Beef Sustainability: What is it, how does it affect you, and what can you do to help?

Ever wonder what the impact sustainability has on our environment? Find out below what the beef industry is doing regarding beef sustainability and the strides they are making to help future generations continue to thrive.

Thanks to Michigan Beef Industry Commission for sponsoring this post.

Over the past few years, I have had many opportunities to learn about the beef industry through farm visits as well as personal research. After visiting several farms and having conversations with many farmers, I have gained quite the appreciation for farmers and the great care they take of their animals and of the land. So it is no surprise that they are focused on making strides to help with sustainability for current and future generations.  Today I’ll be discussing how the beef industry has taken numerous steps in sustainability and how they are helping to maintain our resources to continue to feed our future generations. 

I’ll start by giving a little background on the beef industry and the active role they play in helping with sustainability.

Beef Industry History & Sustainability

Sustainability has been around for quite some time, however, there has been much more emphasis on it in recent years. In 2005, the beef industry began making great strides in reducing the carbon footprint of beef cattle and were the first food system to work on improving sustainability practices. The beef industry is improving the environmental impact produced from beef cattle and have reduced the carbon footprint by 16 percent. This has been possible through improvements to farming techniques and practices, better animal health and welfare, better animal nutrition and improved animal genetics.

What is Beef Sustainability?

The Cattlemen’s Beef Board and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association define beef sustainability as “Producing safe, nutritious beef while balancing environmental, stewardship, social responsibility and economic viability.” The amount and type of food consumed by cattle is a big factor when discussing sustainability. One concern is that food given to cattle could be used for human consumption. In actuality, most of what beef cattle consume in their lifetime is non-edible human feed like grass and only about two percent of cropland for corn grown in the United States is used for cattle feed. 

In addition to the environmental impacts of sustainability, the beef industry is also focused on social sustainability. This industry has taken it upon themselves to develop industry programs, such as the Beef Quality Assurance protocols (BQA) that aid farmers in improving their farm management as well as their animal handling techniques. 

Thirdly, when it comes to sustainability, economic impacts also need to be discussed. The beef industry is extremely valuable in providing jobs within their communities as well as helping the national economy through exporting beef throughout the world.

How can you play a role in sustainability?

We as consumers should be aware of the impact that previous generations have had on the environment and be knowledgeable in what we can do to help future generations. 

Americans waste an average of $2500 on food a year. By reducing waste, you’re helping not only save yourself money but also helping with sustainability.       

Reduce the amount of beef you waste by: 

• Plan meals ahead of time and know how much you will need in a given week
• If you buy larger amounts of beef at a time, cook what you need and freeze the rest. I typically buy ground beef in bulk and divide it up by the pound, place them in sealed plastic bags and freeze them.  
• Plan two-for-one meals like spaghetti and meatballs one night, and use the leftover meatballs for meatball subs the next night.

As you can see, there is much to learn about sustainability, not only the impact it has in the present day but also for future generations. 

If you’d like to learn more about beef sustainability check out the following links:

Tough Questions About Beef Sustainability (a fantastic Q & A resource)

Moving beyond food footprints to sustainable food systems 

This Beef Sustainability: What is it, how does it affect you, and what can you do to help? post first appeared on Chocolate Slopes.

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