Over the last several years, sustainability has become a growing concern among consumers of a wide variety of industries. John Butler with the Beef Marketing Group says it’s time for the beef industry to open the discussion on addressing the concerns of beef consumers.
“The consumer wants to know where their food comes from and that it is being produced responsibly and that all fits into the sustainability conversation,’ Butler said.
Butler has just moved into the chairmanship of the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef this week ahead of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) annual summer business meeting in Denver, Colorado. Relatively new in its existence at just about a year old, the U.S. Roundtable is an offshoot of the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef. Butler says that a “one size fits all” approach to sustainability is not feasible on a global scale. He explained that Brazil for instance, produces beef much differently than we do here in the U.S. utilizing what resources and methods they have, and thusly Brazil’s definition of sustainable might differ greatly compared to producers’ here which led to the creation of the U.S. Roundtable. Butler described his mindset in how to begin defining sustainable beef.
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