Why not sausages instead of Timbits?

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Farm meetings just don't seem complete without their Tim Hortons coffee break fare. But perhaps next year's organizers of the annual November swine seminar in Shake-speare might consider serving the snacks that tempt their German counterparts' taste buds.

As speaker Dr. Friedrich Osterhoff pointed out, Germans consumed 55.4 kilograms of pork per person in 2007, compared to Canadian's meagre 10.2 kilograms. One difference he noticed between the countries while touring Canada was the absence of pork products available for easy eating.

"In Germany, on every corner you can get pork", he lamented. Not so in Canada. While people noshed on Timbits and crullers, Osterhoff pointed out that perhaps some sausage on the table would help Canadians catch up to German diners.

More variety might also help boost Canadian consumption. Germans are offered more high-end products, such as "Black Forest bacon," light products boasting only one to two per cent fat content and a greater variety of inexpensive pork products, including Thueringer, Nuernberger and Weisswurst sausages.