OMG What am I going to do without Chicken Wings
Now this has me really concerned:
http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/04/07/canada/chicken_supply040407
'Where's the chicken?' Calgary chef wonders Last Updated Wed, 07 Apr 2004 7:55:26
CALGARY - Restaurants in Western Canada are starting to feel the pinch from a massive poultry cull in British Columbia, as chicken supplies dwindle.
Millions of kilograms of production will be lost in the coming weeks as 19 million chickens, turkeys and ducks are slaughtered to prevent the spread of avian flu in the Fraser Valley region, which normally supplies about 10 per cent of Canada's poultry.
- RELATED STORY: No guarantee slaughter of 19 million B.C. poultry will work
Sous-chef Mike Boudra said about half of his menu at Calgary's Kilkenny Pub involves chicken, with about 18,000 wings being sold on a typical wing night.
It's been tough to find a steady supply since avian flu first turned up in B.C. in mid-February, he said Tuesday.
"We've had to order our chicken from outside of the country, as far away as Brazil, Australia even. We've really had to scrounge for supplies lately."
With the federal government stepping up the planned poultry cull numbers to 19 million birds this week, Boudra's worries about the supply of chicken are mounting.
"Companies won't even let you stockpile chicken because there is such a shortage. It's a big question: Are we going to have chicken next month?"
For now, chicken is still a staple on the menu in B.C. restaurants. But there's no telling how long that will last, and what effect the crisis might have on prices.
"I don't think we want to get into a situation where we're doing sort of a chicken surcharge per se, but I think it could come to that," said Vancouver restaurant spokesperson Geoffrey Howes.
Before bird flu hit Canada, chicken consumption was up across the country. Even the recent bad news from British Columbia hasn't dampened consumer sales, for the most part.