Say It Isn’t So

Every so often I’ll receive an e-mail which seems so outlandish, you think this can’t be true, and you really don’t want it to be true saying, “Say it isn’t so.”

This happened to me a while back when I received an e-mail from an animal rights group stating, “After over a year of advocacy, Xanterra Travel Collection, which feeds millions of Yellowstone Park visitors annually, has committed to making 50 percent of its entrees plant-based by 2026.”

The e-mail went on to say, “This is the company’s first ever quantified plant-based goal and directly impacts America’s first national park at peak summer tourism season.

First, thinking this information was false, I looked up the website of Xanterra Travel Collection and sure enough, it was on their website, which read, “One of the most impactful ways we can meet commitment to inclusive menus, healthy cuisine and environmental sustainability is by offering more plant-based menu items. These local and seasonal plant-based ingredients have a lower environmental impact and align with the growing demand for food which is both delicious and responsible. Xanterra offers vegetarian menu options at all food outlets and strives to increase plant-based food offerings to 50 percent by 2026.”

Xanterra has contracts with many national parks and other recreational venues around the country, and claims to be operators of over 50 restaurants.

Beef and lamb producers need to be aware of what is happening at some places and restaurants across the country. One would hope Xanterra will realize plant-based and fake meat is not going over well across the country, as their stocks and values drop. I’m sure they have read the list of ingredients and see all the additives involved to get it to taste like meat.

I can’t imagine tourists going all the way to Yellowstone National Park wanting to share the Western culture by eating some glorified dog food. Instead they will want some locally-raised beef or lamb.

Another issue, I don’t understand is the push to have a mandated Country of Origin Labeling.

We all want Country of Origin labeling on our beef products as we are proud of our beef and how it was raised. We realize we have the tastiest, healthiest and safest beef in the world that is substantiated by the demand for U.S. beef exported abroad.

Those making policy and laws in Congress, tried this over 10 years ago. Really nothing has changed since, and now the American Beef Labeling Act is set to mandate.

The Canadians will go to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and cry foul, the WTO will tell the U.S. it can’t do it with a threat of a large penalty, and the U.S. will have to back off.  Unless the U.S. has different trade agreements now, Canada is going to act.

I was in Canada at an International Cattle Conference at the time of the first legislation and we visited with the agriculture minister. He was adamant Canada was going to stop the mandate and they did.

The large U.S. meatpackers will also fight it and if approved, will pass down the expense of processing our meat to the producer and feeder.