What We’re Reading | On the Frontlines: An inside look at meat inspection during COVID-19

It’s been a tough year and a half. Everyone has endured their share of adversity during the COVID-19 pandemic, including those working in meat slaughter inspection.

My name is Ryan Morris. I grew up in the beautiful town of Lacombe, Alberta before moving to Calgary to pursue an education. I graduated from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in 2005 as a Chemical Engineering Technologist and worked in the oil and gas industry for 11 years before joining the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in 2017 as a meat inspector. Currently, I work as a meat inspection supervisor.

I couldn’t be happier to be working at the CFIA. The opportunity to work in a position that makes a positive contribution to the country is something that I don’t take lightly and makes the job very rewarding.

CFIA inspectors have worked tirelessly on the front lines throughout the pandemic to ensure Canadians have access to safe, high-quality food. Like many others, the pandemic forced meat inspectors to change the way we function so we could continue providing a critical service to the public: providing safe food for Canadians. There were many challenges that were necessary to overcome to allow our inspection team to continue providing the service expected of us by the public, and I’m proud to say that we met those challenges through courage and determination.

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‘What We’re Reading’ is a quick look at some of the issues and insights Alberta Beef Producers’ content creators and editors are reading to stay up-to-date, to broaden perspectives, and to explore issues relevant to the agriculture industry.