Can't eat local if it's not an option

I love to eat local meat and, even moreso, I love hookin' other people up with local meat vendors. However, with the increasing and, some might argue, overly severe safety regulations that the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) has been phasing in since 2005 at food processing facilities, the local option where meat is concerned is turning from reality to dream.

Mogk's Custom Killing & Butcher Shop, an abattoir southeast of Stratford, services several counties in Southwestern Ontario and is currently at risk of having to close its doors after 20 years in business. Run by Kenneth Mogk, 77 and his 48-year-old son, Butch, this abattoir is one of a couple hundred whose existence is being threatened by OMAFRA's extreme upgrade requirements.

See article from the Stratford Beacon Herald, Sunday, January 31, 2010.

If Mogk's is forced to shut down its operations, the trickle-down effect will be far-reaching. Beginning with the abattoir itself, the closure would also mean difficulty, sometimes insurmountable, for a plethora of southwestern Ontario farmers who would have to try to find another abattoir. And the trickle continues.

At the end of the line are the consumers who insist on locally, sustainably grown (see "good, clean and fair", a la Slow Food) food. The demise of this abattoir means our loss of choice. Can the government leave us with no choice, essentially forcing us to choose Maple Leaf, the very conglomerate responsible for the listeriosis debacle just over a year ago?

Only if we allow it.

We need to get behind this in a big way - activism, including public awareness campaigns, lobbying and fundraising can save Mogk's. So please, if you read this and you care (a given, at this point), please get involved. Contact Slow Food Perth County at info@slowfoodperthcounty.ca to express your interest in assisting in saving Mogk's.

Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Laurie

It is incumbent on those of us who believe in and demand not just local food, but