NANTON, ALTA -- The closure of the Cargill plant in High River and the reduction of operations at the JBS plant in Brooks has left many Alberta consumers with uncertainty over where to turn for their meat products.
"There is just a greater sense of food insecurity and people are wanting to have a direct connection to their producer," said beef rancher Rachel Herbert. "We've never seen the volume of orders come in such a narrow amount of time."
Herbert and her husband Tyler Herbert operate Trail’s End Beef, which supplies customers with a variety of grass-fed beef options in bulk.
"We expect to be sold out likely within this week," said Herbert.
Many orders are coming from customers who normally purchase meat from grocery stores.
"A lot of them are saying that they have never purchased a side or a quarter of beef before. The whole process is new to them."
But for customers, the amount of time the process takes is something they’ll have top get used to. It’s currently calving season and their products are only available from July through October.
"The calves that we are calving out right, (they go) to grazing for almost three years," said Herbert. "Our cattle go directly form the pasture to an artisan-scale food processor, butcher."
There might not be much left for consumers now but Herbert feels the pandemic might create a shift in how people view food.
"More and more people are starting to raise awareness of food security and insecurity we're seeing people turn directly to ranchers," said Herbert.
