The media is praising the Tennessee Cattlemen’s Association for its donation of beef to local foods banks and for supporting youth in agriculture.

Amanda Radke

August 15, 2017

2 Min Read
Tennessee cattlemen donate beef to food banks
Submitted Photo

While there’s plenty of negative and inaccurate fodder circulating the internet about the environmental, ethical and nutritional aspects of the beef cattle business, it’s always exciting to see something positive about our industry being highlighted in the news.

Most recently, the Tennessee Cattlemen’s Association (TCA) received some well-deserved media attention after they donated 2,000 pounds of beef to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee.

According to Nancy De Gennaro, USA Today Network, “The TCA purchased four winning show steers at the Tennessee Junior Livestock Beef Expo in Murfreesboro last month.”

“We wanted to figure out a way to support kids and support the program put on by the Tennessee Extension Service,” said Charles Hord, a Murfreesboro native and executive vice president of the TCA, in an interview. "Our board decided to purchase the prize-winning steers and donate that meat to Second Harvest.”

TCA made the purchase of the four steers with the help of several industry partners including Farm Credit Mid-America, Yearwood Equipment, Bush Hog Inc., Athens and Crossville Stockyards, Tri-Green Equipment and My Team Insurance. The steers brought $15,000 collectively, and the animals will be slaughtered at Blankenship Farms Processing.

"It's a win-win. We are able to support the Expo and the kids. They work really hard getting the animals ready. And we purchased them a little bit over premium market price," Hord told reporters. “We feel like it's pretty important for folks to get the protein and iron that's missing from their diet. It gives us all a pretty good feeling. I don't think people realize how much of a need there is.”

This is a great story that will make consumers feel good about who we are in the agricultural community, and it also serves an immediate need for families who could use some protein in their diets. Plus, it supports youth in agriculture. I would love to see more stories like this going viral on social media! Cheers to the TCA for an awesome promotion and community service project!

The opinions of Amanda Radke are not necessarily those of beefmagazine.com or Penton Agriculture.

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