Farmscape for November 15, 2018

The Executive Director of the Canadian Pork Council says Canada's new food safety and animal care assurance program speaks directly to what consumers are looking for.
The rollout of the PigSAFE and PigCARE components of Canadian Pork Excellence is scheduled to begin in January with the first on farm evaluations expected to start in April.
John Ross, the Executive Director of the Canadian Pork Council, told those on hand yesterday for Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium 2018 credible quality assurance is key to maintaining public trust.

Clip-John Ross-Canadian Pork Council:
I think what Canadians are looking for, across actually all of agriculture products, not specifically to pork, they are looking for products that are safe, products that are nutritious and they are responsibly raised.
I think the Canadian pork Excellence hits on all of those topics.
Certainly the on farm food safety and certainly animal care line up exactly with what Canadians are expecting.
It's up to Canadian producers to talk about Canadian production.
We're the best folks to talk about why we do things on the farm, what we do on the farm and how that benefits the folks that consume, in this case, Canadian pork.
The programs themselves, PigSAFE and PigCARE, they provide a very credible platform for producers to use.
They can say listen, we can actually demonstrate to you what we do on the farm and why it matters, how it matters and it reflects the good stewardship that we have for our animals and it reflects why that product that we produce, Canadian pork, is not only safe to eat but nutritious, easy to cook, delicious, all of those things that matter to consumers.

Ross says public trust is extremely important.
He says if consumers lose trust they'll call for increased regulation and the Canadian pork sector is already highly regulated.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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