Fr Joseph McEvoy from Moynalty Parish in Co. Meath said that the fear he has about the EU’s proposed Mercosur Trade Agreement largely revolves around maintaining the high standards Ireland has adopted when it comes to beef production.
“The fear I have is about standards,” he said. “We have to produce everything to a very high standard, which is all right and proper. I would want everything to be at the standard we have because I think our standards are good – they’re good for the animals and they’re good for the people that consume them.
“My fear about the trade agreement is will we be eating animals grown to a lower standard than we produce? If we are then it’s not good for the animals or for the people who consume them. I don’t care where I eat the beef from but my only concern is standards.”
Drawing on his recent experience on a relative’s farm in the US, Fr McEvoy said that certain systems on large beef farms aren’t “right” and that he would sooner eat beef that was grown to a better standard but was slightly more expensive, regardless of what anyone says.
“I’m just back from Arizona where I have cousins who raise a small number of beef cattle,” he said. “It’s a desert so they’re fed from the feedlot. I saw the way they fed their animals – there were 250,000 male cows in the feedlot and it just wasn’t right. It was horrible to see them confined to this pen all day and all night, sometimes in scorching hot conditions. I don’t want to eat that beef – I don’t care what anyone says. I would sooner eat beef that costs more but is grown to a better standard.
“If we were importing beef from a Mercosur country that was grown in those conditions, I wouldn’t be happy at all about it. Will the consumer know or taste the difference and will they be willing to pay the small amount extra for Irish grass fed beef or will they pay less and buy beef grown to a much lesser standard in these feedlots?”