It takes two cows to make a cheeseburger, or none at all

When you have bacon and eggs for breakfast, the chicken makes a contribution, the pig makes a commitment.

Fred Shero, Legendary National Hockey League coach  

It takes two types of cows to make a cheeseburger. The dairy cow contributes the milk to make the cheese, while the beef cattle are committed to the burger. Or no cows at all, with plenty of soy-based vegan cheese and hamburger options on the market today.

Let’s take a look at who and what goes into making a cheeseburger today.

You cannot make a cheeseburger without people

You can find cheeseburgers pretty well everywhere, from fancy sit down restaurants to fast food joints. One thing they all have in common is people: you still need someone to make, assemble, flip and serve cheeseburgers.

In June 2024, just over 1 million Canadians were working at full-service restaurants and limited-service eating places, which includes fast-food restaurants.

Say “cheese”

We counted just under 969,400 dairy cows on Canadian farms on July 1, 2024. You will find dairy cattle in every province, but the largest herds are in Quebec (352,200 head) and Ontario (324,500). Together, these two provinces accounted for over two-thirds of Canada’s milking cows.

In July, there were 42 033 tonnes of cheddar cheese and 10 759 tonnes of processed cheese held in cold storage warehouses across Canada.

It should be noted that after about five years of contributing cheese to top the burgers, most dairy cows are “committed” to the hamburger.

Where’s the beef?

There are 3.6 beef cows for every dairy cow in Canada.

Just under two-thirds (63.9%) of Canada’s 3.5 million beef cattle were chewing the cud on the Prairies on July 1, 2024. Alberta alone was home to almost half of Canada’s beef cattle.

Canada’s beef cattle herd was 1.8% smaller on July 1 compared with the same day one year earlier and 9.6% smaller than a decade earlier.

On July 1, there were 24 614 tonnes of imported and domestic chilled or frozen boneless beef in cold storage across Canada, enough to make 217 million quarter-pounder cheeseburgers.

No beef, no cheese, no problem

Canada is also blessed with all the fixings needed to make tasty vegan cheeseburgers.

The key ingredient for a meatless burger and vegan cheese are soybeans. In 2024, Canada’s soybean production is projected to increase by 2.4% year over year to 7.1 million tonnes, with Ontario (4.3 million tonnes), Quebec (1.5 million) and Manitoba (1.4 million) accounting for almost all the production.

Meatless burgers often include mushrooms. Canadian mushroom growers sold 155,191 short tons of mushrooms in 2023, up 1.2% compared with 2022, marking the eighth consecutive annual increase. Over half of Canada’s mushrooms were grown in Ontario (81,510 short tons) in 2023.

Don’t forget the farmers

As we celebrate all things cheeseburger, let’s not forget the 34,780 families operating beef cattle farms, the 12,710 families operating dairy farms and the 60,830 families operating oilseed and grain farms we counted during the 2021 Census of Agriculture.

Cheeseburgers becoming more dear

While cheeseburgers may be dear to your heart, they are also becoming more dear to your pocketbook.

In July 2024, Canadians were paying 10.4% more year over year for fresh or frozen beef (which includes hamburger) and 1.6% more for cheese.

In addition, Canadians were paying 3.8% more year over year for food purchased from restaurants in July.