The Chairman of the Alberta Beef Producers calls a move by Earl's restaurants to source their beef only from the United States is a slap in the face.

Bob Lowe, who ranches near Nanton, says it's not going to make a big difference in the market over-all.

"The amount of meat I understand they need amounts to somewhere, depending on the cuts they take, somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 head of cattle per year, which is, to put it in perspective, two-and-a-half days kill at one of our plants," Lowe says. "It's not a big number of cattle so I'm assuming there's not a lot of producers under this U.S. based program."

He says through the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef and the Verified Beef Production Plus Program, the beef industry is developing a national, industry-wide verified sustainable program. Producers, retailers, government and environmental groups are working together to promote the sustainable production of beef.

He'd like to see Earl's come to the table and be part of the program.

"Earl;'s chose this for market differentiation, I'm sure because I couldn't think of any other reason why they would, if you look at social media it's backfiring, but only time will tell,"  he says. "I would like to invite Earl's to come to the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, see what we're doing, I mean apparently they've said that they will change when they feel they can. I'd sure like to see them come to the table."

Lowe says restaurants have the right to make these types of decisions but Canadian consumers also have the right to eat where they want.