Red Meat: A Case Study

There are thousands of choices for consumers at the grocery store to purchase and feed their families with that comprise the food pyramid, from grains to fruits and vegetables, dairy products, meats, proteins, and sweet treats. It can be hard to choose, and though some are adventurous, many consumers tend to lean towards their favorites, and a favorite of many is beef. For hundreds of years, beef has been enjoyed by consumers as a part of a balanced diet as steaks and roasts, and not to mention beef byproducts such as leather and oil tallow. At grocery meat counters across the country, beef is featured prominently as “what’s for dinner,” and consumers make the choice to choose America’s favorite red meat every day.

Many of us take going to the store and picking out some delicious looking ground beef …show more content…
Three things: continuing research to discover ways that beef production costs can be lowered to producers so those savings can be passed on to consumers through lower beef prices, beef donation programs and initiatives, and more innovations of new beef products to meet consumer demands. Recently, research has discovered things such as new feedstuffs that cost less to use in cattle rations, methods to water animals and sanitize equipment that use less water, implants to improve feed efficiency, and ways “everything but the moo” can be used from harvested animals that are beginning to lower beef production costs. Research towards practices like these should be continued to find even more ways to lower costs to producers and in turn, consumers. Like many youth today take proceeds or meat from their market beef projects to donate to charities that feed the hungry, producers and distributors should be encouraged to do the same, even if it is just a pound per head. Finally, new beef products should continue to be innovated to meet the demands and needs of today’s consumer lifestyle, so they are encouraged to seek out and buy beef to