Beef was the star during the recent three-day inaugural Sun BBQ Fest at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn. The beef checkoff, through the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative (NEBPI), provided educational sessions throughout the festival to ensure that beef was given top billings over other proteins, which are typically featured at BBQ festivals; and, the venue provided the perfect opportunity to educate attendees about selecting and grilling their favorite cuts of beef.
On the main cooking stage, beef was featured in several demos. Ray Lampe, also known as Dr. BBQ, demonstrated his favorite way to grill a New York strip and offered the crowd many tips including grilling techniques, seasoning tips and ways to select the perfect steak at the meat counter. Mike Davis, owner of Lotta Bull BBQ, demonstrated his favorite burger recipe and gave the crowd tips and safety advice on working with ground beef. The final day of the festival, Ray Lampe, Mike Davis and Lee Ann Whippen (owner of Wood Chicks BBQ) had a “brisket throw-down” where the three BBQ All-stars revealed their secret tips on how to make a succulent beef brisket.
The beef checkoff tent also featured educational demos with GrillMaster Chris Turner. Three recipes were demoed and sampled daily, including a sesame crusted New York strip, a ribeye with blue cheese butter, and a cumin-rubbed sirloin with avocado salsa verde. Festival attendees were able to interact with the GrillMaster as well as the National Beef Ambassadors in the checkoff tent. The NEBPI summer grilling retail beef promotion — “Stay Home. Grill Out." — was also extended at the festival through the distribution of promotional recipe booklets as well as a raffle basket. This retail promotional campaign is being executed in 323 retail locations throughout the Northeast region until Labor Day.
“Even though most people at a BBQ festival already eat meat, we were there to make sure that beef was in the spotlight at the SUN BBQ Fest,” says Kim Rounds, National Beef Ambassador from California. “It was a great event and we were able establish connections with strangers because they wanted to learn more about selecting, preparing and grilling beef.”
For more information about the beef checkoff at the Sun BBQ Fest contact Kristin Wilkins kwilkins@pabeef.org. Click here for photos from the event.
For more information about your beef checkoff investment, visit MyBeefCheckoff.com.
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 Program