If you Direct-Market Beef, You Need to Know about the Northeast Beef Directory!
Do consumers have an interest in knowing more
about the food they prepare at home? Does
their knowledge of how their food was raised have any correlation to their perceptions
of the product? When it comes to beef, to
Northeast regional consumers, several studies and consumer trackers show that it
does.
The 2015 Local Food Marketing Practices Survey, conducted by the National Agriculture Statistics Service, shows the Northeast region has the highest number of farms selling food directly to consumers, and beef is the number one food commodity sold directly from the farm through all channels of distribution within the region.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
(NCBA), a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, found in the Consumer Beef Tracker (October,
2019 - December, 2019 data) that 71 percent of consumers say they consider how their
food is grown and raised when making an at-home meal decision.
Furthermore, the Northeast Beef Promotion
Initiative, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, invested in a regional heavy up
of the quarterly Consumer Beef Tracker in 2018, conducted by NCBA. The study revealed that knowledge on how
cattle are raised is lower in the Northeast, which correlates to lower positive
perceptions of beef production. Findings show that 45% of Northeast consumers
state they are unknowledgeable about beef production, compared to only 36% of
total U.S. consumers claiming they are unknowledgeable about beef production.
What ends up on the plate, or in the literal
or virtual shopping cart, is certainly influenced by production knowledge.
New to the directory in 2020, is an interactive pinned map that makes searching for farms or markets easier for the consumer.
Western Pennsylvania Beef Producer, Joann Logan of Logan Family Farms LLC., shares,
The Northeast Beef Directory has been live
for nearly three years and includes robust educational resources that inform
consumers about their options for choosing beef. These sub-pages include many
popular shopper resources funded by the national Beef Checkoff, such as a ‘Beef
Choices’ infographic, a ‘Beef Breakdown, Explained’ fact sheet and links to the
recently renovated Beef it’s What’s for Dinner website. Thanks to this additional information, consumers
will discover that, regardless of their final decision, their beef choices are wholesome,
nutritious and delicious.
Any beef producer or butcher shop located in
the Northeast region selling beef directly to the public is encouraged to be a
part of the directory by filling out the Producer Submission Form.
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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.
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