SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Well being Secretary Robert F. Kennedy spoke to a receptive crowd in Nashville this week on the annual Cattle Business Conference or CattleCon. And he mentioned – forgive us – beefing up America’s consumption and manufacturing of beef. Natasha Senjanovic checked in with a number of the attendees.

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NATASHA SENJANOVIC: RFK Jr. was met with a standing ovation from a whole bunch of ranchers and beef trade members at a CattleCon Q&A. The occasion was a last-minute addition. And the primary query was, what prompted turning the brand new meals pyramid actually on its head, with a steak proper up prime? Kennedy cited his marketing campaign promise.

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ROBERT F KENNEDY JR: To finish the power illness epidemic on this nation. We’ve got the best power illness burden of any nation on the planet.

SENJANOVIC: Nicely, that is not fairly proper. America’s burden is the best amongst high-income developed nations. That is additionally true for weight problems charges, and almost one-third of American teenagers are prediabetic. These power points have been linked to diets excessive in ultra-processed low-nutrient meals.

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KENNEDY: How do you may have obscene weight problems and malnutrition in the identical particular person?

SENJANOVIC: The Well being and Agriculture Division say one treatment is extra protein and extra crimson meat than beforehand really useful. Their new dietary tips suggest animal and plant protein at each meal, elevating its consumption by some 50%. Many well being scientists warn analysis exhibits an excessive amount of saturated fats, reminiscent of from animals, is not wholesome. However bee farmers, not surprisingly, are followers of the brand new tips.

ALEX MCKENZIE: I imply, clearly, we prefer it. We’re slightly bit biased.

SENJANOVIC: Alex McKenzie and his household elevate cows and hogs at Bear Creek Farms close to Nashville. He says demand for his or her beef – a staple at native farmers markets – started rising markedly with COVID.

MCKENZIE: When the grocery shops ran out of beef, folks had been like, oh, my gosh, we have to discover a extra sustainable supply.

SENJANOVIC: Nevertheless, not all beef is created equal, says McKenzie. He and different farmers urge health-conscious carnivores to purchase regionally farmed and processed meat moderately than from giant firms, which produce a lot of the nation’s beef. At CattleCon, Kennedy additionally nudged farmers to increase their herd numbers, which have dropped by about 50% for the reason that Nineteen Seventies. Todd Fritsch of Texas-based public sale home Giddings Livestock says that is not a easy ask.

TODD FRITSCH: I do know climate’s a giant driving issue. If you do not have grazable land or sufficient grass, nevertheless it’s onerous to extend the herd.

SENJANOVIC: However due to genetics, says Fritsch…

FRITSCH: We’re breeding higher animals, animals that develop bigger. We’re producing extra beef with much less animals.

SENJANOVIC: Nonetheless, as much as 20% of our beef is foreign-born, a lot of it floor beef for burgers. Ben Harman, the chair of the U.Okay.’s Nationwide Beef Affiliation, praised a brand new commerce cope with the U.S. It guarantees the alternate of 13,000 tons of beef between the 2 international locations, however what sort of beef remains to be unclear.

BEN HARMAN: What we’re most likely craving slightly bit is a few of your strip loins. However our customers within the U.Okay. won’t settle for hormone-treated meat, and our authorities will not settle for that both.

SENJANOVIC: Within the U.S., the vast majority of cows obtain development hormones, which the U.Okay. banned in beef within the Nineteen Eighties.

For NPR Information, I am Natasha Senjanovic in Nashville.

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