For immediate release – September 1, 2020 (Ottawa) — This September marks National Chicken Month in Canada. All month long, Canadians from coast to coast will be celebrating their favourite protein – and the hard-working Canadian chicken farm families that raise it.

“Celebrating National Chicken Month is just one way to celebrate the great chicken that we have been providing to Canadians for decades,” said Benoît Fontaine, Chair of Chicken Farmers of Canada. “Canadians care deeply about their food, about knowing where it comes from and that what they’re serving to their family and friends is of the highest quality; our farmers and their families are no different.”

Canada’s chicken farmers have always been proud to provide Canadians with the highest quality chicken. Farmers have made it even easier for consumers to find, with the Raised by a Canadian Farmer logo. See this logo where you buy your chicken and have confidence in where your food is coming from, and how it’s raised.

The Raised by a Canadian Farmer brand is synonymous with origin and quality and with it, farmers take pride in their role in one of Canada’s success stories:

• Good for you, Good for Canada: Canada’s chicken sector sustains 101,900 jobs, contributes $8 billion to Canada’s GDP, pays $1.9 billion in taxes, and purchases 3 million tons of feed, making it a stabilizing force in rural Canada, where farmers – reinvest with confidence in their businesses and communities.
• Food Safety: Farmers adhere to a strict mandatory On-Farm Food Safety Program, a national standard that has received federal, provincial and territorial government recognition and full recognition by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
• Animal Care: Farmers also adhere to a strict, mandatory and auditable Animal Care Program to ensure high animal care standards are being upheld on Canadian chicken farms across Canada. It is also third-party audited by NSF International, an internationally-recognized, third-party certification body, accredited by the American National Standards Institute, to ISO 17065.
• Farmers are also committed to sustainability through innovation, by preserving the health of the land, providing value to Canada’s economy, and making affordable food for Canadians. At this time, the Canadian chicken sector has a lower carbon footprint than that of other livestock in North America, and has lowered that carbon footprint by almost 40% in the last 40 years. Water consumption has been reduced by 45% in the same timeframe and 62% of the sector’s total energy use comes from renewable sources.

Farmers are consumers, too. They take great pride in being able to bring Canada’s number one protein to tables from coast to coast, including our own. It makes sense to celebrate National Chicken Month, so we can show the world that we are committed to doing everything we can to maintain our hard-earned trust.

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For more information: please contact: Lisa Bishop-Spencer, Director of Brand and Communications, lbishop@chicken.ca, 613-566-5911.

Chicken Farmers of Canada is online at www.chicken.ca.