Federation of State Beef Councils Update

Producer’s Story Comes Full Circle. Marvin Frink, an Army veteran and cattle producer in North Carolina, is an open book, willing to share his story of pain, mental health, and perseverance not only with other producers but also with consumers. His service and advocacy efforts were initially highlighted in the November 2021 Federation Page of National Cattlemen. What started as a story to honor cattle producers who served in the military, Frink’s message of hope and healing through cattle has now made it to mainstream newsstands.

In May, Marvin and his wife, Tanisha, welcomed a dozen veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to their farm for a weekend to experience what Frink calls “agri-therapy,” working with the land and animals to help heal invisible wounds. A reporter for People magazine made the trip as well, documenting Frink’s work for a story featured in the July 25 issue.

In addition to the print circulation of 2.5 million readers, People online has a potential reach of more than 45 million. People also posted a link to the story on their Twitter page, where they have more than 7.7 million followers.

Combine People’s outreach with Beef Checkoff funded Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. social networks, and Frink’s message is reaching consumers across the country. The Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. Facebook page has more than 980,000 followers, and the post about Frink’s story received the second most engagement of any post this year. The post has been “liked” more than 515 times and shared more than 160 times.

State beef councils from coast to coast also shared the article with their followers, and the story received more engagement than other posts typically receive. Wounded Warrior Project posted a link to the People story on their Facebook page, where they have more than three million followers. More than 5,400 Wounded Warrior Project Facebook followers “liked” Frink’s story.

This is an example of how one producer makes a powerful impact by sharing with others what he does to help his country, his family, his fellow veterans, and his industry.

Link to People article - https:// people.com/human-interest/how-a-herdof-cattle-helped-iraq-war-veteran-withptsd-find-healing/.

Early Bites With Beef. Beef is an important complementary food for infants and toddlers during the first few years of life when rapid growth and development occur. Health authorities like the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the World Health Organization, and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend animal source foods, like beef, to ensure nutrient needs – such as iron and zinc – are met. Proper nutrition is critical during this time, particularly since by six months of age, iron stores are depleted, and breastmilk alone can no longer meet all the infant’s nutrient requirements.1-4

Introducing meats, like beef, has a purpose beyond simply meeting essential nutrient needs. Beef offers new and different flavors and textures that not only support oral and motor development but also enhance discovery and learning, helping toddlers accept new and healthy foods as they grow and develop healthy eating habits.

To educate both health professionals and parents about beef as an early complementary food, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, continued the Early Bites With Beef Campaign in 2022. Campaign goals included advancing awareness and increasing health professional recommendations that beef can (and should) be a safe complementary first food for babies starting at around six months of age and continuing throughout childhood and providing consumers with information about how to effectively and safely feed babies beef.

Funding from the Federation of State Beef Councils and individual states extended outreach efforts to health professionals nationwide. More than 3,000 toolkits, complete with posters, fact sheets, and newsletters, were distributed to pediatric health care offices in 32 states. Health professional response to toolkits was very positive, with nearly 9 in 10 professionals recommending or intending to recommend beef to parents and caregivers. In addition, 75 percent of respondents reported being more knowledgeable about beef as an early complementary food after receiving the information. On the consumer side, half of the respondents reported that receiving the information from their pediatric professional made them more likely to feed beef to their child.

Peer to peer education efforts were further enhanced with a live webinar featuring Katie Ferraro, MPH, RDN, CDE. The Self Feeding from Baby’s First Bites event reached nearly 3,000 attendees, including pediatricians, registered dietitians, and other health professionals. Following the event, 93 percent of attendees agreed that beef could safely support babies’ developmental needs and serve as the foundation for lifelong healthy eating patterns. Based on what attendees learned during the webinar, 70 percent indicated that they would make changes to their nutrition practice.

Advertisements promoting beef as an early complementary food were placed in publications targeting health professionals, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians, Contemporary Pediatrics, Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, and Healthy Children Magazine. Articles written by fellow health professionals also shared information about how beef’s iron matters in the first two years and how meat helps make every bite count.

For consumers, recipes were developed with early years eaters in mind to make it easy for families to serve dishes everyone at every age can enjoy. The recipes were included in a special section of the Checkoff funded www. BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com website, as well as in materials shared with consumers. New videos, social posts, and display ads were also developed to reach parents with information about family friendly meals and the health benefits of beef. A partnership with popular parenting website, Cubby provided creative ways to incorporate beef into kids’ diets as well as other beef centric information over a six week social campaign and newsletter sponsorship.

Rural consumers were also specifically targeted through YouTube video ads and native advertising. In addition, four states extended the message at the local level with their investments. The messaging reached more than two million consumers in rural areas across the country.

Feeding babies beef at six months of age is still a relatively new concept for both pediatricians and consumers. Providing these audiences with information about beef’s role as an early complementary food influences how health professionals talk about beef with their patients and drives demand for beef. Overall, the successful Early Bites With Beef campaign generated more than 76.5 million impressions, including 6.5 million digital video views and 9.5 million audio ad listens. Learn more at www. beefitswhatsfordinner.com/nutrition/beefin-the-early-years. References 1American Academy of Pediatrics. Pediatric Nutrition Handbook. 7th ed. Elk Grove, Ill.: American Academy of Pediatrics, 2014. 2Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. 2020. Scientific Report of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee: Advisory Report to the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Washington, D.C. 3Schwarzenberg S.J., et al. Advocacy for improving nutrition in the first 1000 days to support childhood development and adult health. Pediatrics 2018;141:e20173716. 4U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. www.fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdcapp.html#/food-details/170208/nutrients