Listen Now: What’s the Beef?

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Beef, it may not be what’s for dinner and cattle producers aren’t happy about it. I’m Brian Banmiller on Business.

For thirty-five years cattle producers have been paying into the “beef. It’s what’s for dinner” marketing campaign with a mandatory fee of one dollar per head of cattle sold. Now those producers say the slogan is no longer worth what they’re paying. Instead, imported meat and plant based meat is flooding the market. The head of a trade group trying to end the program says the American consumer is being deceived at the meat counter and the money they are paying does not answer the question of where that meat was born, raised and harvested. They say today’s cattle industry is so much different than when the campaign was put into place that it no longer makes sense. And now they are paying the advertising bill for meatpacking plants that are able to import beef, source it from cheaper countries and fool customers. Consumers have a stake in the game because the program makes sure they are getting a better-quality product. And to many that tastes pretty good. Brian Banmiller, CBS News.

About Brian

CBS News Radio national business journalist Brian Banmiller has spent more than 40 years in the news industry, covering business, politics and the economy on television, radio and in print. Currently, his “Banmiller on Business” reports are delivered to an audience of millions nationwide.