Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. Thank you for inviting me to appear before you today.
Thanks as well to the members and other witnesses for taking part in this meeting on such an important topic.
I would like briefly to introduce our organization, which is called Le petit abattoir. We are a solidarity cooperative that is subject to federal inspection. Our aim is to offer poultry slaughtering services to small-scale producers, who are struggling to find their place among the industrial and automated facilities. We offer them a solution in the form of a modular poultry micro abattoir. The model will be reproducible and adaptable in various regions, and we plan to assist Canadian communities in developing and implementing their solutions.
As emphasized during the committee's meetings, the current health crisis has amplified a remarkable groundswell of efforts to buy local, to support small farms that market within short supply chains and to carry on this type of agriculture, which provides structure in the regions and creates social ties. It has also been stated over and over again that the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the fragile nature of the country's processing capacity, but what may have been outlined to a lesser degree, and what I would like to discuss today, is how we should address this concept of capacity.
There are two approaches to slaughtering. On the one hand, you can look at processing capacity based on the number of head and determine that slaughtering capacity based on the number of head produced in the country is adequate but undermined by infrastructure concentration. To solve the problem, you must correct deficiencies in the current facilities and networks. On the other hand, with a view to territorializing food systems and food system resilience, you have to look at capacity based on geographic proximity between producers and processors and on the ability to mesh production scales, failing which the problem remains intact.
In recent decades, we have seen what might be called a technology gap appear between small-scale production and medium- and large-scale production. That gap has occurred as a result of a decline in the number of abattoirs and an increase in the size and output of remaining facilities.
Consequently, you have, on the one hand, traditional production, which fortunately enjoys increasingly efficient infrastructure well adapted to its scale of production.
On the other hand, there has been an increase in the number of small farms that, by contrast, are less and less well served and less and less compatible with the remaining, more mechanized and automated slaughterhouses. These producers face numerous issues and are required to transport their animals hundreds of kilometers to the few abattoirs that still agree to process small animal consignments. As a result, they can no longer guarantee the animals' welfare in accordance with the system of values that guides their work as producers. In addition, they can't always guarantee product traceability, which is essential to marketing a distinctive product. They are also required to bear the additional workload and economic burden involved in transportation.
Lastly, the inherent dependent relationship and power differential always favour the operator, a fact that limits the producer's ability to seek accommodations and express discontent. As a result, these small farms are less and less able to respond in a viable manner to the growing public demand for the type of products they offer. Traditional-production farms and small-scale farms operating in closed supply chains therefore do not find themselves in comparable situations. This situation therefore justifies us in addressing the issue of processing capacity based on these two distinct systems.
In the following three points, I would like to provide some food for thought on how to improve the processing capacity of the small-scale farm network.
First, we should aim to increase the number of small abattoirs in the regions and to adopt a mobile slaughtering strategy. This kind of infrastructure network would help establish an investment-friendly climate, which in turn would reduce economic uncertainty and enhance the viability of these businesses and the food security of their communities, while guaranteeing animal welfare, particularly in the mobile slaughtering scenario. With nearby infrastructure adapted to their situation, small-scale farmers will increase their herds, some will diversify production, and new farmers will establish themselves in the region. An abattoir is not just an abattoir; it is a rural development tool.
Second, we must, without delay, establish non-repayable assistance to provide community initiatives with the initial capital that is essential in implementing their solutions. We have, at the community level, knowledge, energy, a will and solidarity that must be invested in now because all we lack are financial resources. Many business opportunities will be wasted if we cannot draw on our community's strengths. We are motivated by need, and that's a guarantee of success.
Third, you have often discussed the regulatory burden in this committee. I'd like to underscore the organizational culture that prevails in many departments, where, all too often, people focus on means rather than ends.
Small facilities characteristically do not seek ways to avoid meeting standards but rather ways to meet standards by their own means, which are usually more limited than those of conventional facilities. Consequently, we must rethink the "same for all" paradigm by helping to adapt means based on an objective that is in fact the same for all, regardless of means. Fortunately, there are highly competent, open-minded and respectful people in all these departments, which makes it possible for us to innovate with confidence.
However, this way of addressing matters must become the watchword in the departments so that stakeholders can create and seize opportunities. The European example is inspiring here, as European authorities are lifting barriers to entry by allowing farming and animal welfare defence organizations to work hand in hand to establish farm slaughtering procedures that are secure from a health standpoint and by certifying facilities rather than every animal carcass.
Similarly, there has been an unprecedented spread of micro abattoirs in the United States, especially since the start of the pandemic, all of which have received technical and financial assistance in setting up.
In conclusion, just as we acknowledge that the resilience of nature depends on biodiversity, we must value and protect the diversity of economic models. This is necessary for the resilience of our economic and food systems. We must unleash energies and ensure that the primary aim of the assistance measures and regulations in place is to ensure that no one is left behind.
Thank you for your attention.