CRSB recognized with 2019 Beef Industry Innovation and Sustainability Award
Ottawa, ON. – The founding Council and membership of the CRSB was honoured to receive the
Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA)’s Beef Industry Innovation and Sustainability Award (BIISA).
The award was presented by Bob Lowe, Vice President of the CCA at a reception during their Annual
Meeting last night. CRSB Chair Anne Wasko, and Timothy Hardman, Beef Director for World Wildlife
Fund US, one of CRSB’s founding members, accepted the award.
Presented on behalf of the beef producers who operate Canada’s 60,000 beef operations, BIISA
recognizes innovations that contribute to the competitiveness and sustainability of the Canadian beef
industry. The CRSB founding council and membership were nominated for establishing transformational change in the Canadian beef industry through fostering collaboration between
producers and a diverse stakeholder base to achieve common goals in support of sustainable beef
production.
Lowe, one of the founding members of the CRSB Council, noted that the alignment of beef producers,
food retailers, conservation groups and other value chain members in the development of the CRSB
legitimizes sustainable beef production in the public eye and underpins producers’ social license to
operate. “It also ensured producer priorities were included from the outset and reinforced later in the
Certified Sustainable Beef Framework” he said. Today, in part as a result of the CRSB, Canada is
recognized as a world leader in sustainable beef production and for its ability to overcome barriers to
achieve a greater good, added Lowe.
“The success of the multi-stakeholder membership that has come together to define and develop a
robust framework for advancing sustainability in the Canadian beef industry, is a testament to the
dedication and commitment of over 110 individuals and organizations, says Anne Wasko. The global
leadership that Canada has shown over the past four years demonstrates Canada’s commitment to
continuous improvement, the ability for diverse perspectives to come together towards a common
goal, and the CRSB is the gold standard for showing how stakeholders can work together for the
advancement of a diverse industry.”
