Just a little tidbit for you guys to think about.

A friend of mine has a cattle farm and sells his beef to A&W. You see their ads all over the place, 'Raised without the use of hormones & steroids' etc. It's all wordplay, these cattle are bred with steroids and hormones added. But, they aren't given any after a certain age, so they aren't 'raised' with it.

He doesn't have chickens, but he said the same thing about their eggs and chicken. 'No antibiotics'. He said they're given hormones and steroids, but they're only claiming no antibiotics.

I know this is kind of unrelated to Earl's but something to chew on anyway.

Most people don't have a problem with hunting they have a problem with hunting for sport or trophies. Sitting in a tree fort and getting lodge hand to dump a bunch of soft candy to attract bears is not what I call hunting. I saw a documentary on a hunting lodge in Manitoba. Bunch of Americans come down kill bears take there pelts and leave the heat behind to rot.

With hunting it's the assholes that ruin it for the others. I don't hunt but I don't have a problem with those who do it for food and do it as quick as possible. Then you get Jebediah who shot something through the neck and decides to film it laughing while the animal is convulsing on the ground.

I use to fly those bear heads around. Was always curious where the meat went. Decided to never ask.

Surprised they show the lodge since that's about illegal as it comes with hunting.

Poaching and leaving the carcasses etc because they are all shot up is luckily HEAVILLY penalized when enforced. The problem is enforcement and with federal budget cuts, CO's now cannot just drive out in the bush without responding to a call.

No one in my family or anyone we hunt with really are trophy hunters, getting a nice animal is only a bonus on top of the meat.

I've always felt the perception that a lot of people have with hunting it moreso linked to killing the animal as opposed to trophy vs meat hunting, but for the ignorant they are probably one and the same for the most part

I strongly disagree. I feel that sustainable food practices is trending more than a consumers support for the Canadian food manufacturing industry. The Alberta beef conglomerates always unite to suppress any criticism of their industry. The minute Earls released their statement on Facebook, all these Alberta farmers and their families went straight into attack mode.

If you removed social media from the conversation, I think the majority of consumers care more that their animal based food choices are are somewhat socially conscious, over the fact that it comes from Kansas instead of Alberta.

As someone mentioned previously, the actual Earls consumer probably doesn't give a shit where the beef comes from, but having it sourced somewhat humanely is a smart long term strategy for Earls. I think more business will follow this direction. The massive growth in the organic food movement proved that consumers care less about where it grows and more about if its grown without harmful affects, and the meet industry is heading in this direction.

And from a pure business standpoint, Earls ownership in Joeys and half of Cactus Club has created this massive powerhouse that can weather any criticism. They own the Canadian casual/upscale food market and this decision was over two years of work, so clearly they knew what they were doing.

Alberta beef ranchers:
http://www.lawschoolblog.org/wp-cont...age-Rabble.jpg

Really don't give a fuck. As long as they don't torture the animals intentionally like a bunch of sick fucks (because we are fucking civilized people) before killing it.

Killing anything short of instant dead or while it was unconscious isn't humane. Throat cutting no matter how swift is not. You don't hear the screaming because the windpipe is cut but the thing is alive and its heart pumping blood still for at least half a min.

Halal beef and shit. PR stun money grabbing a bunch of yuppies.

Having lived in Asia though, organic stuffs like veg is almost a necessity. Shit is so poorly regulated you could die from all the pest-control chemical spraying on top of non-organic food.

Thats exactly what u get for trusting anything other than organic and grassfed because u can't play lawyer games with that but dont worry that is going to get overtaken soon as well :P

Wait, people are more angry at Earls for switching to American suppliers than at Alberta ranchers for failing to produce better quality beef? Oh Canada...

I knew from the get-go that A&W were using just regular factory-farmed poultry & meats and relied on wordplay for marketing. Unfortunately, the masses would fall for it.

There's already been cases of retailers caught selling regular meat and produce at organic/grass-fed prices. The way I see it, you can't trust any of these crooks. Personally, I think organics is a waste of money, not saying that there's no added health benefits, just saying that the cost to benefit ratio isn't worth it. Most of the time, you can't even taste the difference between an organic vs non-organic product. As for health benefits, it's not scientifically conclusive. Grassfed products, on the other hand, TASTES GREAT (yes you can taste the difference compared to grain-fed, if you have a sensitive palette), but cost an arm and a leg. If I splurge, I rather splurge on grassfed over organics.

Everyone needs to understand, that plain and simple, its based on meeting a cost, while having a marketing statement.
There are TONS of farms that are as humane as certified humane farms, that haven't got the certification due to the hoops, and money involved.
Many of these farms have better treatment, and better product than the "certified humane," but then you don't have a definitive label you can use to tell people that you are doing something good.
Look at the list of ANY farm on the certified humane list. You can go to any single one of them, and I promise you, they won't treat their animals better, or offer better product than shaw farms, 63 acres, pemberton meadows beef, and many other suppliers I have had the pleasure of seeing, meeting, touring or using their products. This list is so far from being a comprehensive list of quality suppliers.
I think its great that earls is choosing ethically raised meats, but don't let yourself be fooled, its for their benefit as much as the animals.

That said, they are a business and don't owe it to alberta farmers to buy from them if they don't offer a product they want at a cost they want. They should be honest about their reasoning though. Both sides are looking quite stupid in this argument.
I'll continue to pay more for local quality product, as its not hard to sell it for more to people that appreciate it. Those people are not earls target market however.

The only reason this is somewhat annoying is because Earles is using such an obvious lie. If they wanted to they could use Alberta beef and use Kansas beef to cover their shortage, it's just about money. I guess if they said it was to switch to a cheaper product it would also have a negative affect though.

I wonder if the cattle at the Shambhala farm/ranch by Salmo is considered humane lol

man. craving one of those shamburgers right now :sweetjesus: best burger I ever had

While I agree that animals should be killed as quickly and humanely as possible, don't forget that even the least desireable of the methods listed here are still a hell of a lot better than the ways an animal can die in the wild.

I'm not sure how not giving sick animals antibiotics is supposed to be more humane.

They don't just let them stay sick. They give them antibiotics if necessary and then the beef ends up graded differently. A healthy AAA cow is more valuable than a dead organic cow.

You mean being eaten alive over several days from the asshole first by a pack of wolves is how Bambi's mom would have died? BibleThump

I thought they just went to sleep one day

I don't know about y'all but this thread got me eating a burger for breakfast.

I somehow doubt that Earls saves money buying US beef, especially considering the exchange rate... never mind additional costs associated with shipping and brokerage.

No necessarily, she could've easily starved or froze to death too.

Yes, transport, tariffs (none existent?), exchange rates... doesnt matter! the system is broken to work for the corporations.
These farmers are already complaining about having fair use of the railways...

Canadian politicians are the some of the dumbest apes around...
I believe USA Beef should be more cancerous with its Canadian banned cancerous hormones and GMO fed that they use. Thats like eating the rats in the French study that developed tumors from an all GMO diet. Madcow diseases could also be lurking in the USA stock.

These days who really knows what or where a healthy cow can be found... with all the fracking and industrial extraction in Alberta... its cows are probably drinking tainted water in some regions.

edit
Earl's is now clarifying that its meats will not be Halal to reassure all the brainwashed idiots in the western world.

That may be the case for A&W but for other practices, its has never been given antibiotic/hormone but if a cow gets sick, it will be fed antibiotics and then be put into the mainstream herd instead of going back to the raised without antibiotic herd.

Most cattle ranch farms in those areas are either low volume or milk farms. Either way, this has nothing to do with available supply; rather, it's about certifications.

Anyone know where to get a good steak nowadays in Calgary? Was sorely disappointing last time, went to the place under their rotating tower.