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STATE BEEF COUNCILS
Building beef demand by inspiring, unifying and supporting an effective state/national checkoff partnership.
Arkansas Cooking Event Reaches Thousands
An exhibit, cooking where they could go for tasty beef dishes when demonstrations, they got home. Chef ’s Kitchen Stage “These kinds of events help us reach and Celebrity Chef meal time decision makers in a friendly Cookoff helped the environment conducive to information Arkansas Beef Council sharing,” according to Donette Spann, reach about 3,000 consumers with beef ABC promotion coordinator. “By using information in January at the Northwest several touch points, we were able to Arkansas Women’s Living Expo in reach many important beef consumers at Springdale, Ark. ABC was a sponsor of the the Expo.” event, and handed out Easy Mexican Beef Cornbread Muffins to the attendees, who also picked up beef recipes, tips and brochures. The Celebrity Chef Cookoff featured two local chefs known for their creative cooking, while measuring spoons featuring the BeefItsWhatsForDinner. com website address Chef Susan Beard of the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Springdale turned were handed out to her creative beef tenderloin recipe into a win at the Celebrity Chef Cookoff. remind consumers
Spicing Things Up at the Pennsylvania Farm Show The Pennsylvania Beef Council, with support from the South Dakota Beef Industry Council, spiced things up at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in January. A spice bar at the event allowed consumers to put together their own spice packet for use in their at-home beef meals, while allowing Pennsylvania producers a chance to share information about beef. Also a hit in the Beef Booth at the Fair, consumers were able to meet and get selfies with “Bubba,” a large, inflatable steer. Throughout the event, PBC staff and volunteers engaged with event goers to “beef up” their knowledge about beef and veal production, nutrition and cookery.
Events took center stage Jan. 11, which was Beef & Veal Day at the Fair. Sponsored by PBC, the day featured cooking demonstrations, where two livestock producers educated the crowd about their commitment to raising safe, wholesome and nutritious beef and veal. During the day about 1,200 samples of beef and veal were handed out. “Coming together as an agricultural community to tell our story in our own words has never been more important,” according to Bridget Bingham, PBC executive director. “The Farm Show is the perfect platform to interact with thousands of consumers and is extremely rewarding for our staff and the producers we represent.”
Health Professionals Get Nutrition Training
Among health professionals who benefited from a recent checkoff-supported webinar on cardiovascular health were those in Kansas, 46 of whom tuned in live for the Jan. 24 event. “Pulse Check on Cardiovascular Health: A Current Look at Nutrition Strategies” was targeted to physicians, nurses and dietitians, who could earn continuing education credits for participating in the program. Two speakers on the webinar, Michael Davidson, MD, a clinical professor and
director of Preventive Cardiology at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, and Jan Tilley, MS, RD, of Jan Tilley & Associates, discussed the history and impact of scientific research on nutrition recommendations for a healthy heart, and shared practical tips for developing nutrition strategies today. They focused on how increasing protein and fat intake while decreasing carbohydrate intake can improve health. Health professionals unable to participate in the live webinar can watch the recording online at the Advancing Knowledge in Healthcare website at www. akhcme.com/courses.
Beef Makes a Social Media Impact in New York Building on two previous efforts supported by the Federation Initiative Fund, the New York Beef Council has utilized a third to create significant social media engagement with consumers across the state of New York. Using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, the NYBC reached out to consumers throughout 2016 to connect with consumers and encourage them to enjoy beef more often. Results were impressive. Facebook fans increased by 266, or 12 percent, with 920 posts from January to December of 2016 – an average of 76 posts per month, compared to an average of 29 posts per month in 2015. Audience engagement was 441 percent for the year. Twitter followers for the year increased by 256, a 90 percent increase. Instagram followers increased by 1,705, an increase of 455 percent. Pinterest followers increased by 198, a 68 percent increase. The 2016 NYBC social media program was built on two 2015 Federation Fund projects, as well as a blogger tour that was partially funded by the South Dakota Beef
Industry Council. Daily posts from the NYBC on the social media sites publicized “Meat Cut Monday,” “Tasty Tuesdays” and “What’s for Dinner Wednesday,” among others, as well as promoted scheduled projects such as May Beef Month and Beef Day at the New York State Fair. The Federation Fund allowed NYBC to enlist social media interns, as well as a social media group called Quadsimia. The social media outreach evolved from a two-day tour that allowed more than a dozen bloggers to become better educated not only on beef raising, but on preparation and presentation, as well. At the beginning of the tour, 70 percent of the bloggers said they knew just a little or nothing at all about cattle raising. After the tour, 92 percent said they knew cattle raising somewhat well. Furthermore, after the tour 100 percent of the bloggers agreed that they could explain how beef is produced to a consumer, friend or family member. “A true farm to fork experience, the NYBC tour lends invaluable insights into the life and processing of cattle,” said one blogger participant. “I now feel equipped to educate consumers on where their beef comes from and that the process is safe and humane.”
Ohio High School Students Show Off Culinary Knowledge, Creativity High school students in Ohio found new ways to showcase their talents and creativity with beef through the recent Ohio ProStart Invitational and Burger Battle. This is the 15th annual statewide event featuring competition on kitchen and restaurant management skills. The traditional contest this year featured 41 teams of high school juniors and seniors representing 20 schools across the state, preparing healthful three-course meals and developing business proposals for restaurant concepts. Winners of the contest, sponsored by the Ohio Beef Council, receive scholarships.
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OBC and the Ohio ProStart Invitational staff this year also partnered on a more informal contest for 10 smaller groups of students, who competed to determine the best burgers based on taste, appearance, menuing, safety, cleanliness and use of time. Judges included chefs and executives from Wendy’s, White Castle, Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, The Rail, The Culinary Institute of America and Michael Symon Restaurants. This new concept was well received by contestants, judges and attendees, according to Cambell Parrish, OBC director of public relations and consumer marketing, who said many teachers and students expressed interest in competing in the Burger Battle next year.
Ohio Restaurant Association President & CEO John Barker considered the ProStart Burger Battle in Ohio a huge success. “We brought in industry heavy hitters who were pleased to be judges,” he said. “We’re also very fortunate to have the help of the Ohio Beef Council. All in all, it was a great success!”