April 27 2023, Calgary AB. – The Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) Semi-annual meeting was held in Calgary, Alberta April 24 -26th. A fantastic welcome dinner was hosted on Monday evening by Cactus Club Café Barlow Trail. This provided an excellent opportunity for CRSB members to network and visit, followed by an excellent meal including CRSB Certified beef – a new feature on the Cactus Club Café menu!
Tuesday’s Semi-Annual meeting began with updates from each of the CRSB’s committees (Governance, Communications & Marketing [including a quick breakout discussion on communication strategy priorities], Certified Sustainable Beef Framework, and Scientific Advisory). An update from Council highlighted the strategic priorities set out for 2023 and where opportunities lie for the CRSB moving forward. Bob Lowe, Vice President of the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB) provided a brief update on the GRSB’s work, focusing on their 2030 Goals.
An exciting panel discussion in the afternoon “ESGs,Sustainable Finance & Incentives” walked attendees through the challenges and opportunities of ESG reporting and how the Certified Sustainable Beef Framework could be used as a tool to verify what is happening at the production and processing levels.
Attendees rounded off the day with a wonderful five course farm-to-table meal in a beautiful setting featuring Canadian commodity certifications and the premiere screening of the short documentary “Reduce, Reuse, Ruminate” created by the beef industry’s Public & Stakeholder Engagement Program and Story Brokers Media House.
The second day was a special member-only event featuring the highly anticipated release of the 2023 National Beef Sustainability Assessment (NBSA) embargoed results followed by updates from the 2030 Beef Industry Goals Working Groups. The afternoon consisted of facilitated breakout discussions on key topics aimed at gathering member feedback to identify priorities, gaps and CRSB’s role in addressing them in the CRSB’s Sustainability Strategy that will accompany the release of the results later this year. This strategy will connect closely into the industry’s 2030 Canadian beef Goals, and highlight areas for action and beef sustainability progress in Canada. A member comment period on the draft strategy is expected over the coming months.
A big thank you to all those who attended! Save the date for our AGM September 26-27, 2023 being held at the Hilton Toronto Airport Hotel in Toronto, ON. ((details to follow shortly)
We look forward to connecting again.
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