The Beef Checkoff hosted a comprehensive one-day training on May 9 with eight chefs from across the Northeast region. Chefs are valuable members of the beef community, bringing delicious and nutritious beef meals to consumers via a foodservice setting each day. The training centered around building these regional chefs up as beef advocates. Kaitlyn Carey, Director of Consumer Affairs with the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative noted, “This was a first of its kind training for our chefs located here in the Northeast. We want to engage with and build up chefs as advocates for beef, as they all have their unique circles of influence.”
Ryan Goodman, Director of Grassroots Advocacy and Spokesperson Development with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, hosted a Media Training session and Mock Interviews attendees. His session left the chefs with confidence and skills to help prepare for any kind of interview or demo opportunity – phone, radio, on-air. Laura Hagen, Senior Director of Culinary with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association was on-hand to share the logistics of on-air demonstrations. Bill Collier, Executive Chef and General Manager of Bricco, an Italian Restaurant located in Harrisburg, PA commented, “The training that I received from all of the presenters was phenomenal. They are all very well-trained experts in their field, not only from education, but also boots on the ground experience in the field. The training was interactive and helped me better prepare myself for the next time I am presenting to an audience, whether on camera or live demonstration." The next step is securing on-air television cooking demonstrations with the chefs surrounding peak beef consumption times, like summer grilling, tailgating and holiday roasting.
Events such as this allow the beef checkoff to engage directly with our regional channel influencers, all while building them up as beef advocates. Arming these influencers with beef’s positive nutritional messaging will help us disseminate this vital information to more consumers. Beef checkoff-funded research in the Northeast shows that nutrition-focused efforts are making a difference with the Northeast’s metropolitan consumers. Messaging related to beef’s protein, lean cuts and essential nutrients appear to be reaching, and favorably influencing, consumers.
For event photos visit the NortheastLovesBeef Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages. This event was made possible by the checkoff’s Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative. For more information, visit NEBPI.org or MyBeefCheckoff.com.
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The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States may retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA Approval.
Internal links within this document are funded and maintained by the Beef Checkoff. All other outgoing links are to websites maintained by third parties.
Source: The Beef Checkoff Program