A Consultant who addressed the recent Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario annual meeting says retailers are beginning to exert a lot of pressure on how farmers produce their food.
Jim Wheeler explains farmers have traditionally enjoyed the trust of the general public, but points to the recent A & W commercial boasting its beef is free of steroids and hormones as an example of the kind of pressure that is beginning to erode some of that trust.
Wheeler adds retailers like Kelloggs and Walmart are now requiring their suppliers to maintain some sustainability practices and he says in some cases they're very specific-- like using cover crops and less destructive tillage methods.
Wheeler adds it will likely impact a relatively small share of the market initially, but he expects it will grow to the point that many of those requirements will become accepted practice.
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Wheeler suggests that recent news stories about mis-treatment of animals or environmental issues are having some impact, but he points out commercials are leaving an impression as well....
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Wheeler says some of the retailers are big enough that they can demand fairly stringent requirements and make them stick....
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