The following is a sponsored advertorial on behalf of Manitoba Pork.
Increased efficiencies in pork production have significantly decreased the environmental footprint, including reduced water and energy use, and lower carbon emissions.
You may have heard of The Campsite Rule – to leave the space you were in better than you found it – be that in a campground, a provincial park, or somewhere in the backcountry.
Those who work in agriculture, including Manitoba’s hog sector, take that rule to heart. Farmers must be good stewards of the land, which means growing crops, raising livestock, and moving what they’ve grown and raised to market sustainably.
Manitoba Pork’s new Sustainability Framework focuses on five key pillars that guide our efforts to ensure economic resilience, environmental stewardship, community well-being, animal care, and collaborative growth.
“Sustainability in agriculture extends beyond a strict focus on environmental metrics,” said Jean-Michel Couture, partner and president of Groupé AGÉCO, the organization that helped Manitoba Pork develop the Framework. “Can this system thrive in the long-term while supporting the people who depend on it, the communities it operates in, and the natural resources it relies upon? Sustainability is about ensuring the long-term competitiveness of a sector by balancing all forms of ‘capital’ that businesses – here hog operations – rely on.”
Both urban and rural communities across Manitoba, including Roblin, have benefited from the hog sector’s commitment to sustainability, helping the entire province thrive.”
Clear goals and commitments support each of Manitoba Pork’s five sustainability pillars, guiding efforts and communicating progress to producers, stakeholders, and the public. The Framework outlines Manitoba Pork’s role, potential targets, impacts on producers, and areas where collaboration with partners is essential.
For example, Manitoba Pork and its farmers have a long-standing commitment to community well-being, partnering with Harvest Manitoba to supply freezers and ground pork to urban and rural food banks, providing a source of well-paying, high-quality jobs in rural areas, and collaborating with the Association of Manitoba Municipalities to address community and sector needs.
Another key pillar focuses on efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As a result of increased efficiencies, the environmental footprint of raising pigs has decreased significantly in recent decades – including reduced water and energy use, and lower carbon emissions.
“In developing its Sustainability Framework, Manitoba Pork went to great lengths to ensure its commitments had identifiable, positive, and practical impacts for producers that enabled progress without demanding progress,” said Couture. “This Framework sets a course for continuous improvement and also identifies how producers and other key collaborators can ensure Manitoba’s hog industry is competitive, efficient, and responsible.”
Manitoba’s hog sector has a long track record of supporting community causes, including support for rural and urban food banks across the province.
Manitoba Pork, along with other agriculture organizations, are committed to a sustainable path forward.
“Back in 2011, Manitoba Pork was one of the first commodity groups in Canada to publish a sustainability report and roadmap,” added Couture. “That’s evolved into Manitoba Pork’s new Sustainability Framework, notably contributing to a larger transformation in today’s Canadian agriculture.”
Leaving things better than you found them is a commitment not only to protecting something right here and right now, but it’s also a commitment to the next generation. Guided by a dedication to continuous improvement and a high standard of care for both livestock and the environment around them, Manitoba’s hog sector is at the leading edge of sustainability in agriculture.
To learn more, visit manitobapork.com/sustainability-framework
