Sunday, October 16, 2016

Canada hosts global beef meeting


Canadians recently hosted nearly 225 beef value chain stakeholders from 15 countries at Banff, Alta., where they pondered ideas to improve the industry.

The Conference was co-hosted by the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB) and the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB).

“We were delighted with the mixture of people that attended the conference,” said Dennis Laycraft, president of the global organization.

“We covered a number of critical industry topics on beef sustainability and fostered discussions that brought people together.

“With that, I think we achieved what we had hoped for – we are bringing more interest and recognition to sustainability and the role of the beef industry.”

Cherie Copithorne-Barnes, a rancher from Alberta and chair of the Canadian organization, said “Canada was honored to co-host this forward-thinking conference and pleased to showcase the work being done here."

The CRSB also held its annual general meeting where the following people were elected:

Bob Lowe, Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and Alberta Beef Producers, and Greg Bowie, Alberta Beef Producers, will represent producers and processors.
Frank Middleton will represent processors.

Jeff Fitzpatrick-Stilwell of McDonald’s Canada will represent  retail and food service companies.

Tim Hardman of the World Wildlife Fund will represent non-governmental organizations.

Jodi Banks of the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture and Sean Royer of the Alberta Agriculture and Forestry department were both appointed by Council to fill the ex-officio seats.


Cherie Copithorne-Barnes is chair of the CRSB.