CALF_News_December_2019_January_2020

30 CALF News • December 2019 | January 2020 • www.calfnews.net TimHarlan, M.D., executive direc- tor of the Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine at Tulane University in New Orleans, said about 70 percent of hospital patients are faced with food-related ill- nesses.“We work to help patients under- stand how to eat better,” he said.“Tulane has developed programs to help medical students have a better understanding when talking to patients about food.” producers and feeders across the nation. “Our new CEO, Collin Woodall, has a lot of passion for our industry,” she said. “We continue to have great leadership in our association.” She reminded feeders and ranchers that although there may be division on some policy topics,“there is a lot more that unites us than divides us. We need to talk about our ‘wins’ at the coffee shop and other places.” Those wins include a super social media program that provides consumers with instant information on beef cuts and how to cook them, hundreds of beef recipes and other factual information to offset fake news about beef ’s impact on the environment and nutrition. The popular “Chuck Knows Beef ” artificial intelligence program enables consumers to learn anything they want about beef.“Before, consumers only wanted recipes,” Houston said, noting that Chuck works through smart speak- ers like Alexa and Echo.” JimWhite of JimWhite Fitness and Nutrition Studios said he was “proud and honored to promote beef ” to clients involved in sports and other fitness activities.“We are fighting the food fight for nutrition,” he noted.“We have a fear of eating in this country.” Texas A&MAgriLife and other uni- versity Extension and research arms help spread the word to producers and con- sumers.“Special interest groups have an agenda [against beef and other livestock production],” said Patrick Stover, AgriLife vice chancellor and dean of agriculture. “We have to develop the best science and find a way to communicate that science. Stover said more money is needed to fund meat research.“At AgriLife, we get eight to 10 times more funding for plant-based research than animal- based research,” he said.“We need more resources for non-biased research.” NCBA’s Houston was all business in discussing NCBA’s role in representing TCFA EYES BETTER TRADE TCFA CEO Ross Wilson closed the association’s convention with praise of recent U.S. trade deals with Japan and opportunities for better export sales to the Euro- pean Union and the United Kingdom. But he added that foot-dragging on China and USMCA trade deals remained a concern. “The Japan deal is done and we’re on a level playing field with other TPP coun- tries,” Wilson said, noting that while there is unease in the UK, EU and the Brexit situation, there could be a silver lining for the U.S. beef industry. We expect good trade agreements with the EU and UK.” There remains hope that the USMCA is just over the horizon. “We feel that ‘NAFTA 2’ will be signed into place soon,” Wilson said. “As for China, perhaps the latest Tweets [from President Trump] will have some answers.” He said a China trade agreement could be better than expected for U.S. agriculture. “It could mean $50 billion for U.S. ag markets,” Wilson said. He also discussed how mandatory COOL is raising its ugly head again among a small group of northern producers. “We thought it was dead because M-COOL never returned a dime to producers in the past,” he said. Better U.S. animal ID and traceability is needed to appease more markets. “The U.S. traceability program sucks compared to other parts of the world,” Wilson said. “It takes way too long to trace disease back to its origin. “There will be a customer, whether domestic or foreign, that will demand we have a better traceability system in this country. TCFA and others are working on a pilot program to improve this.” TCFA and other beef groups are well represented on the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, he said, and will help keep other parties educated before they make decisions on sustainability issues. During the closing convention session, Paul Defoor, CEO of Cactus Feeders, was elected TCFA chairman for 2020. Scott Anderson, Guymon, Okla., will serve as chairman-elect. Kevin Buse, Hereford, will serve as vice chairman.  TCFA CEO Ross Wilson sees better trade deals ahead. TCFA CONVENTION Continued from page 28 NCBA’s Shalene McNeill said beef’s place on the plate will be a challenge.