The Rural Voice, 2004-12, Page 24Necessity, they say, is Yr
the mother of ,.;
invention and the
necessity of the BSE crisis
is creating alternative ways
of marketing beef for
Ontario farmers.
Situated in the heartland
of Ontario's beef industry.
it's no surprise that Bruce
and Grey Counties are
leading the way in finding
ways for farmers to by-pas.N
a system that has failed
them, driving people to the
verge of bankruptcy. With
Beef Connections and Beef
Over Grey, producers and
their supporters have been
forging new ties with
consumers and reaping
rewards for farmers.
It was concern over the
plight of farmers hard hit by
the crisis that planted the
seed for Beef Connections
nearly a year ago. Lorne
Underwood a Clifford-area
farmer who sits as a lay-
person on the Presbytery for
the United Church in the
area, remembers sitting
through a meeting of the
ministers and laypeople
back in January and being
upset when not one word
was devoted to the stress
some rural parishioners
were under because of the
crisis. At the end of the
meeting when new business
was invited, he stood up and
expressed his frustration
that the church wasn't
prepared to deal with the .'.
problems of anguished V ,,,
parishioners worried as they ' IT
prepared for spring planting.
Cathy Hird, minister at
St. Andrew's United
Church, Ripley, stepped
forward to agree with him
and offer her church for a
meeting in February to bring
people together to discuss
the problem.
The first efforts of the
group that assembled were
dealing with the results of
the crisis. The church hosted
Brian Allen's talk show on
CKNX to discuss the
THINKING
BEYOND THE BOX
BY PUTTING BEEF
IN THE BOX
Creative thinking creates new
market for Bruce beef producers
selling boxed beef to urbanites
through churches, website
Story and photo by Keith Roulston
20 THE RURAL VOICE
The low -price crisis after the closure of the border
in the BSE fallout led to some creative solutions to
marketing beef in Grey -Bruce.
stressful situation and places
farmers could turn to for
advice. Next came an effort
to help educate clergy on
how to communicate with
farmers. Underwood and
two other farmers held
"Agriculture 101" to teach
ministers the lingo of
farmers so they could
understand farmers when
they called seeking help.
But the group quickly
moved from trying to help
farmers deal with the results
of the crisis to seeking
solutions to overcome the
problem, if only in a small
way. And the Beef
Connections marketing
scheme was born.
Into the picture stepped
Anne Finlay -Stewart of
Owen Sound who runs her
own small company
"Rhymes with Orange".
Hird invited her to sit in one
one of the meetings and "I
was completely hooked"
says Finlay -Stewart. "The
concept is so good and the
people are so good."
The idea was to find new
ways, including the church
congregations, to hook-up
farmers with consumers.
Finlay -Stewart points out
that although rural people
are used to the idea of
buying freezer beef from
farmers, most urbanites
don't have a connection
with a farmer who sells
directly. As well, farmers
aren't very assertive, she
says. "I kept telling them
people would want to buy
(their beef)."
All the farmers involved
in the project, were already
in the freezer beef business.
But if they wanted to reach
a more urban audience,
Finlay -Stewart had to help
them understand the
mindset of their potential
customers. Many urbanites
are used to going to the
store and getting enough
fresh meat to cook, in a few
minutes, for that night's
supper, she explained. The