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SSFPA News
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SSFPA Members who met the deadline for the Western Grocer magazine directory have received the issue they are featured in. It will be in the season’s snail mail and we hope you enjoy it once you receive it. The people who purchased an advertisement have received their copy directly from Western Grocer. After reading the SSFPA introduction and directory, please fill out this evaluation to assist the SSFPA with the planning of member promotions for next year.
- Do you want to learn more about SSFPA? February offers two opportunities to listen to Frank Moreland and Sandra Mark of Edible Strategies Ent. Inc. discuss SSFPA and its programs. Go to "Coming Events" for details on the annual conference of the BC Association of Farmers Markets (in the Fraser Valley) and the annual conference/trade show of Certified Organic Associations of BC (in Sidney).
Value-Added
Agriculture: A
Senate Report
The Senate's Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry met during 2003-2004 and focused on value addition to Canada's agricultural products: "Value added agriculture has attracted considerable attention in recent years as a means to increase and/or stabilize farm income and to rejuvenate primary agriculture and the rural economy.... The move to value-added agriculture is fundamentally market-driven. [These] activities are born from the necessity to adapt to the sweeping changes affecting the agriculture and agri-food industry."
The Senate Report
encourages assistance to the organic sector and to farmer-owned
processing enterprises, including co-operatives.
Meat Sector News
CFIA Proposed Guidelines on Meat, Poultry, and Fish Products' Labelling and Advertising
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has proposed new guidelines and policy to clarify the labelling and advertising of meat, poultry, and fish products carrying "method of production" claims. Claims about animal feed (for example, what DOES "grain fed" mean) and humane practices are highlighted - two issues that are of particularly concern to consumers at this time. Both "html" and printable "pdf" versions of the proposed guidelines are available at the web site. CFIA wants feedback by April 1, 2005. The deadline is April 1, 2005. This gives you 90 days to put your comments together and send them in.
Feds Admit: More Regional Canadian Slaughterhouses Needed
On January 27 in Fredericton, NB, Federal Agriculture Minister Andy Mitchell stated that Canada needs more slaughterhouses to reduce the surplus of aging cattle and improve domestic markets. He welcomed news of a proposed slaughterhouse and processing plant to be built in Mactaquac, NB; the plant would handle mostly older cows for processed meats and hamburger. This would be the first, federally inspected processing facility for culled beef and dairy cows in the Maritime provinces, saving farmers the trouble and expense of sending cattle to Quebec or Ontario for slaughter.
Mitchell was quoted as saying, "We need to ensure that we have the option to process our own production here in Canada. I think it's also important to have the ability to export live animals to the United States and we've worked hard at doing that. But we need to have options." The province will contribute up to $230,000 for the facility, to be called River Valley Meat Packers Ltd. It is expected to open by the fall of 2005 and employ at least 25 people.
Emergency Food Security: Filling
in the Gaps in the Comox Valley
The afternoon session (1-4 PM) will deal with the day-to-day emergencies that many individuals and families encounter, what assistance is available now, and skills people can learn to be more self-reliant and help themselves to be more food secure.
The goal for the event is to find the gaps between the various services offered by local organizations and to come up with concrete ways to fill in these gaps. If you are interested in attending or need more information please call the Wachiay Friendship Centre at 338-7793 or Lush Valley at 898-8733.
"Agriwebnar"
"Agriwebnar" is a series of on-line farm management training seminars, sponsored jointly by Canadian Federation of Agriculture and the Canadian Farm Business Management Council. Promoted as "a great way for to communicate with farm experts on the web for free," these sessions will be be held during February and March this year. There is no software to download and the sessions are accessible to those with either high speed or dial-up connections.
Help for Non-Profit Groups
Non-profit groups are assuming increasingly central roles in the delivery of important services in our society. While non-profit organizations are seeking new ways to generate income and increase their efficiency to meet these challenges and opportunities, many would like to do more with their existing resources. A series of workshops this winter and spring - sponsored by Coast Capital Savings and The Centre for Non Profit Management, in partnership with the University of Victoria’s Centre for Public Sector Studies - is designed to help non-profit organizations increase their resourcefulness and adapt to new demands and opportunities. The workshops will be held in two locations, one on the Lower Mainland and the other on Vancouver Island.
For a fee of just $50, you can learn about the following: Strategic Planning for Non Profits; Financial Stewardship and Responsibility; Fund Development; Effective Communications; and Board Governance and Accountability.
Export Plan Workshop
Small Business BC offers a wide variety of affordable seminars for small business. This hands-on, one-day workshop will give companies the opportunity to develop their own export plan with the help of experienced export instructors. Space is limited to 12 companies in each location.
- February 7, 2005, 9 am to 4:30 pm at Central Island Community Futures Office, 420 Albert Street, Nanaimo, BC.
- February 9, 2005, 9 am to 4:30 pm, at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 4321 Still Creek Drive, Suite 420, Burnaby.
Preference will be given to companies that have launched an agri-food product in the domestic market or that are exploring new exporting opportunities. Fee is $75.00. To register, contact Elise Legendre.
News from the Cooperative Sector: Co-ops Work!
Top 50 Non-Financial Co-operatives in Canada
In December Agriculture and Agri-Food
Canada announced the annual
list of Canada's top 50 non-financial co-operatives for the
year 2003. "The list reflects the success of Canadian co-operatives
and the strength of the cooperative model," said Wayne Easter,
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture Easter.
Read
more ....
Study on Small Business Tax Measures:
Canada's Agricultural Co-operatives
In the spring of 2004, the House
of Commons Standing Committee on Finance undertook a study
of federal tax measures to assist small businesses in certain
sectors, including agricultural cooperatives. Co-op representatives,
particularly from Quebec, emphasized the financial implications
of rural cooperative development: "With ... capitalization
challenges, and recognizing globalization and increased competition,
agricultural cooperatives are limited in the strategic investments
that they can make in order to ensure their success and prosperity.
Consequently, they are vulnerable to competition, which has implications
for the rural communities in which they do business."
Read
more ....
Organic Production Works, Too
- A Report on the Transition Process
Increasing public demand for organic
products attracts premiums for the certified organic farmer, causing
hard-pressed conventional farmers to consider going organic. Information
on the resulting transition process is therefore important to anyone
considering this change. American scientists Kathleen Delate and
Cynthia Cambardella assessed
the performance of farms during the three-year transition it
takes to switch from conventional to certified organic grain production.
Read
more ....
Swiss Scientists Endorse Organic
Farming
After a 21-year study, Swiss scientists have given a ringing endorsement to organic farming methods. Researchers from the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture and the Swiss Federal Research Station for Agroecology and Agriculture found that organic yields were on average 20% smaller than those from conventional agriculture. But the ecological benefits more than made up for this, and the organic crops proved more efficient users of energy and other resources. These findings were reported in Science magazine and were summarized by BBC News.
More on "The Farmers Diner"
A year ago, sound bits profiled the brainchild of ex-farmer Tod Murphy who opened a diner in Barre, Vermont with a simple focus: feature locally grown food on the menu. There have been challenges galore: for one, when large corporations have virtually taken over agribusiness, where can you find locally grown - and processed - food, particularly in the winter? Read more about the Farmer's Diner concept and operations.
An Information Source on
Grass-Fed Animals
Eat Wild emphasizes that products from grass-fed animals are safer than food from conventionally-raised animals and notes: "This is especially reassuring now that a case of mad cow disease, or BSE, has been confirmed in this country.... One hundred percent grass-fed animals cannot acquire BSE because their diets contain no animal by-products or any other unnatural ingredients. Switching to products from grass-fed animals may also lower your risk of becoming sickened by campylobacter or E. coli bacteria."
Eat Wild features news on naturally-pastured livestock rearing and provides listings of producers in both the US and Canada.
Join Our Newsletter Network
If you'd like a monthly e-mail update of sound bits, contact us and we'll put your name on our list serve. It's a quick and easy way to find out what's happening in the "small-scale" food world.
Small Scale Food Processor Association
"We're Big on Small"
(250) 335-3001
E-mail: frank@ssfpa.net
Web site: http://www.ssfpa.net
 Thanks for the support from Coast Capital Savings for both SSFPA and Local Flavours Products & Services Cooperative. |
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