Don’t Blame Farmers for Euthanizing Animals and Dumping Milk Because We Have the Food Industry We Deserve

Millions of litres of milk are being thrown away, more than two million eggs are eliminated from the food chain, and pigs and chickens are being euthanized. There is horror in the countryside

by Sylvain Charlebois

Throwing away good food when more than four million Canadians have lost their jobs is morally reprehensible, and farmers would be the first to admit it. Over the past few weeks, the public has been repeatedly told that COVID-19 has caused the backlog and disruptions of our food-processing system. But will consumers be willing to forgive the awful, ugly temporary failures of animal-based supply chains?

“Wasting food on farms does put an emphasis on the very fragile state of our social contract with the food industry”

 

La Presse reported that 200,000 chickens had to be euthanized in recent days. Last week, Bloomberg disclosed that more than 90,000 pigs had to be culled and discarded in Canada. A few weeks ago, millions of litres of milk were thrown into the sewers. While it is hard to know what is really going on in the countryside, far from cities and fact-finding eyes, it is a safe bet that the numbers obtained by our hard-working journalists are understated. The situation is disturbing and frankly embarrassing for everyone, beginning with the farmers.

Farmers and other agricultural pundits have tried to explain their actions. The food service sector being idle and abattoirs temporally closing are the explanations most often given. The different groups representing the farmers inform us that they have no other choice, almost asking for forgiveness. They also claim that it is happening elsewhere around the world. True, alternatives are practically non-existent, but this points to a much larger issue in the agrifood sector.

First, supply management exists in Canada, and only in Canada, to avoid waste at farm gate. Special permits are required in Canada, sanctioned by governments, to produce milk, eggs and poultry for domestic demand. These sectors are waste-immune – or at least, they are supposed to be. While it is a good system, for the most part, it nonetheless has its flaws, and COVID-19 is highlighting its ugly side.

Revenues allocated to producers are set according to production costs as well as losses. In the long run, due to the well-regimented quota system, consumers will pay for the milk and the eggs that are discarded, as well as for the euthanized chickens. Marketing boards, however, will deny this, deceiving an uneducated public about agriculture. It is supply management’s inconvenient truth. Waste on the farm is a recurring issue and not just this year. What is different this year is the unprecedented volume. Despite what may have been conveyed to the public, supply-managed farms cannot lose money, period. Losses are pooled over the year, but pricing formulas will eventually allow all farms to make a decent profit over time. It is the law.

There are little to no incentives to find alternative solutions to reduce waste at farm gate. Milk, eggs and chicken are, for all intents and purpose, public goods. Milk production is even partially subsidized now in Canada by taxpayers – $1.8 billion over eight years – and more money is likely on the way. It should be illegal to eliminate these kinds of products from the food chain without redirecting and giving them a new economic purpose. These products could add to a larger strategic reserve for international markets, producing biofuels or making other food products such as vodka; there are a multitude of options. For milk, there are existing technologies to help preserve it for up to a year.

For other commodities, it is different. For example, if a hog farm opts to euthanize its flock, however immoral, it would do so at its own expense. The same goes for beef. With mushrooms, potatoes and most other commodities, producers suffer losses, so incentives for these industries to avoid such losses are real.

But wasting food on farms does put an emphasis on the very fragile state of our social contract with the food industry. It is simply wrong, regardless of circumstances. Still, as consumers, we have the food industry we deserve. Our industry’s architecture points to what consumers have wanted for decades, which is cheap food. Many are outraged by what’s happening, but simply accepting such outcomes is no longer enough, especially today in the midst of COVID-19.

Farmers are not the only ones responsible. The biggest challenge remains food processing in Canada. The key to deal with surpluses is more vertical coordination. Farmers need to work with processors to avoid waste and senseless animal killings. Better vertical coordination is possible if a strategy exists. Most sectors have never seriously given much thought to how to make a value chain work, beyond giving generously to food banks.

The federal government’s move to boost the Canadian Dairy Commission’s credit recently by $100 million was good. This will, hopefully, help our Crown corporation develop new mechanisms to better manage surpluses in the future.

One thing is certain: the pandemic is serving strong case studies on a silver platter to the vegan movement and opponents of animal exploitation. Due to the destruction of food sources, some analysts claim that the capitalization of Beyond Meat could exceed that of Amazon or even Facebook within five years. Whether this scenario is plausible, the impact of COVID-19 is forever a part of our lives. For farmers and others, asking forgiveness after the pandemic may not be easy.

Originally published in the Ottawa Citizen

Professor Sylvain Charlebois is Senior Director, Agri-Food Analytics Lab, Dalhousie University