Listeriosis is now one of the largest food outbreaks in Canadian history. The mainstream media are diligently reporting on the repercussions, but are missing a more important angle: the fact this outbreak is rooted in our industrial food system.
The illness comes from listeria, a bacteria that grows best at temperatures of 30 to 37 degrees, but unlike other bacteria, it can thrive at temperatures as low as zero degrees. According to the Coast's acting medical health officer, it's widespread in the environment but is destroyed when foods are cooked. It becomes a bit of a problem, though, when the bacteria takes a foothold on processed foods that are usually eaten without being cooked first.
That's what happened in a Toronto meat plant owned by Maple Leaf Foods. The gas-station grub produced there was kept at cool temperatures as it was shipped to fine-dining convenience stores and institutions across Canada. And 15 people, mostly elderly, have died as a result.
It's the kind of food-borne illness you'd almost never see arise from meat bought from your local farmer, providing you're not eating raw chicken. Yet before this bacteria scare made national news headlines, the B.C. government was lobbying hard to apply strict rules for slaughter and meat inspection across the agricultural industry. Despite opposition from within the ministry, the controversial meat inspection regulation (MIR) came into effect last September.
The new meat regulation requires slaughter to take place at federally licensed abattoirs, which are expensive operations not often found outside cities. The travel costs involved can make the cost of doing business prohibitive to small farmers on the Sunshine Coast. With economies of scale, the larger meat producers and processors will emerge as the winners. The skeptic in me wonders why the province armed the B.C. Food Processors Association with $5 million to ensure all farmers comply with the new regime.
"It would be almost impossible to arrange for animals to be slaughtered here," said Colin Palmer of the Powell River Regional District in February. "This is how unbelievably crazy this is, when meats processed in the big abattoirs are seeing outbreaks of E-coli."
Well, it turned out to be listeria, but Palmer's prediction was close enough. And here's the kicker: B.C.'s former deputy minister of agriculture, Rory McAlpine, is now the vice-president for investor and government relations of Maple Leaf Foods.
When the MIR was being unveiled in 2005, it was McAlpine who spoke around the province of dire consequences that could result if farmers didn't embrace stricter new standards on slaughter and meat inspection. The new regulations were the only way to protect the public from an inevitable outbreak, he said.
See a connection?
I'm sure the food inspection system already has a good system of checks and balances, and those rules should stay in place. I'm sure food safety problems occasionally arise with meat, whether bought locally or from a large producer. But the system isn't perfect, and no one should expect it to be. Infants and the elderly will always be at higher risk of infection; that's not something any number of safety precautions can change.
So why is one part of the agricultural industry being pushed under, while another is being promoted? Given agribusiness' poor track record on pollution and treatment of animals, shouldn't we be promoting local agriculture - especially in light of the province's greenhouse gas reduction goals?
In an April 2005 speech, McAlpine hinted at what MIR could be driving at - harmonization of international standards to support free trade. The 1988 Canada - U.S. Free Trade Agreement first pursued equivalent inspection systems, then were "made stronger by NAFTA," McAlpine said. Next up is an international standard to be hammered out by the World Trade Organization, he said.
Instead of worrying about maximizing international trade, I suggest a much simpler solution for food safety and security, though it's not the answer lobbyists want to hear: support your local farmer.
