July Veal Blog
PROMOTIONS
Consumer Research
A nationwide online survey of 1,000 millennials/millennial parents was conducted to gain insights into veal consumption. The findings will be used to better focus our messaging and tactics to reach and engage our target audience.
A Few Highlights:
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Majority of respondents who eat veal at home prepare it from a recipe
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Majority of respondents main reason for choosing veal to prepare at home is flavor
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Majority of respondents also view veal as a great protein source
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Many respondents eat out at least 1-3 times per week
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Most respondents would choose to eat more veal if the price was lower and was more available
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When asked for their protein of choice; veal came in 4th over lamb, pork and vegetable protein
NEW YORK STATE BEEF COUNCIL
IG Takeovers of NYBC
New York State Beef Council had great success with IG takeovers. Chef Taffiny Elrod created a Veal Parm and Veal Chop recipe and Christina Hitchcock, It Is A Keeper made a Veal Macaroni and Cheese Helper. The IG takeovers reached 59,780 and engaged with1000
PENNSYLVANIA STATE BEEF COUNCIL
Veal in the Classroom
Veal has been popular this past year within middle and high school culinary classrooms across Pennsylvania. For its eighth year, the PA Beef Council with support from Mountain States Rosen and Marcho Veal provided veal grants to family and consumer science educators during the 2019-2020 school year with approximately 1,200 students benefitting from the grant program. Denise Lyons, educator at Rochester Middle and High Schools in Rochester, PA commented, “My students probably would have never even tasted veal if it were not for this grant. I love this program; the veal was awesome. My students benefit from this more than you know, we are a low-income school district. As a beef producer myself it is great to see my Checkoff dollars going to such a great cause.” The council is launching grant applications for the upcoming 2020-2021 school year. Learn more about the program, here.
INDUSTRY
New Blog Content on Veal Farm to Share
As the self-described recipe developer, food stylist, writer, editor, food photographer and chief dishwasher of the Bella’limento blog, Paula Jones, knows how to bring a no-nonsense weeknight staple to the table. So when she joined our ReVeal Tour this past summer, to learn more about the veal industry, the longtime veal connoisseur knew that veal-inspired spaghetti and meatballs would be a homerun for her followers.
“I’ve been eating veal for as long as I can remember; to me veal is incredibly delicious, albeit often misunderstood,” Jones said. She shared in her blog that the level of care by all involved was top-notch, sharing pictures of the barns, calves and the feed that the animals are fed.
Food blogger Holly Sander, creator of Taste and See has been making internet waves with her fresh take on delicious weeknight staples since 2015. So when the recipe connoisseur had a chance to join the Beef Checkoff funded tour of Northeastern veal farms, she jumped at the opportunity, sharing what she learned with her followers in this blog post.
“This is sustainability in action, my friend: finding productive ways to use what we have and not wasting it,” she said, singing the praises of her new-found-knowledge of the veal, dairy and beef industries’ purpose and plan for every animal produced.
Please extend this content to others by sharing these Veal Farm posts on your social media platforms.
2020 Veal Summit Creates Renewed Focus
Veal industry stakeholders gathered (virtually,) discussed and reviewed the marketing and promotion direction for long-term success of the veal industry. Helping to facilitate this planning was Kevin Ochsner of Agcellerate, facilitator of the Beef Industry Long Range Plan. Consumer research, industry interviews and online surveys were carefully assessed along with a Veal Long Range Plan that mirrors the beef industry plan. During the 2020 Veal Summit held in May, veal growers, industry leaders and state beef councils participated in an online meeting to prioritize initiatives and chart a renewed and focused direction for veal. This input prioritized the following strategic initiatives:
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Facilitate innovative approaches for consumers to access and purchase veal
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Enhance veal eating experiences by creating meal solutions and capitalizing on taste, value and versatility
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Grow consumer trust and confidence in veal and veal production
The focus on all programming and messaging for veal promotion and industry information funded by the Checkoff moving forward will include three areas: Discovery of, Access to and Confidence in veal as a protein choice.
To further strengthen the program development and implementation for veal promotion, a new partnership arrangement has been established where the New York Beef Council, and their Executive Director Jean O’Toole, will provide strategic leadership to the veal marketing efforts funded by the Beef Checkoff. This partnership will enhance State Beef Council engagement, extending impact of the Checkoff programs.
The North American Meat Institute is the contractor to the Beef Checkoff for veal promotion and industry information program. Program plans for the 20/21 fiscal year will be discussed and reviewed at the 2020 Summer Business Meeting scheduled for July 27-30 in Denver, Colorado.
REGULATORY AFFAIRS
USDA Meat and Fish Purchase Program Announced.
USDA announced plans last week to purchase meat and fish products for the National School Lunch Program and other Federal food nutrition assistance programs. Solicitations will be available electronically through the Web-Based Supply Chain Management (WBSCM) system. A hard copy of the solicitation will not be available. Public WBSCM information is available without an account on the WBSCM Public Procurement Page. All future information regarding this acquisition, including solicitation amendments and award notices, will be published through WBSCM, and on the Agricultural Marketing Service’s website at https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food. More information is available here.
FSIS Extends Comment Period on STEC Testing Expansion.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recently announced it is seeking comments on the proposed expansion of its routine verification testing for six Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (non-O157 STEC; O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, or O145) to samples of ground beef, bench trim, and raw ground beef components other than raw beef manufacturing, collected at official establishments. The North American Meat Institute, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, submitted a request for a 60-day extension of the comment period citing the need to evaluate the proposal’s impact on the industry and the associated cost analysis, as well as the extra time needed for analyses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, FSIS extended the comment period by an additional 30 days. This extension should provide interested members of the public with sufficient time to review the agency’s proposal and cost benefit analysis. The comment period will now end September 3, 2020. Comments may be submitted at www.regulations.gov.
FMC Publishes Recommendations to Enhance Service at Marine Terminals.
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) published recommendations to enhance service and reduce delay, disruption, cost and congestion at marine terminals, which would benefit service for exporters and importers at all U.S. ports, according to the Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC). The AgTC will continue to work with these stakeholders, Commissioner Dye, the FMC and others, to move these recommendations to actions. More information and further details on the recommendations are available here.
SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS
DGAC Holds Public Meeting on Draft Advisory Report.
The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) held a public meeting June 17 via webinar on its draft advisory report. The meeting detailed two key sections of the report: setting the stage and integrating the evidence on diet and health. The integration chapter describes the major themes of the Committee’s review of the evidence and provides an overview of advice to USDA and HHS to consider when developing the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines. The finding for each question posed to the Committee and detailed recommendations are included in the evidence chapter.
Journal of the American College of Cardiology Publishes Study on Saturated Fatty Acid.
The Journal of the American College of Cardiology recently published a study that reassesses recommendations to limit dietary saturated fatty acid (SFA). The study found that most recent meta-analyses of randomized trials and observational studies found no beneficial effects of reducing SFA intake on cardiovascular disease (CVD) and total mortality, and instead found protective effects against stroke. Whole-fat dairy, unprocessed meat and eggs are SFA-rich foods with a complex matrix that are not associated with increased risk of CVD, according to the study. The totality of available evidence does not support further limiting the intake of such foods. The full study is available here.
FSIS Creates Food Safety Fellowship Program.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is establishing a Food Safety Fellowship for graduate students at the agency. This fellowship is a scientific research opportunity that will assist FSIS in its goal of building strong relationships with academia. This opportunity will provide the student with an understanding of the type of research that supports FSIS decision making to ensure the safety of the food supply. Applicants are encouraged to identify a specific research priority when applying and propose how they will address it. If selected, the participant will create a project that is supportive of FSIS research priorities with the guidance of a university mentor. Further details on the fellowship are available here.
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