Beef’s a trip day 15: It’s not all about the beef.
When you think about the end product of beef production, what do comes to mind? A tender, juicy steak —preferably seasoned with no more than salt and pepper and grilled to medium or medium rare?
But there’s a lot more to a finished steer (or heifer, or cull cow) than just the middle meats. There’s ground beef, roasts, brisket — even non-branded items like organs, glands and intestines — being served on dinner tables all over the world tonight.
We can’t talk about this journey through the beef production chain without also pausing to take a look at those non-beef items that come from our herds.
They are the less-thought-about, the byproducts we use every day without even thinking about how they might have started out on our very ranches and feedlots.
Just a few examples are:
• Air filters
• Anti-aging cream
• Boots
• Candles
• Cement
• Chewing gum
• Cosmetics
• Deodorant
• Detergent
• Fertilizer
• Handbags
• Imitation eggs
• Medications
• Pasta
• Paint
• Plastics
• Rubber
• Shampoo and conditioner
• Textiles
That calf you see grazing on wheat pasture right now? He might not only grow up to produce cuts for the Certified Angus Beef® brand, he might also show up in the drugstore or department store!
Beef’s a Trip Archives:
Day 1: Starting at day one
Day 2: Who are these people?
Day 3: Stockholders
Day 4: The cowherd’s purpose
Day 5: Deciding to care
Day 6: Quality focus doesn’t have to skip the middleman
Day 7: Stocking for quality
Day 8: SOLD!
Day 9: What have you done today?
Day 10: Working together to make ‘em better
Day 11: Keep on truckin’
Day 12: Packers want quality
Day 13: The target
Day 14: Packers up close & personal
Day 15: It’s not all about the beef
Day 16: Further processors
Day 17: From here to there–and a lot more
Day 18: He’s on your team
Day 19: Beyond prices, grocery stores uncovered
Day 20: Getting quality in the carts
PS—Holly Spangler is in New York, but her “30 days on a Prairie Farm” series goes on, and so does everybody else’s. Check out the full list on her blog.
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