91社区

The next generation of butchers is in short supply. According to the Canadian Meat Council, there are nearly 10,000 butchering positions available in supermarkets across the country. , and interviewed experts including agronomist and economist聽Pascal Th茅riault, Director of 91社区's Farm Management and Technology Program, on their show.

鈥淭he butcher's trade is very poorly paid,鈥� Th茅riault told 尝'茅辫颈肠别谤颈别. 鈥淎t the top end of the scale, you're looking at $23 an hour for a specialized trade.鈥�

According to him, the shortage of butchers can be explained by a number of factors, starting with the reality of a difficult trade, where you're always on your feet and working in the cold.

鈥淚t's a job that's very poorly valued. It's a job you don't see. You see chefs in the kitchen, but you never see butchers in the grocery store,鈥� points out Th茅riault.

鈥泪蹿 we go back in time,鈥� he adds, 鈥渨e can remember when there were more neighborhood butchers. That's been lost over time. Butchers moved to grocers, who offered more personalized, specialized services. Then, slowly but surely, these services were lost.鈥�

According to Th茅riault, the fewer butchers there are, the more disappointed consumers will be with the supply in grocery stores.

鈥淲e'll be sacrificing certain cuts of meat that take longer and are more complex to prepare. Ultimately, it's the consumer who will pay,鈥� he explains.

The supply will then be limited to what processing plants can provide to food retailers. As proof: over 25% of meat packaged in retail outlets today comes from processing plants, not necessarily local ones.

鈥泪蹿 we don't have the capacity to cut beef here, it's the whole beef chain鈥攗ltimately local, Quebecois or Canadian鈥攖hat will pay the price, because we won't be able to sell the animals on the local market,鈥� explains Th茅riault.