Back to Basics: Information

Food and lifestyle editors are a key link between the beef industry and consumers, and checkoff dollars are helping to reach this important audience with information on beef. Last year the checkoff-funded food communicators campaign resulted in more than 7,000 positive beef article placements that reached homes about 1.24 billion times. These results were generated through individual work with editors and writers, full-color recipe pages provided to editors, special seminars at events such as the National Beef Cook-Off and regular releases to the nation’s newspapers and wire services.

Consumer public relations provided support to the industry’s food safety effort by communicating about proper handling and cooking for consumers. In conjunction with television’s "Mr. Food," 4,500 retailers were provided with food safety recipe cards and beef was featured several times on his TV cooking show reaching 10 million consumers with each airing. More than 6 million grilling safety tip-sheets were distributed through retailers and state beef councils, and a Summertime Food Safety Tips video news release was shown by 150 television stations to an audience of about 20 million.

Students, who are tomorrow’s consumers, continue to be important recipients of beef messages. Recent materials developed for this audience include Dig In!, a school kit for third and fourth grade students that teaches fundamental lessons about good nutrition and physical activity. More than 18,-000 teachers have requested the kit. Development was also started on a kit called "Fueled for Flight!, designed to debunk the "good food/bad food" myth sweeping the country. In addition, nearly 3,000 award-winning Fit for a King video education kits were distributed to doctors and health educators to teach children and their parents proper eating and lifestyle habits.

Health professionals also need good, accurate nutrition information on beef, and receive it thanks to the checkoff. An ad campaign in the Journal of The American Dietetic Association identified for readers the seven cuts of beef that fall between the skinless chicken breast and thigh in terms of total fat content. Today’s Beef. The New Way to Eat Lean also featured new ways of preparing and serving beef. Coordination with health oriented organizations, such as The American Dietetic Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, the American College of Sports Medicine and Shape Up America! also is helping maintain contact with these important influencers.

The cattle and veal producer’s image in society is enhanced through public relations that promote producer contributions to the environment, food safety, beef nutrition and the economy. Advertising, tours, letters to the editor, news releases and other types of contact are used to inform consumers through media and opinion leaders. For example, three ads promoting food safety and environmental efforts by cattlemen reached key U.S. opinion leaders through major newspapers reaching millions of consumers.

Supporting public relations efforts and making them possible are issues management efforts that identify important industry topics and generate the necessary background, with staff developing advice on the proper response. IN this way, the industry stays abreast of -- and manages -- possibly explosive issues such as E. coli O157:H7 and BSE.

The industry also has led the way for agriculture in terms of electronic information systems. Its award-winning Web sites, Cattlemen on the Web (www.beef.org) for those in agriculture and CowTown America (www.cowtown.org) for consumers have helped reach tens of thousands who need information on beef or the beef industry.

Producers, who make the most credible sources for industry information, continue to be trained as spokespersons through a checkoff-funded training program. More than 2,000 trained spokespersons have been responsible for 311 million positive impressions about beef since the program was instituted six years ago.

Combining good science, industry information and the promotion of positive industry practices, the Beef Quality Assurance program proactively addresses day-to-day cattle management that may influence the safety, quality and wholesomeness of beef. Today, thanks in part to educational efforts of the BQA program, drug residue violations for fed slaughter steers and heifers are almost non-existent.

Information programs to consumers, educators, health professionals, students, media and others are important. Just as important, however, are information efforts to let beef and veal producers know how their checkoff dollars are being used to fund these programs. Posters, annual reports, tradeshow booths and other communications tools are used to assure that all who pay the checkoff can learn of its benefits and programs.

An initiative to increase awareness of checkoff programs was reinforced in 1997. This segment of the beef industry is responsible for up to 20 percent of all beef produced, according to the American Meat Institute.