspection in Ontario to bring "free standing meat plants" up to the level of abattoirs, which have been regulated for more than 40 years.
"We're wanting to bring everybody in the meat system under the same umbrella and the same level of regulation," Petrevan said.
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The rule changes arise from recommendations of Justice Roland Haines, who studied Ontario's meat inspection system in 2004 after revelations a plant near Aylmer was processing deadstock for human consumption.
Forsyth and her wholesaling customer had done business for at least five years without incident until two weeks ago. The incident has cost Forsyth her largest customer and she remains uncertain what it means for other off-farm sales.
Forsyth and her husband Shane have farmed for 20 years near Wiarton. They operate a 500-sheep farm and sell most of their livestock directly to customers, local butcher shops and other local food retailers.
Their business fits neatly with growing interest in local food. Since 2003, Ontario has invested $65 million promoting fresh Ontario food.
Forsyth and others involved in local food marketing in Grey and Bruce figure the province is creating unnecessary obstacles.
"I have nothing against regulations and nothing against sanitation," Forsyth said. "Obviously we have to have rules, but they don't seem to apply evenly across the board."
Owen Sound local food retailer Anne Finlay-Stewart said OMAFRA's role is confusing. Public health inspectors visit her Around the Sound store routinely to assess food handling methods and procedures. She's uncertain about OMAFRA's role although she retails frozen meat from nine area livestock farmers, including the Forsyth farm, all of it processed locally in provincially inspected abattoirs.
"It gets quite overwhelming quite quickly," Finlay-Stewart said of the regulations. "People are doing this in good faith. All they want to know is what do I need to do? . . . Who is OMAFRA? . . . What is their mandate?"
Freeman Boyd, coordinator of the Grey-Bruce Local Food Project, said the province needs to develop inspection rules better suited to small-scale processors. Local abattoirs are also having trouble with OMAFRA's new regime, Boyd said.
"I don't think it's gotten through to them yet that they need to sit down and work out these policies," Boyd said of provincial officials. "If we want a diverse food system we need to design an oversight system to support that."
"If you're going to be processing food in 1,000 places versus 10 places that's more of a problem in terms of oversight," Boyd said. "In truth it's less of a problem in food safety.
"If you have a problem in one of the big plants you have a huge problem," Boyd said. "I think that the more diverse system is the safer one, certainly the more secure one."
Ministry officials have worked to install the new meat inspection system over the past five years. The job is close to complete, although it remains a work in progress, said Petrevan, who works as a special advisor to Agriculture Minister Carol Mitchell.
Ministry officials continue to meet with groups concerned about the impact of regulations on small processors and are open to other views, she said.
"We strive to do the best that we can to ensure when people buy an Ontario product they know it's safe and is something they can have trust and confidence in," Petrevan said.
