• J.P. ANTONACCI / The Advance
• Sep 21, 2011 – 2:05 pm

BSE left their cows worthless. Two Oxford Mills farmers found a way to make them count.

Sunflower Farm. Maude Roy (left) and Wendell Joyce give their two-year-old steer Jason a snack as a goat looks on hopefully. The beef farmers turned their floundering Oxford Mills farm into a CSA venture that supplies fresh meat to food banks. J.P. ANTONACCI / The Advance

When the fallout from mad cow disease sent the price of beef plummeting to unprecedented lows, Maude Roy and Wendell Joyce had a decision to make. The Oxford Mills farmers were faced with selling their beef cattle to an industrial slaughterhouse at just $100 a head, far less than the $1,000 per cow they counted on to keep their small operation afloat.
At that price, they reasoned, it was hardly worth it to sell, though they didn’t see much choice, as keeping the cows would have meant no income at all.

They were on the verge of closing down completely when they came up with another way to recoup some of their losses and make a difference at the same time.
Two years ago, they turned Sunflower Farm, their 100-acre Jig Street property, into a community-supported agriculture (CSA) venture with a unique twist: farm supporters buy shares in a cow, but the meat goes to the food bank, which issues the donor a tax receipt.

Joyce figured he was effectively donating time and money when they sold a cow at such a low price, so why not make it official? “I didn’t feel good about taking a cow to the sale barn and taking whatever price it happened to be that day – which was determined well beyond my control,” he said. “At the scale we’re at, we’d never get rich off (beef farming) under any circumstances, so (we said) let’s do something that we think makes an important contribution and we can feel good about.”

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Joyce’s family farmed for five generations in the Eastern Townships before he and Roy brought their cattle to Oxford Mills in 2000. Like many part-time farmers west of Hwy 416, Joyce works in the agriculture industry to make ends meet. Roy, an accountant by trade, also worked off the farm and managed the operation with help from neighbours and the couple’s two sons.

For a few years, the family sold the beef cattle that grazed contentedly in their fields. When BSE (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy) was first discovered in an Alberta cow in 2003, Roy and Joyce were optimistic that they could hang on, even as the price of beef collapsed. The government assured farmers that the industry would rebound. “Obviously, they have to say that,” Joyce concedes. “They can’t come out and say, ‘Guess what, guys, this is going to be 10 years of misery.’ But that would have actually been sounder advice for a lot of people.”

Even at $1,000 per head, selling a cow didn’t cover the true cost of production. At $100 each, farmers were apoplectic, and many cut their losses. Overwhelmed by the sudden spike in demand, small, local abattoirs were squeezed out by the multinational  slaughterhouse Cargill, and farmers watched their almost worthless cattle disappear into the commercial food chain. Sunflower Farm wasn’t big enough to compete internationally, and Joyce and Roy didn’t have time to market their beef – which is effectively, but not certifiably, organic – to restaurants or individual consumers. “We didn’t want to abandon the farm,” Roy remembered. “So we said, let’s come up with something that’s different.”

The farmers noticed that the price of grocery store beef was not declining, even as the price of their cows went through the floor. They decided to stop enriching Cargill and help people in need instead. The Ottawa Food Bank gladly accepted their offer of meat from a freshly butchered cow, and sent the surprised couple a charitable donation. “Worth almost as much as the hundred bucks from the slaughterhouse,” Wendell added dryly. Sunflower Farm was reborn.

FEEDING A NEED
They decided to turn their formerly for-profit operation into a full-time charitable venture after discovering the great number of people using food banks in Ottawa, a supposedly wealthy city.

The bulk of Sunflower Farm’s beef now goes to the Shepherds of Goods Hope food bank and homeless shelter and the Kemptville Salvation Army, which has seen a 90 per cent increase in demand for its services, including the food bank, over the last two years.

Donations haven’t kept pace, so the farm’s protein-rich gifts help stretch every dollar even further, explained Sally Ann Captain Simon Downey. “This is an awesome, low-cost way to get good, healthy food into people’s hands,” he said.
Since most people donate non-perishable items like pasta and canned vegetables, the Salvation Army gives food bank users vouchers to buy fresh meat and produce. Combine the CSA-donated beef with vegetables from the Giving Garden and odd-sized eggs donated from a local farmer, and clients sometimes get a fresh, healthy hamper directly at the food bank.

Ground beef is “very useful” since it’s easy to cook and combine with other items, Downey added. “It’s a fabulous idea that very specifically helps those in need. It’s just a beautiful use of their farm and of their time,” he said.

The CSA farmers recognize that anyone is a few bad breaks from needing the food bank. They believe those in need should not be further hampered by the high cost of healthy food.
“That’s one of our premises – in a country as affluent as Canada, it’s unacceptable that people don’t have access to a proper diet,” Joyce said.
“You need good nutrition and good, healthy food if you want to function properly and get back on your feet.”
“I’ve heard that comment, ‘You’re giving meat to people, why are you doing that? You may be better not to give anything so they will find ways (to eat),’” Roy said.
“And I said, you know what, we don’t know what those people live, and what they went through. You can’t judge people, because you never know. ”

HOW IT WORKS
Sunflower Farm supporters buy shares ranging from $100 to $1,500, which covers the entire cost of the cow for its lifespan, and direct their share of the meat to a particular charity, in effect becoming donors. The farm pays for the slaughter at a small abattoir in Smiths Falls, since the charities can’t afford it. When the beef is ready, the good-spirited farmers load up their delivery truck and make the rounds.

So far the farm has about 20 supporters. Crossing Bridge Family Dentistry in Stittsville is funding an entire cow. Donations cover the  operating costs – fuel, feed, fence maintenance and the like – while Joyce and Roy donate their labour and management expertise to the cause.

The property can support about 50 cows, and the farmers say their goal within two to three years is to produce one cow per week, which translates into 25,000 pounds of donated ground beef every year. The food banks love the idea, but Joyce admits some farmers have been less than charitable in their assessment.

“I’ve heard other beef farmers say, why would you do it? It’s crazy,” he said. “And I’m kind of tempted to respond to them, well how much money have you made in the beef business in the last while?”

FOLLOWING THE SUN
“It’s just because I love sunflowers!” Roy said brightly when asked where they came up with the name of their farm. And it shows, as the family’s  well-kept farmhouse is decorated with many varieties of the cheerful flower. “It brings your spirit up when you see a sunflower, so that’s how we named it,” she said.

The couple hopes their work can similarly brighten other people’s lives. “Farmers say it’s not our business to feed poor people. And they’re quite correct in saying that, because (poverty) is a failure of policy,” Joyce said. “But we’re really making it our business to feed people in need.”

For more information about Sunflower Farm CSA and to become a donor, visit sunflowerfarmcsa.com.

The Shepherd’s of Good Hope BBQ was a great success. Five hundred people enjoyed good food and live entertainment. Maude and Wendell of Sunflower Farm CSA were very happy to be part of this event.