HFC - Meating In the Middle

Ben Rice - Prairie Land Dairy 

I realize this is two days late, nonetheless, here is the recap. Husker Food Connection, is actually a registered student organization on campus, but we just had our big event of the year. Meating in the Middle - was a way to connect students with where their food comes from. People are four generations removed from the farm today, so it is more important than ever to educate consumers with the correct information. HFC partnered with several companies to help sponsor the food and information packets that were handed out. We had a chicken, two baby pigs, a dairy cow and calf, a steer, and a tractor, along with a free meal!
One of the highlight attractions was the dairy cow and baby calf that Prairie Land Dairy brought. In addition to being a sponsor for the lunch, they were also there to represent the dairy industry.

12 week old piglet 

In addition to the dairy cow and calf, there we a couple baby pigs there as well. I'll admit, that I'm not much of a pig person, but I do love me some bacon! 

Milking Cow

One of the neat resources we had available to us, (HFC planning committee) was the "Milking Cow". This is a station where participants could learn how to milk a cow. When her udder gets empty, you can recycle the water back in through a port in the top. It was fun getting to teach students, even some Husker Football players, how to milk a cow. 

John Deere prototype tractor 

It wouldn't be a proper "Ag Day" without a tractor there! This is one from the tractor test lab here on campus! 

My favorite part of #HFC14 was getting to talk to students on campus about agriculture and why we do what we do. I was surprised by how open students were willing to be with the mis-conceptions about ag. This gave us the opportunity to help guide them in the right direction. Here are some of my favorite facts that I got to share with students: 

-Nebraska is the Beef State, meaning we have more cattle on feed than Texas, despite how much bigger they are than us. 

-In Nebraska, cattle out number people 4 to 1.

-It would take 7 cups of raw broccoli to equal the calcium found in one glass of milk!

-A dairy cow can produce 120 cups of milk a day!

-White eggs and brown eggs have the exact same nutritional value. 

Feel free to share these with all your friends too! 

*Little side note, the posters that you see displayed in these pictures were designed by me! 

99% -- minus the moo!

Lipstick, Jell-O, dog food, piano keys, dish soap, and for those of you old enough to remember, film.  What do all of these have in common? These are just a few of the products that we use everyday that come from the byproducts of beef. Let me preface this with products that are made from byproducts are safe and pose not direct threat to your health or overall well being (unless you eat the entire bag of marshmallows by yourself on your next camp-out, then that's your fault!)

Myth: The only part of the animal we use, is the meat.
Fact: We use 99% of the animal. In addition to the meat - the hide, the hooves, and even the bones get used.

Lets start with the hide. Leather purses, shoes, wallets, office chairs, and car seats are all made from the hide. In fact, from 1 cow hide you can get
12 basketballs or
144 baseballs or
20 footballs or
18 volleyballs or
18 soccer balls or
12 baseball gloves.

Where do marshmallows come into the picture you ask? Marshmallows are made from the gelatin that comes from the connective tissues. Other familiar products made with gelatin include gum, fruit snacks, gummy bears and Jell-O!

Ever hear that glue was made from hooves, well I am here to confirm that suspicion The hooves of cattle and horses are key ingredients in glue. But what might surprise you, is that the sticky part (the one that hurts so bad to rip off) of a band-aid is also made from the fatty acids which can be turned into adhesives! The power of fatty acids doesn't stop there, they can be found in toilet paper and soap *GASP* to optimize softness!

With all this by-product talk, lets not forget about the most obvious and common byproducts...FOOD! Juicy steaks and hot dogs, milk and cheese, even yogurt! 

Stearic acid (a fatty acid): is a popular ingredient in tires, lipstick, and lotion. (Animal byproducts are not used in all cosmetics, as some people have allergies)

While not near as popular in the United States as other places around the world, we can't leave out the nutritional benefits from some of the other byproducts: 

Livers: high in vitamin A, iron, zinc, B vitamins, vitamins C and D, copper, and fatty acids.

Hearts: contain large amounts of iron, and are a good source of selenium, zinc, phosphorous, niacin, and riboflavin, but are very low in sodium. 

Brains: rich in niacin, phosphorus, B12 and vitamin C

Tripe: abundant protein and B12

Sweetbreads: high in vitamin C

Kidneys: high in protein and contain riboflavin and niacin.

Tongues: good source of B12, but low in sodium

(USDA, Where's the (Not) Meat? Byproducts from Beef and Pork Production.) 

I snagged this picture from Facts About Beef blog.

As we discovered, there is more to a beef cow that just a hamburger! Don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns! Have a great day!

Just the Facts - Beef Byproducts. http://ardc.unl.edu/JTF-BEEFBYPRODUCTS.pdf
Marti, Daniel. Rachel Johnson. Kenneth Mathews, Jr. Where's the (Not) Meat Byrpoducts from Beef and Pork Production. Nov. 2011.
http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/147867/ldpm20901.pdf

Midnight Munchies

As I'm sitting here eating my egg, bacon, and cheese biscuit a thought occurs to me; thinking about where our food comes from, isn't something that often crosses other people's minds. It's no secret that I come from an agricultural background—it has to this day defined who I am, and what my future will be.

"Where does my food come from?" A question consumers are asking more and more these days. There is no fault in asking this, in fact myself, and I can confidently speak on behalf of many producers, would love the chance to share with consumers where their food comes from. The problem lies in the fact that these conversations aren't happening. The bigger problem at hand, is that these conversations that aren't happening, are being replaced by false information. If all a person is ever given is false information, what circumstances do they have to believe that what they know then isn't the truth? That's a hard comeback for the Ag industry.

Now, how does all of this tie into my midnight cravings for egg, bacon, and cheese biscuits? I have the advantage of knowing the process by which the slice of bacon  made it onto my sandwich, and that the eggs came from a chicken (and not the grocery store), and that the flour used to make my biscuit was once a wheat seed, out in a wheat field, blowing in the summer breeze (on the plains of Nebraska...of course!). While I am fortunate enough for this to be common knowledge for me, I realize that it isn't for everyone, so I want to help start those conversations about where our food comes from.!

For those of you wondering, Jimmy Dean makes a mean microwavable sandwich, no they didn't pay me to write this, and yes I could probably eat the whole box in one sitting.