P i s t a c h i o

Charming installations bring to mind an XTC classic.

1000 Umbrellas

Consider the free lunch of pulled pork sandwiches handed out by the minister of agriculture on the Parliament Hill on May 6th, with replays later in the week in Calgary and Edmonton.

Pork is safe to eat, we get it, but the public needs something more credible, or better PR.

Or better yet, would they not  have taken a cue from the of the book of Maple Leaf?

During the listeria tragedy, CEO Michael McCain acted quickly, put his own face on the crisis, conducted two voluntary recalls, one further reaching than the first, and took public responsibility. The corporation rebounded quickly, financially, in brand health and in public trust.

The farmers were thinking right along these lines. They told the media that they wanted a mass cull, including the farmer whose herd was sick.

He had the most to lose, yet he was ready to sacrifice everything, just to be safe.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency was surely under tremendous pressure to protect the industry. Hogs had started selling $20 less each.

Playing it safe, the CFIA said: “We haven’t decided to cull the herd yet.”

When the herd was finally culled three days later, the CFIA said that it was not because the swine were sick. The pens were overcrowded. Sows had continued to reproduce throughout the crisis, but mature swine had not gone to market because of the quarantine.

A government agency under siege, as the CFIA is today, may have understandably had the interests of the pork producers in mind while delaying  culls, but in the end, nothing would have been better for the industry’s image than to show it’s not afraid to act quickly, responsibly, transparently to show that food safety is their primary concern, rather than the price of a hog.

Even producers afraid to lose money from such a crisis knows that to act quickly and to come clean are the best measures for protecting their industry.