Report covers 90 percent of the meat sold in the US.
By Andrew Joseph, Farms.com; Image by Joe from Pixabay
A report was recently released by the US-based North American Meat Institute (NAMI) covering 100 percent of its members—over 2,000—covering about 90 percent of all the meat sold in the country.
NAMI is the United States’ oldest and largest trade association representing packers and processors of beef, pork, lamb, veal, turkey, and processed meat products. Its members include over 350 meat packing and processing companies, the majority of which have fewer than 100 employees, and account for over 95 percent of the United States’ output of meat and 70 percent of turkey production.
The report, released to coincide with the United Nations Climate Summit going on November 6-18, 2022, in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, is the first ever report from the US meat sector focusing primarily on the environment, and other details.
The report revealed that about 81 percent of facilities reporting data are covered by NAMI members’ commitments to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
For NAMI, this reports full commitment from its members sets the first ever baselines for measuring progress toward ambitious targets for environmental sustainability, animal care, food safety, worker safety, and food security.
Anna Potts, the President and Chief Executive Officer for NAMI, said: “Ninety-eight percent of American households purchase meat, putting our sector undoubtedly at the center of solutions for healthy diets, healthy communities, and a healthy planet for generations to come.
“The Meat Institute’s first-ever continuous improvement report is a game changer for transparency in the sector - setting transparent baselines that will allow us to measure progress and verify our sector’s contributions to global goals.”
The North American Meat Institute is a non-profit, industry trade association formed in 2015 from the merger of the American Meat Institute and the North American Meat Association. It is headquartered in metropolitan Washington, DC.
Report Findings:
- Supporting NAMI’s commitment to measure and fill the “protein gap” for needy families by 2025, 78 percent of reporting companies donate money or products to food banks and charities, including more than $9 million announced this year to combat hunger by building or expanding food banks’ capacity to safely receive, store, package, and distribute fresh meat hungry families need;
- 82 percent of reporting facilities are covered by a company commitment to minimize packaging waste, and 71 percent are covered by a company commitment to reduce food waste;
- 96 percent of reporting facilities that conduct meat processing require suppliers to maintain a written animal welfare program based on NAMI Animal Handling Guidelines;
- 98 percent of reporting facilities have a multidisciplinary team that periodically reviews food safety programs and takes improvement actions.
To read the full report and for more information about the North American Meat Institute’s continuous improvement framework and targets, visit: www.theproteinpact.org/Our_Goals.