COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Nature is generous...
Agropur, which for 70 years has displayed cooperative values, mutual aid and growing prosperity, finds it completely natural to help communities. The Cooperative has always faithfully followed its mission of uncovering the full potential of a truly great natural resource - milk - and contributing to economic growth in the industry. Along the way, it has realized a basic truth: Nature is generous and respect nurtures it.

And respect nurtures it
An organization cherished for its community involvement, Agropur wants to give something back to all those who support its activity. Employees are encouraged to do so too. The great cooperative principle of sharing knowledge that guides Agropur's actions promotes the well-being and growth of its human capital by putting their expertise and talents to good use in projects that go beyond the realm of work.

Agropur's commitment focuses on supporting well-structured charity networks. One of the example is the Quebec Breakfast Club, which operates in over 180 schools to feed some 13,000 children every day and has even served as an inspiration to the UN. Another is the OLO Foundation, which collaborates with 140 CLSCs and health centres across Quebec to provide some 6,000 disadvantaged pregnant women with nutritional support (eggs, milk and oranges).

For over a decade now, Agropur has sat on the Boards of these two organizations and contributed one basic product - milk. In 2005, it provided financial support of $100,000 and $74,000, respectively, to these two organizations.

By championing the cause of better nutrition, health and education for all, these organizations and their partners are helping to break the vicious cycle of poverty and give everyone an equal chance at success in life. Only this will ensure that a universe full of potential opens up for all children and that the adults of tomorrow are full participants in the world around them.

INTERNATIONAL INVOLVEMENT
SOCODEVI (Société de coopération pour le développement international) was founded in 1985 by a group of mutualist and cooperative organizations who wanted to share experiences and know-how with southern partners. The primary mission of this organization is to promote the cooperative movement in various economic sectors, particularly agrifood and forestry. The organization lends its support and expertise to many African and Latin American countries.

Agropur has been partnering with SOCODEVI since the organization's founding and has led several missions to Asia, Latin America and Africa. Since early 2006, Agropur has been involved with SOCODEVI in a dairy industry development project (PROCOLE) in Paraguay to promote the development of this country's eight dairy cooperatives. Agropur's contribution involves the improvement of milk quality and the management of good in-plant quality assurance practices, the improvement of marketing and distribution, and lastly the improvement of cooperative management.
www.socodevi.org

HEALTH AND SAFETY
RISKS: ZERO TOLERANCE!
A WORK ENVIRONMENT WITHOUT ACCIDENTS; A PRIORITY FOR ALL
Agropur is committed to ensuring the occupational health and safety of all its employees and reminding everyone of their responsibilities regarding health and safety. The purpose is to establish a philosophy of "zero tolerance" for accident risks in order to achieve zero workplace accidents. All of Agropur's divisions and respective departments must work together to achieve this continuing objective.

Agropur recognizes the importance of maintaining a safe, clean work environment by eliminating all hazardous conditions within the workplace and by respecting and complying with the laws and regulations governing occupational health and safety.

Agropur also intends to protect all its employees against accidental injury. It is therefore incumbent upon all employees, at all levels of the organization, to promote health and safety, just as it is incumbent to respect health and safety procedures and regulations. Agropur will favour a prevention-based approach as a tool for effective health and safety management.

AVIAN FLU
Amid the stream of news reports on the pandemic flu, Agropur decided to form a special committee that stays abreast of the latest news regarding this potential epidemic. As scientists around the world scramble to develop vaccines and predict the course of a possible outbreak, it can seem as though the matter is totally beyond control.

Avian flu is a contagious disease that affects animals. It is caused by viruses that normally infect only birds. It can become highly contagious and lead to an extremely high mortality rate in industrial chicken and turkey flocks. Unlike other diseases, the avian flu has a very short incubation period, or about two to three days. The H5N1 avian flu virus was detected for the first time in 1997, during an epidemic in Hong Kong. It caused the death of six people. It reappeared in late 2003, triggering epidemics among poultry in many Asian countries

For additionnal information on the situation, please refer to the following websites :
Health Canada
Public Health Agency of Canada
Organisation mondiale de la Santé