Gord Hawkes
Log Cabin Orchard
Osgoode, On
Canada
http://www.cyberus.ca/~logcabinorchard
----------
> From: Rebecca Kneen <rkneen@ramshorn.bc.ca>
> To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu
> Subject: RE: HACCP
> Date: Friday, November 12, 1999 9:28 PM
>
> Hi everyone -
>
> We are in the final stages of putting together the *world's only* (so
> far as we know) on-farm, certified organic microbrewery. As a "food"
> producer, we come under the Canadian Food Inspection Agency - the
> same people who inspect processing plants, slaughterhouses etc. HACCP
> is not part of the regulations yet, but will be, and we had to draw
> up a plan to answer HACCP issues. While the process was useful
> (reminders about how to keep things clean), I have grave concerns
> about its purpose.
>
> Once upon a time in Canada, back when we still had Ag Reps from the
> Ministry of Agriculture, we also had food inspectors. _They_ visited
> farms, processing plants etc., and ensured that we were producing
> safely. They understood microbiology and production processes (as
> well as human limitations), and they helped us create safe and
> useable workplaces. They gave us standards to meet, helped us create
> safer systems, and gave the public some assurance that their food was
> safe. With HACCP, all we have are pieces of paper, which say "Yeah,
> we thought about it, here's what we thought, and isn't it nice."
> There's no guarantee that what we put on the paper is real. With the
> advent of HACCP, federal inspectors are being phased out, in favour
> of a self-regulating system.
>
> I have been calling my federal inspector, telling them how useful
> they are, and that I personally don't believe that the best plans in
> the world are any substitute for on-the-ground inspection. We need to
> be telling the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture, as
> well as our local gov't reps, to save the food inspection system. The
> last thing Canada needs is to impose the dangerous American model of
> self-inspection and regulation.
>
> On top of that, HACCP is no substitute for "touch and sniff"
> inspections: all the Critical Control Points in the world won't help
> if what's coming in is already contaminated - by pesticides,
> herbicides or disease. HACCP does nothing to ensure that cows with
> tumors are rejected by the slaughterhouse. All it does is create
> mountains of paperwork and no way to verify any of it.
>
> I am thoroughly in favour of inspectors - food and certification.
> They keep us honest, keep us in touch with others in similar
> situations, and alert us to places we might be getting sloppy. They
> keep track of the whole system, and at their best, are an aid to
> farmers and a reassurance to consumers. At their worst, they are a
> hindrance and an annoyance - but not as much as having the whole
> industry disappear (see Britain's beef... a friend tells me that
> calves go for £1 over there now).
>
> rebecca Kneen
> ===============================================
> "Growing food for others is a sacred trust. The exchange of
> nourishing food from the grower to the consumer should be a
> sacrament, not a commodity exchange. Herein lies the
> spirituality of farming." Alex McGregor, farmer
> ===============================================
> Brian MacIsaac & Rebecca Kneen
> Crannog Ales - the first farm-integrated organic brewery in the world!
> S6, C38, RR#1 Sorrento BC V0E 2W0
> Phone: 250-675-4122
> Fax: 250-675-4866
> email <rkneen@ramshorn.bc.ca>
> ===============================================
>
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