Terry Hirsche with employee Micheal Honoroski stock the shelves at the Hirsche Fraser Meats store in Okotoks. Grant Hirsche and Doug Fraser opened the store in reaction to the BSE crisis.
photo by Blair Braitenbach |
By Blair Braitenbach
Staff reporter
When the BSE crisis struck Canada five years ago, the Hirsche family, like many others in the ranching industry, had to scramble to save their livelihood.
“We lost 60 per cent of our income because we sold to the States,” said Terry Hirsche, rancher and assistant manager of Hirsche Fraser Meats in Okotoks.
In May 2003, the U.S. government closed the border to all Canadian-born cattle when it was discovered that an Alberta cow suffered from bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE. Those who made their living off the ranching industry suffered a horrendous blow, forcing many to either sell their businesses or take on separate jobs to keep their heads above water.
Grant Hirsche, a rancher from the Okotoks area, knew he had to adjust his way of life and began selling meat raised from his ranch out of a refrigerated truck on Highway 2 south of Calgary. After about a year of selling meat off the highway, in 2004 Hirsche and Doug Fraser opened Hirsche Fraser Meats in Okotoks.
“Because of BSE we have our store here, otherwise we probably wouldn’t,” Terry said.
Although in most circles the Hirsche story would be considered a success, many others haven’t had a happy ending. In an effort to fully understand and address the
impacts of prion diseases on the livelihood of Canadian ranchers and farmers, the University of Calgary’s Rural Family Health Study group has begun recruiting individuals to participate in a nation-wide survey. The purpose is to both bring greater awareness to those who have adapted and to those who continue to struggle as a result of the BSE crisis and to possibly create policy changes at the government level to reduce the impacts of a future disaster.
Madhu Sindhwani, national coordinator of the study at the U of C, noted that although BSE has been removed from the public eye, the long lasting health and financial effects of BSE on ranchers and their families is far from over.
“In the past, the media focused on the safety of meat and food, but no one’s really looked at how this has affected or impacted the people and their well-being and the farmers behind that,” Sindhwani said.
“They’ve been greatly impacted, there’s a lot of stress on farms and a lot of financial difficulty.”
Sindhwani said stories like the Hirsche’s are great to hear, however, there are many other stories that involve hardship and financial ruin.
“BSE was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. BSE was not the only issue that farmers were facing, but it was a significant disaster,” Sindhwani said.
The study is part of a larger project between the U of C and the University of Ontario with the collaboration of researchers from various institutions across Canada, including the University of Saskatchewan, Brandon University and the University of Manitoba, to name a few. The study hopes to include 1,500 participants from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and British Columbia.
Those interested in participating in the survey from ranching and rural communities can call toll free 1-877-422-4358 or e-mail ruralfamilyhealth@ucalgary.ca. For more information, visit http://fchnet.ucalgary.ca/
The survey will be mailed out, and researchers with the study intend to follow up on participants in three years. In addition, interviews will be conducted with several individuals in the farming and ranching communities.
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