To the editor,
On the morning of October 22, I woke up, made coffee turned on the TV to my favorite news channel. The first thing I saw was the story on the landfill at Brooks, Alberta and the truckloads of meat being dumped and buried there.
My first reaction was shock as to what a million pounds of beef is in terms of volume. Then it brought a tear to my eyes as I realized what it really meant. It meant that nearly 1333 head of cattle were wasted, and some of those wasted animals could have been ones that I raised.
As a rancher I have a social contract with my animals. I provide feed, water and shelter to them and in turn they provide their young to feed Canadians. As part of the contract I am to be humane to them, not to abuse them or mistreat them, to care for them if they are ill, to provide assistance if they need it during birth and above all, to ensure their young are cared for and that their short lives are not wasted.
Now through an act of man’s greed these some 1333 lives were wasted. These were living beings that gave their lives to nurture us — not to be dumped as garbage into landfills.
We have a moral responsibility to ensure we do not mistreat or waste these animals. They deserve better. Canadians must get involved and demand accountability for this wanton waste and demand our food system be restructured so that no more XL’s occur. Write your MLA, MPP, MP and County and City councilors and demand change — and demand to be part of that change. And yes please light a candle and place it in your window for those 1333 wasted lives.
Neil Peacock
NFU board member
Cattle Rancher, Sexsmith, AB
(780) 833-6939
