Proudly Using Beef Produced In The U.S.A.

We here at Great U.S. Beef Jerky are BIG fans of the American Farmer & Rancher which is why we ONLY use beef produced here in the U.S.A. to make our delectable gourmet beef jerky.  

There are many reasons to love the beef produced here in the United States.   Besides the obvious fact that it provides an excellent eating experience, there are other cool reasons that are not so obvious.   

Below is a collection of thoughts and links to articles to help you learn more if you are interested.  The United States is a powerhouse of Agriculture and beef is just one segment of the Ag industry that is helping to feed our world.  It's my favorite segment and it does a lot of good.  That said it does tend to get some bad press, much of it undeserved.  I wanted to highlight the good here in this article.

• Beef produced here in the United States supports many small businesses, most of which are family owned or individually operated as shown in these statistics from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.  These small businesses are supporting rural economies and are the backbone of our food supply.  They also happen to be made up of many, many wonderful, down to earth, hard working familes that many of us would be proud to call a friend.  https://www.ncba.org/beefindustrystatistics.aspx

• Beef produced here in the U.S. is produced with a very high standard of food safety in mind to keep us all healthy and nourished.   https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/production-and-inspection/inspection-and-grading-of-meat-and-poultry-what-are-the-differences_/inspection-and-grading-differences

• Having cattle grazing the land under proper management is beneficial for the environment.  https://www.beefmagazine.com/pasture/yes-cows-really-do-benefit-planet
• The beef you eat IS free of antibiotics, no matter what the “marketing” may confuse you to believe.  There is an article that does a good job of explaining this topic, called:  "Are there antibiotics in meat and poultry? Why farmers use antibiotics to treat animals"  Read the full article HERE.  It goes to address the following question:

• Are antibiotics allowed in meat?

  All meat, poultry and dairy foods sold in the U.S. are free of antibiotic residues, as required by federal law.  If a farm animal does get sick and need antibiotics, farmers must follow strict FDA guidelines for the proper dosage, duration and withdrawal time – or in other words, the time between when the animal is treated and when it goes to market. As an added layer of protection, the U.S. Department of Agriculture samples meat and poultry products to ensure they are free of antibiotic residues.

• With so many food choices available today, it can get confusing, especially if you’re using food labels to decide what to add to your grocery cart. These labels can often raise more questions than they answer. Are there antibiotics in meat and poultry? Is all meat antibiotic free? Do antibiotics make animals grow faster? We spoke with Dr. Kristen Obbink, a veterinarian and assistant director of the National Institute of Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Education based at Iowa State University in Ames, to find some answers.  “When our animals get sick, we do need to be able to treat them,” she continues. “That’s not a good quality of life for that animal if they are having to live with an illness and we can’t treat it.” Plus, research shows that healthy animals result in safer food, Obbink says.  Read the full article HERE. 
• https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/antibioticresistance/animal/truthmeat.pdf
• https://www.niamrre.org/antibiotic-use-in-livestock-declines/
• While not all beef produced here in U.S. uses growth promoting hormones, because it's up to the individual producer to make that business decision, the fact is they are used to create efficiency in the beef production life cycle, meaning less input of resources are required in the production of beef with a greater output of nutritious beef and they are not a concern to human health.  http://meatmythcrushers.com/myths/myth-hormone-use-in-beef-production.php   
•  U.S. Beef is a global leader in sustainability:  https://thesustainabilityalliance.us/u-s-beef-fact-sheet/#:~:text=Modern%20beef%20production%20requires%20fewer,by%2016.3%25%20from%201977%20levels

• U.S. beef is produced in a sustainable manner and producers are always looking for ways to improve upon this because our future as an industry relies on it.  No industry is perfect and we are not claiming that the beef industry is perfect.  The U.S. beef industry recognizes that there are challengs that need to be addressed in producing enough food to help feed the world's growing population.  One great mindset in agriculture has been to seek to be a part of the solution vs. complaining or pointing fingers.  In particular, there is some great information here to be learned from Dr. Sara Place on this Green Biz article.  https://www.farmprogress.com/story-5-ways-debunk-myths-beefs-sustainable-9-141719
• https://www.greenbiz.com/article/moving-beyond-food-footprints-sustainable-food-systems-sponsored