Beef Processed in Minnesota Wears 'Kentucky Proud' Label

by Hanna Raskin, Posted Feb 10th 2010 @ 4:00PM

Some local food advocates in Kentucky are questioning a new Department of Agriculture program that will slap "Kentucky Proud" labels on beef processed in the upper Midwest.

A Business Lexington columnist reported there was an "outcry" from readers after learning of the state's plans to partner with Minnesota's PM Beef to overcome economy of scale issues that have prevented beef from becoming a major component of Kentucky's nine-year-old homegrown foods initiative. The situation's familiar to many cattle-farming southern states: Consolidation in the meatpacking industry has left Kentucky without the processing facilities it needs to keep its citizens supplied with affordable red meat.

"If we assume everyone in Kentucky eats an average of 80 pounds a year, with the processing capacity we have in Kentucky, we can provide only four percent of that consumption," Kentucky Department of Agriculture spokesman Bill Clary explains.

Under the new program, Clary says, PM Beef will purchase certified Kentucky-raised Angus cattle through Kentucky markets.

"This beef will come back to Kentucky," Clary says. "And the calves are staying in the state much longer than they usually do, so more economic value of the cattle is being captured here in the state."

Clary's especially excited about distribution opportunities created by the new program: Trucks moving beef around the state will also be loaded with Kentucky Proud vegetables, milk and other foodstuffs. In the past, Clary says, "There's been an inability to get our products to every corner of the commonwealth."

Still he says he understands the motivation behind calls for a line of Kentucky Damn Proud products that are grown, harvested, processed and packaged in state.

"In a perfect situation, everything would be done in state, and perhaps down the pike, that will be possible," he says. "This is a first step. Hopefully we'll get to the point where everything a Kentuckian consumes will be produced here."

Filed Under: Farming, Business, Food News, Food Politics
Tags: agriculture, beef, featured, kentucky, kentucky proud, meat

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