I am beyond concern now. It’s another dark day for Niagara’s food scene. If you’re a regular at the Good Shepherd in Vineland you know more than anyone, it’s about more than buying meat. Franz and Denise Gerber are Mennonite farmers who converted their barn into a retail space so customers like you and I can buy good, organic, safe meat.
In their coolers you’ll find various cuts of beef, pork and chicken. From these animals they also make cutlets, pies, rolls, pepperettes, kielbasa, sausages and cheese. There are lamb roaming in the pasture and turkeys to be ordered for holiday seasons.
When you arrive at the Good Shepherd, Franz and Denise know you by name – a remarkable feat considering the abundance of loyal customers they have. You can sit at the table (a welcoming site when you arrive), or shop the coolers and know that when something comes off the stove, it will be offered to you.
Some say it’s good marketing to have your customers taste your products, but to know Franz and Denise is to know that it’s about taking care of their friends. At the Good Shepherd they encourage you to eat as much as you want and stay as long as you like, believing it’s the least they can do to make your life a little bit better.
For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, it's about a connection to our food. It's about knowing and trusting people to provide good quality safe food. All of the animals are raised naturally, butchered carefully and sold lovingly. The meat is free of chemicals, hormones, nitrates or any unnatural ingredients. The fact that Denise and Franz are great people is just a bonus.
So why is it a dark day you ask? Because on May 1, the Good Shepherd is closing its doors – and it’s not by choice. It’s a complicated story but I think it’s safe to say our government regulations have become so blind, restrictive, obscure and expensive that they felt closing was the only option.
For a couple who’ve spent their entire business life cultivating loyalty and trust, this decision is a sad and painful one for them. For thousands of current customers and countless future customers, it means we are loosing our choice. In Niagara we cannot buy this great food any longer - this is a crisis.
We are loosing our right to shop and buy what we want and where we want – where will it end? Being stripped of our local food choices is not what safe food is all about and we need to send a message that we don’t like it. Enough is enough!
Let’s all dress in black and meet at the Good Shepherd on May 1. Black to represent the death of one more of our food choices. If you’re with me on this one, email back!
Can't make it on Saturday, but could you tell me who the powers that be are and what exactly the issue is about? I know a little about regulatory environment of eggs, milk & meat, but not enough. Thanks Lynn.
ReplyDeleteMelissa Hellwig
What on earth? Count me as a future customer. We were planning on heading out there when my husband's schedule settled down. We've been on a quest to find local, affordable, quality meat, and have heard so many good things about Good Shepherd. What happened, and who do we go to about this?
ReplyDeleteIs there anything we can do from a Government lobby standpoint? It seems a bit late to get them to change anything to save the Good Shepherd, but if we can do something to keep it from happening again, that would be great.
ReplyDeleteVery sad about this turn of events. My family and I have enjoyed being customers of the Good Shepherd for over 3 years. I suffer from migranes when I eat processed meat so I have been thankful for their products that allow me to enjoy a variety of meats without feeling ill. I also love the local connection and knowing where our food comes from....I can't believe the government thinks this is a good solution.
ReplyDeleteI wish there was more we could do for this wonderful fmaily business and others like them that may suffer the same fate due to bureaucracy!
So what happened? I haven't heard another word about this anywhere.
ReplyDeleteLynn, thanks so much for bringing attention to this issue. I love everything about the Good Shepherd - from the kind faces to the fact that I can trust the meat that I'm purchasing. I believe we are being poisoned by the food in our mainstream grocery stores. They are jam packed with foods full of pesticides and fake ingredients. I'm absolutely devastated that the Good Shepherd and other local businesses like theirs are having to shut their doors. We need to come together as a society and change the way our food industry is operating. I will be there on Saturday. And I will bring my friends
ReplyDeleteShame shame on our government for allowing this to happen.
ReplyDeleteWe have to look at the underlying issue here before rushing off and blaming our government. Is it a business or a belief issue? The Health and food inspection has tighten up their regulations to prevent another Walkerton and Maple Leaf incident. I don't think they were targeting the Good Shepherd. There are tons of local Ma and Pa butcher shops in the GTA and elsewhere in Onatrio (eg. the Kitchener Mennonite Farmer's Market) who get surprise inspections all the time and are still thriving.
ReplyDeleteI have a pretty good conscious about my impact on the environment. I try to eat healthy and buy local as much as I can. I bike and walk instead of drive to work and I do the three R's where ever I can. My partner and I own a small business and we're up against franchises and other big budget companies but the rules don't change for us because we're a small operation. And the same applies for businesses that serve and sell food (whether its organic or not) to the public. There are rules and regulations that must be followed.
On the upside, the Liberals announced a few days ago that they're going to spend millions of dollars to support farmers and help Canadians eat healthier, home-grown food. One of the program highlights include an $80-million “buy local” fund to promote farmers' markets and home-grown foods.
Its unfortunate the Good Shepherd is calling it quits so soon.
You're falling into their web of lies jokhan. Buy local?? Right - is that why they've been paying farmers to bulldoze their fruit farms? Is that why all we ever see in our grocery stores is fruit and vegetables from other countries and hardly ever local? It is NEVER about the good of our local farmers or the health of the Canadian people. It is about lining the pockets of the big companies and their CEOs and sticking it to the little guy. Why the big meat companies feel threatened by this wonderful couple and their fantastic meat is beyond me. This is the ONLY place we can buy pork and my husband does not feel ill after eating it. Shame on anyone who had anything to do with closing this business. P.S. The only way to prevent another "Walkerton" is if the big companies would be as honest and caring about what they produce as Denise and Franz have been. But we all know the big companies don't care about anything except their pockets.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteThe article only alludes to the Good Shepherd not being able to keep up with the raising cost of food safety regulations. It sounded like business was very good for them. Did they try raising prices to meet costs? Or reducing some overhead costs? The only way to really know is to look at their books. Because, as I said before, there are a lot of family run farms and markets in Ontario under the same scrutiny who are still able to thrive. I can understand your emotional response because healthy food is a very important matter but your arguments ignore the success of many other small butchers and produce suppliers.
With a climate such as Canada it's impossible to grow those summer fruits and vegetables that we all love year round. Buying local during the winter months would likely leave us with a menu of lichen soup and salad. Yuck! I don't know anyone that would pass up a locally grown peach or cob of corn during our brief harvest season. And most people would prefer to exchange money with the same hands that picked it.
The heartless corporations that you see conspiring against small business' love free trade agreements. It allows them to produce abroad on the cheap and bring the product back into Canada to sell at a hefty profit. They also love political parties that see eye to eye with them on everything from free trade to tax cuts. The Harper government recently signed an extensive trade agreement with Columbia. Ignoring the fact that Columbia is the deadliest countries in the world for Union Leaders. But corporations love a union-free territory because in their absence the minimum wages for local workers never rise and their profit margins are thus immune to the effects of inflation that they'd normally be subject to if they produced domestically. One doesn't have to know much about politics to know what parties not to vote for if they want to avoid more corporate-friendly trade agreements. So who does it leave us with? Look through Malcolm Allens news release section and count the number of times you'll read the word "food". Local production of food and the well being of small farmers is very high on his list of concerns. So I'd say write him and voice your concerns and he'll bring it to Ottawa.
P.S.S Walkerton happened because of laxed municipal regulators. This is perhaps why we have restricter government regulations. One of the food safety regulation is to provide consumers with accurate labeling to disclose where its made, all the ingredients, and its nutritional value. As a consumer, this is very valuable information. This will gives us the tool to make better, healthier informed choices.
Its sad that they are not around anymore. I had never gone there and today was my first time. I'm not sure what the exact reasons were why they now shut down, but I heard from the owner that it had been going on for 2 years now.
ReplyDeleteWe need more people to get angry when things happen like this. It's so easy for the government to shut business down like these if no-one really makes a fuss about it.
Although I've only been there once now, they will be missed. Still no reason for everyone else to give up the fight. We still have free speech and should be happy to use it.
Thanx Lynn for this post.
Cheers, Hans (the wooden toy guy :-) )
we were long term customers. family is same rootstock of early settlers farms in this area since late 1700's..we're the only ones in the family seeking the means to rebuild that local food engine..and we are marginally dysfunctional. i wouldnt even try to grow for this market..we just plan on growing for family and friends and plan to stay out of the paradigm wars. the provincially managed agricultural disaster is reason to be embarassed.
ReplyDeletewalkerton was feedlot runnoff problems.
no comparison.
this food supply issues is clearly breach of trust..but who do you charge? could start with the Ministers..feds and provincial who are the worst.
reckless endangerment of regional food supplies?..clearly.
small scale operations like this family in a generation couldnt create a fraction of the health problems caused by feedlot and factory farming in one month. the stats confirm that.
its the factory farms we cant control because the prov fed depts are steered by that industry and the oil fired industrial era logic. i've managed, worked pork, poultry and beef and i really could not for a decade understand the logic except to say that the folks running it, the folks managing it are all of questionable mind..an incurable mental illness. we had to jump ship to save our souls.
and the buy local is a pretentious cover scam frankly..i'll believe when the province puts some muscle behind that and disengages from the Ag business profiles..refinances local canneries, pushes local produce at the grocery store.."fresh herbs" from Colombia and Dominican Republic?..bartlet pears from South Africa?..gimme a break.
Ontario used to buy 85% of its groceries at home..now about 15%..the rest of our food supply land is now subdivisions, strip malls, golf courses and wineries, while local growers are dumping what? 40000 tons..ripping out orchards, shutting down..local fellow drove his tactor up to the back door, went inside and said Martha I quit. We're moving..tractors still there..look at the real estate signs..all for a society so distracted they cant read the writing on the wall..that bridge to the new age is washed out.
city folks will have to join an urban gardeners network and buy some chickens very shortly..buying local will mean on your block.
cause this one that fed the generations up until the 1960's at least, will be a long time coming back..and that factory food the govt is pushing will short circuit the DNA.it seems to have burnt out the logic circuits already..
What a shame the Good Sheppard is closed. My father and my boys and I went there today not knowing they were closing and were so shocked to see the for sale sign on the property!
ReplyDeleteWe will sorely miss their products and their kind gentle spirits. Does anyone know where they will be moving? I am assuming they are moving since the property is for sale.
For anyone who knows Denise and Franz, please extend a heartfelt thank-you to them from my family for opening their hearts to us, they are very special people and in turn made us feel very special.
Peace and Love,
Is there a news article about the closing of the good shepherd? If so, could you forward it to me at mark@bookdepot.com?
ReplyDeleteLast night, we went looking for the "Good Shepherd" in Vineland and saw new owners of the property. It's unfortunate the moved. We started buying meat/poultry from the Good Shephard as soon as it opened and for the next year. Someone wrote above," It’s a complicated story but I think it’s safe to say our government regulations have become so blind, restrictive, obscure and expensive that they felt closing was the only option". Well hold on now, Government regulations are neccessary because just a short time ago Maple Leaf Meats allowed processed meats to exit the plant when the Canadian Food Inspection Agency did not do required in-depth audits. 21 adults died. http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=e7a64457-107b-493a-a29c-a163a2313d40
ReplyDeleteThere are other "certified organic" meat/poultry producers in Ontario who accept and welcome Government of Canada CFIA inspections and "post inspection dates, times and results". Lets not let our religous beliefs or not, influence the need for CFIA inspections and the protection of Canadian consumers.
Mr, Blair M. Phillips
St. Catharines