by Bryan Salvage, editor
Who is responsible for educating consumers-particularly children-about proper nutrition and the importance of meat in a well-balanced diet?
These questions have popped up time and again during the years and the answers are always the same. Some say it's the government's responsibility; some believe it's the meat industry's-and others claim that both groups have equal responsibility.
For the long-term benefit of the meat industry and well-being of American consumers, the meat industry should place a special emphasis on educating children first and foremost on these important matters.
Children, after all, will someday be the customers of the products packed and processed by the industry.
Sharlet Brown, director of research/meat science information for the National Live Stock and Meat Board, recently told me: "We have to focus such educational efforts on all age groups, but we want to get to younger children. Our first priority is preschool through fourth grade because of the parent connection; then grades five through eight; and grades nine through 12. We want to instill in [children] the confidence of maintaining a balanced diet; that meat doesn't equal fat."
Although the Meat Board is doing a commendable job in educating consumers through projects financed by checkoff funds and additional voluntary contributions given by forward-thinking meat companies, its resources are limited.
What can packers and processors do to help educate younger consumers on nutrition and the merits of meat in the diet?
"We know packers and processors are interested in educating children," Brown says. "We would love the opportunity to sit down with any interested packer or processor and show them our marketing strategy. And if they want to take our [educational, marketing] materials and target their local schools, we'd love to help them out."
Education is one part of marketing, but there's a lot more to educating children than some realize.
"Getting into a classroom is not easy, and you can't present a promotional message," Brown notes. "That's difficult for many marketers to realize.
"If any of your readers want to help educate children on these issues through their school systems, we want to help them," she adds.
A proactive approach
Here is another idea for producers, packers and processors: Open up a limited portion of your feedyards, packing and processing plants to school field trips.
Explain to the students-your future customers-how cattle, hogs and sheep are raised, slaughtered and processed. Explain that the animals are part of a vast food chain, and that they are handled in as a humane fashion as science and technology allows. Prove to them that the meat being produced is safe and wholesome.
Also tell them that producers, packers and processors not only have a moral obligation to raise and slaughter animals in a humane fashion, but ethical treatment of these animals also results in better meat quality and profits.
I'm not a child psychologist, so I cannot recommend how old children should be before being allowed to witness the realities of a packing plant. I'm not suggesting that the children be herded into the stunning and slaughtering areas to observe kill operations, but the sooner children learn about the realities of meat producing, packing and processing, the better it will be for them-and for the industry.
There's another reason for the meat industry to get more involved in educating children on the merits of including red meat in a well-balanced diet, as well as how meat products are made. Anti-meat forces will continue to manipulate the mainstream media into printing stories and running edited video footage expressing their one-sided, oftentimes erroneous views. The best way to combat these groups is to get to the children first--with the truth.