Livestock Resource F&R

Volume 6, Issue 3 Spring 2023

Published quarterly by Farmers & Ranchers Livestock, Salina, Kansas 1500 W. Old Hwy 40 Salina, Kansas 67401 (785) 825-0211 • (785) 826-1590 (fax) FandRLive.com find us on Facebook Facebook.com/FarmersAndRanchersLivestock

Owner: Farmers & Ranchers Livestock, Mike Samples, Salina, Kansas (785) 826-7884

Editor: Deb Norton, Deb@CogentIdeasInc.com

Production Coordinator: Julie Tucker

Graphic Designer: Daric Wells

Editorial Assistants: Dixie Russell, Dave Cumpton

Contributing Editors: Wes Ishmael, Paige Nelson, Sara Gugelmeyer

Contributing Artist: Ted Foulkes

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Jay Carlson Carlson Media Group, LLC (913) 967-9085

Subscriber Questions: To be

Produced

By Deb Norton

The public debate and scrutiny of “Alt-Meat” or the plant-based, faux meat movement gets muddier every day. Recently, a couple of friends purchased half of a beef from a cow-calf producer—the same cow-calf producer I purchased a half from a while back. We had science based, genomic information on the heifer as well as all the health and feeding information. Since I am very familiar with the cowcalf operation, we also knew the entire life cycle of the animal. Although the animal was harvested at a small, custom processing plant without a quality grader, there’s no doubt the beef was USDA Prime and quite likely Moderately Abundant Prime. A couple of weeks after packing their freezers with Prime, at an all-in per pound price about 50% less than they would pay in the supermarket, I received a text asking if the beef was grass fed. The question was legitimate and could have gotten a one-word answer. No. I wouldn’t be doing my job and miss a huge opportunity to educate customers and friends with facts about how our beef (their beef) is raised. I call them my “city” friends. Over time, they have become increasingly more curious about the quality differences in beef. In the past, their beef purchases were largely determined by price. Today, they are aware of the quality differences in the meat case and realize higher quality (more marbling) beef is more expensive and they are quite willing to pay for it. Unfortunately, they are still vulnerable to claims that seem to pit beef against itself such as grass fed, organic, et.al., being better, healthier, safer, more sustainable or humanely raised than conventional, higher quality beef. I’m not aware of any science based, peer reviewed data to support those claims.

At the recently concluded National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) convention in New Orleans, Randy Blach, CEO, CattleFax, displayed a chart that indicated consumer preferences when buying beef. In descending order of importance, 51% indicated a preference for humanely raised, 48% wanted environmentally friendly and 40% made choices based on causes important to them. On the other end of the chart, 88% chose beef because of taste, 83% appreciated the safety of beef, 80% appreciated the variety, 81% considered beef a good value and 74% chose beef because it is nutritious. The data was sourced from Consumer Beef Tracker Jan-Dec 2020. Based on this data, one can safely assume consumers place great trust in the beef industry’s dedication to fill meat cases across America with great tasting, safe, affordable and nutritious beef and they recognize the importance of being truthful.

So, what about truth in advertising? Forget the near decade of empty promises and phony promotions just; this week three headlines in mainstream media tell us all we need to know about the plant-based, alt-meat movement. Forbes, February 1, 2023: “Plant Based Fail: The Empty Promise of Animal Meat Displacement;” Bloomberg BusinessWeek: “Fake Meat Was Supposed to Save the World. It Became Just Another Fad” and its subtitle, Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods wanted to upend the world’s $1 trillion meat industry. But plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop; NBC News, February 2, 2023: “Class-Action Lawsuits Alleging Beyond Meat Deceived Consumers About Protein Content Will Be Combined in Chicago;” and the Defender Children’s Health Defense, February 2, 2023: “EU Revokes Impossible Foods’ Patent, Fake Meat Maker Also Faces Patent Challenges in U.S. “

The underlying theme in all the reports is the overarching, subversive intent to mislead the public—the proverbial “buying a pig in a poke.” The subtitle in BusinessWeek focused on the movement’s intent to upend the world’s $1 trillion meat industry. Not to be deterred by bad press, TIME reported that Impossible Foods CEO, Peter McGuinness was very unhappy with all the recent bad press, decided he would publicly cry “foul” and bought a full-page ad in the New York Times, making fun of the critics. Not satisfied with the deep hole already dug, he goes on to say, “There are a lot of myths and misconceptions out there. But the fact is, we are growing.”

The fact is, on January 30, 2023, Bloomberg also reported Impossible Foods