Bedford – The Pennsylvania Beef Council (PBC) welcomes beef fans of all ages to join in the May is Beef Month celebration.
The PBC was pleased to be a part of the inaugural ‘Best BEEF Butcher Contest’ which took place on Thursday, May 9 at the Penn State Meat’s Lab in State College, PA as part of the Beef Month celebration.
The contest participants represented their meat markets and butcher shops with passion and excitement about what they do daily and the important trade they represent. Contestants traveled in from the entire Northeast region, with several from Pennsylvania. Judging criteria for the butcher contest included contestant cutting technique, accuracy, yield, presentation and a consumer sales pitch opportunity as well as a fresh beef cuts identification test.
The contest took place on the front-end of the 80th Pennsylvania Association of Meat Processors (PAMP) Conference. All of the contestants were honored at the PAMP Awards Dinner which took place May 11 at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center. The top three winners were awarded a banner to display in their market as well as a cash prize.
Special guest, Secretary Russell Redding presided over the event to deliver the official “May is Beef Month” proclamation. “So much of the growth in Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry comes from the expansion of animal agriculture across our state to meet the growing demand here and around the world for meat, “said Redding. “We want to help smaller or new butcher shops to continue to offer local, in-demand services to farmers and consumers across our state, which is why this component of the agriculture industry has received important recognition in the PA Farm Bill,” he said.
The PBC looks forward to sharing beef’s great attributes from taste to nutrition as we kick off grilling season. “As part of our effort to celebrate Beef Month, the PBC is pleased to donate the beef used during the contest to the State College Food Bank as a way to give back to the local community,” noted Nichole Hockenberry, Director of Marketing and Communications, PBC.
The event was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Beef Council and the Beef Checkoff’s Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative through a grant from the Colorado Beef Council.
Media Contact: Nichole Hockenberry, 570-295-8049; nhockenberry@pabeef.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 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.
