Assessing the fallout from fire at Quinn’s Meats

Editorial

Anytime a business suffers a devastating loss due to fire, it’s tragic.

That goes double for a business that’s small and family owned and operated. When that business serves a very specific need and is an integral part of a community, that impact is amplified tenfold.

Quinn’s Meats in Yarker meets all that criteria.

Fortunately no serious injuries were reported-that’s always the first concern in a fire of this magnitude. But now in the days and weeks following the destruction, the focus turns on regrouping and accessing the damage.

Quinn’s Meats, which was owned and operated by the family run Enright Cattle Company, was a crucial part of the farming community across Lennox and Addington County and beyond. While perhaps not a part of the food cycle many like to think about, an abattoir is a key component in the farm to table process. Any way you slice it-no pun intended-to get meat, you need a place where it can be packaged in a humane and safe fashion. Finding skilled workers cable of doing it is no small feat either. With now even fewer jobs out there, there’s potentially fewer people who may consider working in an abattoir as a viable career path.

Talking with local farmers it becomes clear, with Quinn’s out of commission, they need another plant and they need it tomorrow.

Unfortunately anything involving the government doesn’t typically happen ‘tomorrow’. While it is important that any business that handles meat is regulated and monitored, time is of the essence in this instance. Cattle farmers were struggling before the fire in Yarker destroyed one of the few options they have to process their livestock.

About three years ago, ideas were being discussed by local farmers as to how they could work together to get another abattoir built in L&A. While those talks have yet to bear fruit, necessity being the mother of all invention could perhaps lead to those discussions being re-visited. Given the circumstances, it would be nice to think the government would be willing to meet half way so to speak and do what they can to expedite the process.

A community like Lennox and Addington County that relies heavily on the farming industry can’t wait years for another abattoir. Even if its a temporary solution, such as revisiting the prison farm program, any and all options need to be explored. Support for anyone considering a longterm solution needs to be made available as well-whether its supporting the Enrights or anyone else who may want to set up shop in the area.

-Adam Prudhomme

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