Thursday June 2, 2022 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke, B.Sc. | Island Social Trends
The B.C. government — with ranchers and the public — celebrated B.C. Beef Day with a barbecue outside the Parliament Buildings today, June 2. The event wasn’t held for the last two years, due to the COVID pandemic.
“I am so excited B.C. Beef Day is back!” said Lana Popham, Minister of Agriculture and Food. “The past few years have been challenging, with a global pandemic and the industry dealing with unprecedented weather-related challenges, including wildfires, drought, heat waves and flooding.”
“B.C. Beef Day is all about celebrating this incredible and resilient sector and saying thank you for their contribution to B.C. agriculture and our province’s food security,” says Popham.
Partnerships in the beef sector:
B.C. Beef Day celebrates the partnerships between government and the BC Cattlemen’s Association, BC Association of Cattle Feeders, BC Breeder and Feeder Association, BCMeats and the BC Dairy Association, and the contributions of B.C. ranchers to the province’s communities, food security and food economy.
“It has been a long couple of years waiting for the opportunity to once again host B.C. Beef Day, but there is nothing like a beef barbecue to heal from some of the difficult and challenging times we’ve experienced,” said Renee Ardill, president, BC Cattlemen’s Association.
“It’s a great opportunity to show what we can do with a little grass and a lot of care for our livestock and the land. It’s also a very important day for us when we can sit down with our elected officials to discuss how our industry cares for the land and the environment while producing some of the best beef anywhere.”
Beef industry:
The B.C. beef industry is primarily composed of cow-calf operations, and more than 80% of its cattle are farmed in four regions of the province: Lower Mainland Southwest, Thompson Okanagan, Peace River and Cariboo.
In 2021, the sector marketed more than 89,600 tonnes of beef valued at $246 million.
Today’s event:
The Province has proclaimed June 2, 2022, B.C. Beef Day.
The beef served at the event is from Meadow Valley Meats, whose 63 Acres premium beef is grass-fed and grain-finished on four family-owned farms in B.C.’s southern Interior.
The beef was grilled to perfection at the Parliament Buildings by the skilled “BBQ Brian” Misko and his House of Q team. This Vernon-based business recently received several awards of excellence from the National BBQ and Grilling Association in Texas.
Agriculture and Food Minister:
The Agriculture and Food Minister, Lana Popham, has a career-long enthusiasm for farming and the food-producing sector. She is the MLA for Saanich South on Vancouver Island, where she was first elected in 2009.
===== LINKS (supplied by government):
* Too Close to Home, a short film exploring the role of cattle in mitigating wildfire risk for surrounding urban communities: https://tooclosetohome.weebly.com/
* BC Cattlemen’s Association: https://www.cattlemen.bc.ca/
* BC Breeder and Feeder Association: http://bcbfa.ca/
* BCMeats: https://bcmeats.ca/
* BC Dairy Association: https://bcdairy.ca/
* Meadow Valley Meats: https://meadowvalleymeats.com/
* House of Q: https://houseofq.com/
===== RELATED:
Training for greenhouse sector workers (April 21, 2022)
Agritech in Agricultural Land Reserve supports food security (February 19, 2022)
Increasing food production on the Agricultural Land Reserve (February 18, 2022)