The National Harbor Wine and Food Festival at National Harbor, MD, brought together world-renowned chefs, artisanal craftsmen, and culinary pioneers with thousands of Metro DC’s foodies and the beef checkoff-funded National Beef Ambassador team.

The checkoff’s “Beef Booth” was a crowd favorite at the event, drawing thousands of consumers over the two-day event to sample healthy, lean beef that had been rubbed with an amazing combination of coffee, salt, pepper and Montreal steak seasoning and then grilled, low and slow on the BBQ. National Beef Ambassadors were on hand to serve more than 5,000 beef samples and engage with consumers, answering questions ranging from beef nutrition, different choices in beef, and new recipe ideas.

During the event, the ambassadors also shared information about the new BOLD (Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet) study with several consumers who questioned beef’s nutritional value. The consumers were excited to learn about the study's results, which verified that eating lean beef on a daily basis can help to reduce cholesterol.

Beef Ambassador Rossie Blinson of North Carolina says, “The festival was a great event. There were many beef enthusiasts there to enjoy our product and engage with the ambassadors. People were very interested in the recipes and information that we were handing out, and our line for beef samples was quite impressive. The National Harbor event was a huge success!”