Is Sustainability on Your Menu?

by Greg Henderson, Drovers

Your industry, and most other industries, have entered a new era.

This new era is driven by sustainability, a concept that has washed through corporate boardrooms like a tsunami.

In 2021, for instance, companies that appointed a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) tripled compared to the previous year, according to a PwC survey. That’s a result of pressure from stakeholders, employees and consumers who say they are more likely to pay more for brands that are sustainable.

A Capgemini survey, for instance, found that 79% of global consumers are changing their purchase preferences based on sustainability, and 66% choose to purchase products based on environmental friendliness.

Such preferences for sustainability were confirmed by a new study on climate impact labels on fast food. According to results published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), traffic-light labels on fast food menus encourage people to pick climate-friendly foods when ordering.

Based on randomized clinical trials involving more than 5,000 U.S. adults asked to pick from a menu ordering beef, chicken, fish, plantbased substitutes and salads, more participants ordered a

“sustainable” food item than compared to control groups.

Participants viewed menus with one of three labels: a quick response code label on all items (control group); green low, climate impact label on chicken, fish, or vegetarian items (positive framing); or red high, climate impact label on red meat items (negative framing).

Among participants choosing from menus with red, high-climate impact labels, 23% more ordered a “sustainable” item. Those participants selecting from menus with green, low-climate impact labels were 10% more likely to choose a more “sustainable” option.

Certainly, we can argue whether any of the choices on those menus are more sustainable than beef. Scientists at AgNext, Colorado State’s sustainability and animal agfocused research collaborative note, “Ruminants are upcyclers that can utilize marginal land and can convert humaninedible plant proteins, human food leftovers, and byproducts into high-quality protein, rich in micronutrients.”

Unfortunately, the message about beef sustainability is often missing or misunderstood. at must change. Cattle producers already have a great sustainability story, but it is now critical we communicate that story effectively.

Reprinted with permission from Drovers beefmasters.org