Keeping an eye on consumer trends and external threats to the beef industry, I’ve rounded up four headlines worth checking out this week.

1. “Research Illuminates Need For More Beef Production Awareness” by Glynn Tonsor, Christopher Wolf and Melissa McKendree for BEEF magazine.

Researchers at Kansas State University recently examined the differences and similarities in views of consumers and producers to help the livestock industry stay ahead of trends in animal care. The differences might startle you.

According to the article, “A key finding in the study showed 65% of U.S. consumers reported they were concerned about the welfare of beef cattle in the U.S. While most beef producers strongly disagreed that a tradeoff exists between profitability and animal welfare, consumers tended to believe that being more profitable means sacrificing on animal welfare. Another major difference between the two groups was their views on providing overall care to cattle. While 73% of cow-calf producers believed that U.S. farms and ranches provide appropriate overall care to their cattle, only 39% of the public believed this to be true.”

2. Try these 9 delicious burgers for National Cheeseburger Day.

Although National Cheeseburger Day was last week (Sept. 18), beef got a lot of press out of the obscure national holiday. Of course, it’s never too late to celebrate! From Fox News, here are nine heavenly cheeseburger recipes to try out for National Cheeseburger Day.

According to Fox News, “Nothing tops a juicy burger better than ooey gooey cheese. Luckily there's an entire food holiday dedicated to celebrating one of America's favorite food staple. Thursday, Sept. 18, is National Cheeseburger Day and we have put together a list of some of the best burger recipes out there including the Mac & Cheese Burger, Corned Beef Cheeseburger, and Grilled Cilantro Burger Sliders with Teriyaki and Pineapple.

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3. Michelle Obama wants to control how you shop for groceries.

First Lady Obama probably wouldn’t approve of the above list of delicious cheeseburgers. She’s already received plenty of complaints for her changes to the school lunch program, which significantly limit animal proteins, and now she wants to exert a similar influence on adults. Those on food stamps can now be bribed to eat healthfully with movie tickets, and the program will dictate to grocery stores how they can display their food. For example, a great portion of the dairy section will be required to have skim-free and low-fat options.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, “The USDA is suggesting major changes to grocery stores to nudge Americans to purchase healthier foods when they shop. USDA has recommendations on how to guide the more than 47 million Americans on food stamps into spending their benefits on fruits and vegetables. Initial suggestions from the USDA on how to alter the grocery environment include stores offering “SNAP-Ed cooking classes” and consultations with dieticians. Another idea included a point-based system where food stamp recipients could receive movie tickets in exchange for healthy food purchases.”

4. Boycott Discover for supporting HSUS.

From YellowTail wine to Mary Kay cosmetics, advocates for agriculture have been able to use social media to encourage companies that supported HSUS to back off and send the money to more deserving programs. It looks like another company has fallen into the trap of the animal rights organization, and HumaneWatch.org has all of the details.

From HumaneWatch.org: “We’ve launched a new site: BoycottHSUS.com. And we have our first campaign. The credit card company Discover recently started a new affinity card to benefit HSUS. For every $100 someone with one of these cards spends, Discover will donate between 1¢ and 20¢ to HSUS. That may not seem like much, but Discover expects it will add up to slightly over $1 million. In fact, according to the contract, Discover paid HSUS $150,000 up front in advance royalty payments. And HSUS gets $100 from Discover for every person that signs up for the program from an HSUS communication and spends $100 within the first three months.”

What do you think about this week’s headlines? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

The opinions of Amanda Radke are not necessarily those of beefmagazine.com or the Penton Farm Progress Group.

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