Meatless Monday

Recently, a private University in my home state of South Dakota announced that they will be implementing a “Meatless Monday” program. This is supported by their claims that plant based proteins offer more nutritive value than meat and that meat is generally more expensive than plant-based proteins. I’d like to take a little time today to talk about these two points and see how they really add up.

Plant based proteins offer more nutritive value than meat.

The South Dakota Beef Industry Council shares this graphic and I think it is really eye opening. I’ll admit that it is easy to assume that plant -based proteins will offer more protein per calorie than meat. But in all reality, when looking at the quantity of these products that need to be consumed to reach the protein level provided by one serving of beef, we quickly see that it is not the case.

Per 25 g protein:

Quinoa: 666 calories

Peanut butter: 613 calories

Beef: 173 calories

In addition to being low calorie, that one serving of beef provides 10 essential nutrients- Protein, Iron, Choline, Selenium, Vitamin B, Zinc, Phosphorus, Niacin, Riboflavin. It offers an incredible amount of nutritive value!

Meat is generally more expensive than plant-based proteins.

In addition to an animal science degree, I also received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business. The business side of me always perks up when I hear claims of ‘more expensive’. It is time to crunch some numbers.

Image and Price from Walmart.com

I have heard a lot of talk recently about the Beyond Burger, so I thought that would be a great example to look at. When initially comparing the Beyond Burger pricing vs. the ground beef patties, it appears to be less expensive. However, looking further we see that on a per pound basis, the Beyond Beef patties are almost twice the price of both ground beef patties (the difference in the patties is the fat content. 80% lean vs. 93% lean. The 93% lean is more expensive on a per pound basis because it has a lower fat content). Don’t let the face value of a product lead you astray. It is important to judge actual economic value of a product not on the simple dollar value it receives, but price per pound basis. It is amazing how much of a difference that can make!

One other thing that I think is interesting to point out about the Beyond Burger is the ingredient list. Consumers continually demand a high quality product with a clean label. Looking at the Beyond Burger ingredient list we see that it contains over 15 ingredients!

“Water, pea protein isolate*, expeller-pressed canola oil, refined coconut oil, rice protein, natural flavors, mung bean protein, methylcellulose, potato starch, contains 1% or less: apple extract, salt, potassium chloride, vinegar, lemon juice concentrate, sunflower lecithin, beet juice extract, pomegranate fruit powder, lycopene color (from tomato).”

Now let’s compare that ingredient list to that of the ground beef patties:

“Ground Beef and Natural Flavorings.”

Two ingredients! That’s it! The Food Safety Inspection Service allows spices and seasonings such as black pepper, onion powder, and garlic to be defined as natural flavorings. It is a simple product that offers so much to the consumer.

Simply put, animal based proteins are a relatively low calorie, low cost option that are supported by a clean label. Protein takes up a large portion of the grocery budget. We all want to feed our families a high quality product. When thinking about it in that sense, meat offers the most bang for your buck. For that reason, I plan to keep meat in my diet on Mondays, and every other day of the week!

Head Above Water

Do you ever have days where you feel like there is so much going on that you are struggling just to keep your head above water? Maybe it’s more than just a day, maybe it seems more like a week or a month! The past few weeks have been that way for me. I have been so busy with travel and research that it seems like I’ve just been fighting to stay on top of all my responsibilities. Now that I am back in Moscow for a few weeks it is a good time to reflect back on all that has been happening.

Following the judging contest we took in a few sights of Chicago.

Chicago, IL: This was quite the trip. I chaperoned five undergraduate students to the Meat Animal Evaluation Contest at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois. The students participated in live animal evaluation, where they looked at breeding animals (those that will be used to produce offspring. It is ideal for animals to have good genetics, bone structure, and size to be able to carry offspring.), market animals (hogs, cattle and sheep that are going to be harvested. Ideally, these animals have a lot of muscle and adequate fat), and meats (carcasses were evaluated for yield and quality, and retail cuts, ie. steaks/porkchops, were ranked). It was a great opportunity for our students to be able to compete in this contest and for me to be able to lead them! Following the contest, we spent a little time in Chicago living the tourist lifestyle.

Anacortes, WA: The last weekend in March, I went to the Northwest Meat Processors Association convention. This conference hosted local meat processors from across Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Montana, who were able to bring their best products to be entered into a contest. That’s right, a contest of bacon, ham, jerky, sausage, salami and more! I was lucky enough to get to help judge the fresh sausages (I tried over 40 different kinds!). It was such a fun experience to be able to see all the hard work and pride that the processors put into their products.

The meat science grad students from the University of Idaho after an awesome tour of Del Fox Meats at the Meat Processors Association Convention.

Boise, ID: My final trip took me to Boise for a food safety training. Hazard Analysis, Critical Control Points (HACCP) training taught me how to look for potential problems in a meat processing facility and how to mitigate those issues. We are specifically concerned with physical (bone chips), chemical (cleaning products) and biological (Salmonella) hazards. Every meat processing plant has to have a HACCP plan in place where they go through every step of the production process, identify any hazards that could potentially occur, and establish a plan on how to monitor those hazards and ensure that safe food is making it to the consumer.

On top of travelling, we have been busy with research. The PhD student that I work with is wrapping up her project. For her work we had to measure pH and temperature on carcasses and often had to do checks throughout the night. Waking up at 3 am to go into a cooler isn’t always fun, but I have made some great memories working on this project!

Busy, busy, busy. It is so easy when we are in a busy season to wish time away. “If I just get through this trip, then I can get to the next one and then I can get a break.” It’s easy to get worn out and forget how great of an opportunity some of these experiences are. Looking back at the past few weeks it amazes me the experiences that I have gotten to take in and the people I have met. I’m very thankful to have all these opportunities, but I’m also thankful to be back in Moscow and have some time to catch up on things before the next busy season approaches!

Calving Season

The story of a steak begins long before it finds your plate. In fact, for this story to begin, we must rewind over two years from when you purchased that steak, to baby making season…

Farmers make careful genetic decisions to improve their herd and the quality of meat that the animals produce. There are numbers called Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs), that help producers predict how specific traits will be passed down to future generations of livestock. Think of these numbers like batting averages. That number helps you predict how your favorite player will hit and gets more accurate every time he is up to the plate. EPDs work the same way; helping producers make decisions with their accuracy improving with the more offspring an animal has. EPDs are often used if a farmer is buying a bull or choosing one to use for artificial insemination. These predictions can be specific for birthweight, ribeye area, marbling ability, and much more.

Natural breeding is common to the beef industry, but many operations incorporate artificial insemination into their program. Artificial insemination (AI) is an incredible technology that producers can use to help improve their herd genetics. To use AI, semen is collected from the male, frozen and can then be shipped all over the world (In fact, when I visited a farm in China, they were using semen from a bull owned by a farmer I know in South Dakota!). AI can be a relatively low-cost option to farmers to purchase limited quantities of semen, rather than making a large investment in a bull. AI can be very successful for many operations and allow for specific breeding choices to be made, improving livestock quality.

So now that the cows are bred, they need to be taken care of in terms of nutrition, health and environment to ensure a healthy calf is born. Working with nutritionists and veterinarians help ensure that the cows are getting the nutrients that they need and are cared for.

Then, about 283 days later…. it’s baby time! Calves are born and a whole new round of excitement begins. It’s calving season right now, and many farmers and ranchers are keeping busy. This winter has been hard on a lot of producers and livestock. Farmers check on the livestock day and night to ensure new calves can be dried off and warmed up.

When a calf is born, it is important for them to be able to stand up and eat. The first milk that they receive from their mama’s is colostrum. Colostrum contains antibodies and nutrients that are passed on to the offspring. This first meal is vital for future health of the animal.

It is important to care for the calves during this time, but it is also necessary to keep a close eye on the cows. The cows need to be fed a good diet that provides them enough energy to maintain themselves, as well as helping their calf grow strong and healthy.

This is just the beginning of the story of how meat makes it to your kitchen table. Simply having a calf turns into a big process and requires so much time and hard work; from selecting a bull, to breeding, to keeping the cow healthy, to calving. But all that hard work pays off knowing that it is the first step in providing a high quality product for consumers.

The Journey to Your Table

Do you ever look down at the food that you’re having for supper and think about all the people that had to go to work to provide that meal for you? I do, and it absolutely amazes me. Just think:

Your plate.

The grocery store.

The meat counter.

Truckers to get it from the packing plant to the store.

Packing plant workers.

Farmers.

USDA Inspectors, veterinarians, livestock nutritionists, meat scientists, extension agents, feed salesmen…the list goes on and on. The meat industry in the United States directly employs over 525,000 people and indirectly employs 6.2 million people (those who are not working directly with meat but still play a role in producing the product). All of those people are devoted to producing a safe, nutritious, high quality product for you to serve to your family.

When I was younger I used to go to church camp in the summer. Before meals, we would pray and then do a short, group song. One of them that always stuck with me was as follows:

“Back of the bread is the flour,

And back of the flour is the mill,

And back of the mill is the sun, and the rain, and the maker’s will.”

This rhyme has always stuck with me and makes me appreciate all that goes into the food we eat.

Growing up on a farm I just thought of it as my family raised the livestock, a local butcher harvested the animals, we picked up the meat and our freezer was full. I never really realized how great of a blessing that was. Now that I am living 1200+ miles away from our farm it isn’t quite so simple. During my studies I have been able to tour multiple packing plants and visit with people employed in the meat department at various grocery stores. It is so cool to see the care and passion that goes into producing a high-quality product all the way from the farm, to the packing house, to the grocery store and to your kitchen table. In the following weeks I will break this down into the different phases of meat production and talk about specific practices that are done at each step to ensure a safe product ends up on your kitchen table.

So next time you celebrate a birthday with a steak, or eat a hotdog at your child’s baseball game, take a minute and think about all the hands that had to play a role to provide that meal for you. I think you’ll appreciate every bite just a little bit more.

How much meat do cattle provide?

Have you ever wondered how many pounds of beef that cattle provide? It’s a great question, and something that livestock producers and packers care a lot about:

More muscle (what becomes meat) per animal = More pounds of saleable product

So, how much meat do we get?

The average market weight (body weight of the animal the day that it ‘goes to market’, ie: when it is harvested) of beef cattle is around 1,400 pounds. As the animal goes through the harvest process, the head, hide, blood, viscera (internal organs and digestive system), and hooves are removed. At this point, what is left is referred to as a carcass.

From here, we can calculate the dressing percent of the carcass. Dressing percent is equal to the carcass weight, divided by the live weight of the animal. For cattle, this value is typically around 63%, but can vary depending on how much muscle and fat the carcass has, as well as what gender and breed the animal was. A high dressing percent means that more product is available to use.

At this point, the carcass is fabricated. This means that it is cut into large, wholesale cuts, and then into retail cuts (what you buy at the store: steaks, roasts, etc). In the agriculture industry, the amount of actual saleable product is known as the amount of yield from a carcass. This is also referred to as the percent of boneless, closely trimmed (much of the extra fat removed), retail cuts (yes, some cuts have bones that remain with the product, but many are removed). The percent yield in beef animals is typically around 65%.

So lets take a look at an example:

Say a steer has a market weight of 1350 lbs. We expect that animal to produce around an 850 lb carcass. From here, we cut the carcass into saleable product and remove excess fat and bones. We are left with approximately 553 lbs of meat.

Now, it is important to remember that all the product that is removed before we reach our final retail cuts is able to be used! Almost nothing from the animal is thrown out. Here are just a few examples of products besides meat that cattle provide us:

Hide: leather for furniture, car seats and clothing.
Bones: Used to make gelatin, used in things like jello and gummy bears.
Fat: Also known as tallow, used in production of biodiesel and in some cosmetics.
Intestines: Cleaned and sanitized and then used for casing for sausages and other processed products.

I hope this post helps answers your question about how much meat that one animal can provide us, but don’t forget, they offer us so much more!

Common Terms

Antemortem Inspection: Evaluating the live animal for signs of disease or illness. If the animal appears healthy and fit, it is approved to begin the harvest process.

Artificial Insemination: Collected semen from the male animal and using that to breed the female. Allows for varied genetics and is a relatively low cost purchase/commitment by a farmer compared to buying a new bull/ram/boar.

Beef Cattle: Different breeds of cattle are raised for different purposes. Beef cattle are known to put their energy into producing muscle, while dairy cattle put their energy into producing milk.

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy: Commonly known as “Mad Cow”. A rare, neurological disease, that progressively degenerates the nervous system. Although it is very uncommon, extra precautions are taken for beef animals over 30 months of age to ensure that all meat is safe for consumption.

Carcass: The body of a meat animal with the head, hide (except pigs), blood, viscera (internal organs), and feet/hooves removed. This includes remaining skeletal muscle, fat and bones.

Colostrum: First milk that an offspring gets from their mothers. It is very important for the health of the animal as it often contains important antibodies and nutrients that the offspring won’t receive anywhere else.

Expected Progeny Differences (EPD): Used by farmers when making breeding decisions by estimating the genetic value of the livestock as a parent. Numbers are like batting averages. They help you estimate how the animal will perform, and get more accurate as the animal has more offspring.

Fabrication: Cutting meat into wholesale and retail cuts, removing excess fat and bone.

Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906: Passed by President Theodore Roosevelt to ensure that all meat is safe and processed in a sanitary facility.

Marbling: Intramuscular fat found in meat products. This means the fat between the muscle fibers. The level of marbling determines the quality grade that meat (specifically beef) receives.

Market Weight: Weight of the animal on the day it is harvested.

Meat Inspection: The determination that a carcass is wholesome and safe for human consumption. Inspection by a USDA certified inspector is legally required for all meat products that are available for sale.

Natural Breeding: Allowing the male and female livestock to mate naturally, without the use of artificial insemination.

Packer: Business that focuses on slaughtering meat animals, and breaking down the carcasses into wholesale products. It may also refer to further processing of meat products.

Steer: Male cattle that have been castrated. They are typically used for beef production. Castration still allows for high muscle production, but can improve meat quality and decrease aggression among animals.

Quality Grade: A label that a carcass receives as a measurement of palatability. If a steak has a higher quality grade, you can expect it to be more tender, juicy, and flavorful. Quality grading is not legally required and it is up to the packer if they choose to have carcasses quality graded.

Viscera: Internal organs and digestive system that are removed during the harvest process.

Wholesome: Safe. Inspection is done on all meat products to ensure that they are safe for human consumption.

Yield: Percent of boneless, closely trimmed, retail cuts. The actual amount of meat that you can get from the carcass.

Meat Inspection

Today, many people are concerned about the safety of their food. We want to be certain that what we are feeding our families (and ourselves), isn’t going to cause any harm. To ensure a product is safe, it must go through inspection and be deemed safe.

In 1906, The Jungle, written by Upton Sinclair, was published. This book followed an immigrant family as they started a new life in the United States working in the stockyards of Chicago. Part of the book talks about the poor working conditions for the immigrant families. President Theodore Roosevelt read The Jungle and moved forward to pass the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906; requiring by law that all meat available for sale be inspected for wholesomeness. Now, meat inspection is regulated by the Food Safety and Inspection Service, an offshoot of the United States Department of Agriculture.

There are a few different steps to inspection (although the process is similar in all species, these steps will be specific to beef):

Antemortem Inspection (ie. inspection of the animal prior to slaughter): After the animal is unloaded at the slaughterhouse, it is inspected by a USDA Inspector or Veterinarian. If any animals are deemed sick, injured, or unsafe for human consumption, they are removed from the food chain.

The blue ink indicates that this beef animal was over 30 months of age. All neurological tissue and the spinal column will be removed and not available for sale.

Maturity: Age of the cattle is very important in deciding how the carcass will be utilized. Age is determined by dentition (how many permanent incisors they have). If they are over 30 months of age, the carcass is clearly marked. A beef animal over 30 months of age is at a higher risk of a neurological problem known as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, commonly referred to as mad cow. Although it is highly unlikely that an animal will be infected even if over 30 months of age, extra precautions are taken just to be safe. Meat from these animals can still be safely consumed, but all neurological tissues and the spinal column must be removed and destroyed.

Postmortem (after the animal has been slaughtered): Once the internal organs are removed, the inspector evaluates the heart, lungs and liver to look for any signs of infection, sickness, or disease. If all these organs pass inspection, the carcassh is deemed safe for consumption.

This is the USDA inspection stamp you will see on meat products. The number on the bottom is specific to each processing facility.

Finally, the carcass is evaluated for final inspection. In the meat industry, there is zero tolerance for fecal matter, ingesta and milk. If there are any signs of these contaminants, they must be cut off. Any other signs of contamination are also removed as they may be a carrier to the three zero tolerance contaminants. After any sign of contamination has been removed, the carcass is sprayed with 180 degree Fwater as a way of thermal pasteurization. The carcass may also be steam pasteurized and sprayed with a low concentration lactic or acetic acid to hinder bacteria growth.

Once all steps of inspection have been completed, the carcass is marked with an inspection stamp. As stated in my post about labelling, labels on all meat products require an inspection stamp. All processors have a unique number specific to their location which is included on the inspection stamp. I really like the app “USDA Meat and Poultry Inspection (MPI) Directory,” as it lets me type in the number on the inspection stamp and find out where my food came from, so cool!

This post just touches on the topic of inspection around the time of slaughter. There are many additional points during meat production that are regulated to ensure a safe, wholesome product for your family. We will touch on those soon!

*All the highlighted words in this and future posts will be included in a “Common Terms” post. They are words that I know are often used in the industry but may be a little confusing! *

What’s in a Label?

Walking through the grocery store I’m often amazed at the shear number of products available. Sometimes it seems that there are 10 different versions of the same thing with the only difference being their label. But have you ever considered what goes into designing a food label? Today we’re going to go through the 7 things that are required to be a part of a food label and how they impact you.

Proper Product Name: This means there needs to be a name/statement on the package that gives a truthful description of the product. It makes sense, you should be able to know what exactly you’re purchasing!
Nutritional Information: I’m sure at some point we have all looked at a nutrition label to determine calories, fat, carbs, etc. This allows you to monitor your dietary needs and make purchasing decisions that best match what you’re seeking in a diet.
Ingredient List: As simple as it sounds, the label needs to include what is inside the package. Ingredients are listed in order of quantity (ie. the first ingredient on the list is the most abundant ingredient in the product). In addition to simply listing the ingredients used, allergens need to be made known.
Name and Place of Manufacturer: On every food product you purchase there is a section that contains the name and physical address of where the product was made. This allows you to trace where your food came from and allows your to contact the company if you choose to do so.
Accurate Statement of Net Quantity: This tells you just how much of the product you will be purchasing. I almost always look at this section of a label when comparing prices between two brands.
Safe Handling Statement: Meat products are required to give you a description of how to handle the product to keep it safe for your family to eat. This may be a statement such as; “Keep Frozen,” or “Fully Cooked, Ready to Eat,” or “Refrigerate After Opening”. The purpose of these statements is twofold, keeping you safe and protecting the processor from getting in trouble if the consumer misuses the product. Picture this: It’s a beautiful, sunny, 80 degree summer day. A woman is having friends over for a picnic and is planning to grill hamburgers. She goes to the grocery store and picks up ground beef, buns and pickles, which she then leaves in her car for a few hours while she runs other errands. Once she is home, she leaves the ground beef on the kitchen counter for another hour before lighting the grill. The party is great, but later that evening many of those in attendance become ill. Well the buns didn’t make them sick, and it probably wasn’t the pickles, so that leaves the beef. The ground beef label told her that she needed to keep the product refrigerated or frozen until it was ready to be prepared. She didn’t listen to this and instead let the product reach an unsafe temperature, putting her and her friends at risk for getting sick. Long story short, listen to the label!
Inspection stamp: All meat products are legally required to be deemed safe by a USDA inspector. That’s right, all meat that is available for sale is legally required to be inspected for wholesomeness to ensure that the product is safe for human consumption. I hope to further discuss inspection in a later post and clarify what inspectors look for when determining product safety.

Many of the requirements of a label are there for your safety. Knowing that your food is inspected, how to handle it, and if there are any known allergens or ingredients that you specifically react poorly too is necessary to keep you healthy. All labels must be legally approved to be used. What about other things you see on labels? Certified, organic, natural, non-GMO? We’ll cover some of these topics in future posts to help you better understand just what you’re eating!

Welcome to The Meating Room

While looking through Facebook this week I came across these two articles, one right after the other:

“Red meat and dairy good for a healthy diet, study suggests”

and

“Less beef, more beans: Experts say the world needs a new diet”

What? How can this be? It’s no wonder that so many people are skeptical about what they are buying at the grocery store when they see these mixed messages day after day. This bothered me, so I did the best thing I could think of…

Google: “Are blogs still relevant?”

According to the web, blogs are indeed still relevant. So here I am. Now, this blog may not convince anybody to eat meat, and that’s okay. That’s not the purpose of this website. I do hope, however, to share some information that I have learned through my experiences and education to at least help put people at ease about what they’re feeding their family. I hope to use this platform to share what I know about what it takes for meat to get from the farm, to the grocery store, to your kitchen table. I want to introduce you to the meat industry and help to answer questions and address common concerns.

So, welcome to The Meating Room! Here, we will touch on topics like safe handling tips, meaning behind the label, farming practices, inspection/grading, and much more. I’m excited to give this a shot, and hope that through this blog we can all learn a little something about the food we eat. Thanks for joining me, now let’s get started!

The Journey Begins

Welcome to The Meating Room, a place to gather and discuss all things relating to meat safety, quality and production.