We recently caught up with the 2010 checkoff-funded National Beef Ambassador team and spoke with three of this year’s Ambassadors: Malorie Bankhead from California, Becky Vraspir (v-ras-peer) from Wyoming and Jackson Alexander from Oklahoma. They gave us an update on where their travels have taken them in the past few months and where they’re headed in an effort to educate youth and consumers about the benefits of beef.
Malorie Bankhead: “Recently, in the past few months, I’ve been traveling around my state speaking at various meetings and conferences that have to do with the cattle women and cattlemen, and really promoting beef as a whole and teaching others how to advocate for the beef industry as a National Beef Ambassador.”
Jackson Alexander 1: “Last month, I helped assist with our state beef ambassador competition in selecting the person that will represent our state at the national competition. Much like Malorie, I’ve also been traveling around the state speaking for rotary clubs and Lion’s Clubs and county cattlemen’s associations promoting the industry. Also I am working on putting together an essay contest and writing contest this fall for students all across the country so they can get involved and learn about the beef industry.”
Becky Vraspir: “In Wyoming I’ve been helping with a couple teachers workshops in teaching them on how they can incorporate agriculture as a whole and beef nutrition into the classroom.”
The team’s work is far from over. As part of their “continuing ed,” the Ambassadors complete numerous education and promotion activities then report back on the outcomes and media coverage received. It’s all part of the continued growth and success of the National Beef Ambassador Program.
Malorie Bankhead: “In our future we have the New York State Fair and the Washington D.C. cattlemen’s legislative convention, as well as a food and wine expo. So we have a few more places to travel. And then as an end result kind of thing in October we’ll be traveling to South Dakota for the 2011 National Beef Ambassador team contest where we will be able to meet the new state ambassadors and eventually the new national team that will be replacing us.”
For information on other efforts being funded with your beef checkoff investment, visit www.MyBeefCheckoff.com. For information about the National Beef Ambassador team, visit www.NationalBeefAmbassador.org.
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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 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.
Source: The Beef Checkoff