The Rural Voice, 1992-09, Page 12`I S Wj/V,
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8 THE RURAL VOICE
Keith Roulston
Let's really get it together
The farm and food sector should
be working together, according to a
spokesman for the country's retail
and distribution industries but that
kind of co-operation only seems to be
a one-way
demand.
John Geci,
president and
CEO of the Can-
adian Council of
Grocery Distri-
butors (CCGD)
called for the co-
operation while
striking out at
Lambton MP
Ralph Ferguson's
Compare the
Share ll, a docu-
ment that pointed
out the profits in
the food business
seemed to be elsewhere in the
industry rather than on the farm.
"We regret that some people are
trying to picture the farm community
and the grocery distribution industry
in terms of big business versus the
little guy," Geci is quoted as saying.
He said he was sorry to see some
people trying to drive a wedge
between retailers and farmers.
Geci is bang -on when he says the
food industry must pull together and
stop fighting each other... but where
was he at the Ottawa march in
February?
Many businesses in the agri-food
industry were prominent in their
support. From local merchants who
made donations to help with bus
rentals and sported green ribbons to
the farm suppliers who were so
generous in their support that groups
actually turned a profit in bus rentals,
the support for the cause of farmers at
the grassroots level was very strong.
The processors, distributors and
major food chains, however, didn't
seem to be as strong in their support.
By the time farmers had returned
home, for instance, a spokesman for
Kentucky Fried Chicken had already
undercut the impact of their argument
by telling consumers on a national
newscast that higher prices paid to
chicken farmers drove up the cost of a
bucket of chicken. The broiler board
pointed out, and Ferguson re-
emphasizes, that the price a farmer
gets for a chicken for KFC is about
$2.00 but even if the farmer gave the
chicken to KFC the Canadian price
for a bucket of chicken would still be
$2 more than the U.S. price.
The agriculture and food industries
can't afford to bicker among them-
selves. There are times farmers are
guilty of unfairly attacking other
sectors of their business. It's human
nature to always think the other guy is
getting better break than you are. I
can recall over the years farmers'
attempts to get into bulk purchasing,
for instance, ignoring the fact that if
they made one supplier large and
prosperous, they were probably
driving several other neighbours out
of business, thus losing a productive
part of their community. I've heard
farmers at annual meetings of beef
and pork producers claiming that the
packing industry was profiting at their
expense, ignoring the reality that
packing companies have been
disappearing almost as rapidly as
farmers.
But when it comes to biting the
hand that feeds you, Canadian proces-
sors and retailers seem to be tops.
They have been carrying on a concert-
ed attack on supply management for
several years now. In part it is under-
standable: if costs of production are
higher in Canada than their competi-
tors', it's hard to compete. Yet there
are many other things that also make
it harder to do business in Canada
than across the border and the indus-
try doesn't seem to be as aggressively
pursuing those problems.
It doesn't do processors a lot of
good to drive farmers out of business
by insisting they produce at less than
the cost of production any more than
it makes sense to suggest a return to
slavery would give these companies a
competitive edge internationally. It's
best for everybody when everybody is
prospering, not fighting with one
another. Maybe Mr. Geci and his
people should get on side first.°
Keith Roulston is editor and publisher
of The Rural Voice as well as being a
playwright. He lives on a small
acreage near Blyth, Ontario.