Marketing Quebec bio-food products: First request for proposals under the new Programme Proximité

Quebec – Following the renewal of the Programme Proximité until 2022, Jean-Claude Poissant, Parliamentary Secretary to the Federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lawrence MacAulay, and André Lamontagne, Quebec Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, announced the first request for proposals. Under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, this program, with a budget of $8 million over five years, is intended to bring agricultural producers and artisanal processors closer to consumers. It supports the development and consolidation of collective marketing initiatives in the community and also assists companies that wish to better position themselves in these markets.

 

The Programme Proximité supports the application of the 2018–2025 bio-food policy, Feeding Our World, by contributing to the development of the regions’ attractiveness. It is consistent with one of the Policy's courses of action, supporting the development of initiatives related to local marketing and gourmet tourism. In addition, the bio-food policy identifies local markets as one of the growth vectors on which Quebec must focus.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.