A turning point for Manitoba agriculture?

Manitoba has never been closer to the possibility of turning the corner away from the socially discredited industrial agriculture of the late twentieth century to the humane, sustainable and socially responsible agriculture taking root (no pun intended, but happilly accepted) throughout the industrialized world. A done deal - aided and abetted by the governments of Winnipeg and Manitoba - to build a mega hog-slaughter plant in a Winnipeg industrial park generated so much public resistance last year that the done deal has now become, in all probability, a dead deal.

Perhaps cynically, perhaps sincerely, the provincial government - facing an election, likely this spring or summer - has not only lost its enthusiasm for the hog plant, it has imposed a "pause" (a moratorium lite) on the hog industry and honoured a 2003 recommendation from the Clean Environment Commission by announcing a public CEC review of the sustainability of the hog industry.

That review could very easily become a tool for the government to greenwash the hog industry unless Manitoba citizens become fully engaged in the process, insisting that the industry be held up to modern standards of environmental sustainability and social responsibility. That process has begun. In public meetings next week and via written submissions until Feb. 2, the CEC will be listening to what Manitobans have to say about what the scope of the review should be. Currently, its mandated scope is woefully narrow: environmental sustainability. As important as this aspect of the industry is, so are its many other consequential impacts: public health, the survival of small-scale family farms, worker health and safety, government transparency and accountability, animal welfare - the list goes on.

If you care about any of these issues, get involved - and stay tuned.