Meating market queries

A spokesman for Target 100 said a recent example of the organisation spreading positive information about beef and lamb coincided with it’s third anniversary last month, with responses to meat free week from March 23 to 29.

“To combat meat free week, Target 100 shared its new #GoodMeat educational videos, fact cards and information to remind consumers their choice to eat Australian beef and lamb is both ethical and sustainable and it forms part of a balanced diet as recommended by the Australian dietary guidelines,” the spokesman said.

“Improving the transparency of the beef and lamb industry to the community is a major focus for Target 100.

“Following a social licence review in 2014 the industry undertook, Target 100 has updated its website to provide more information and to acknowledge concerns the community has and demonstrate how industry is responding.”

The #GoodMeat videos will be shared on YouTube and focus on some of the perceived issues associated with beef production.

“We’re tackling the big topics that consumers care about, including animal welfare in Australian feedlots, climate change from methane emissions and protecting the Great Barrier Reef from sediment run off,” the spokesman said.

“The first video series features wild man Andrew Ucles and has already had 22,000 views in just two weeks... new videos will be released every Wednesday across the next few months.”

Another new project to keep Target 100 moving forward is a collaboration with the youth food movement, designed to give young people a better understanding of the beef industry.

Beef Jam was launched on April 27 and is an event that will take a group of young producers and consumers on a tour of Australia’s beef supply chain and retail market.

“This first-hand, shared producer-consumer experience will challenge them to find working solutions to issues facing the industry,” said youth food movement communications manager Helena Rosebery.

“Participants will tour a farm, a feedlot, a processing plant and (visit) a retailer to learn more about how Australian beef travels from the paddock to plate.”

Ms Rosebery said young people were often referred to as the supermarket generation.

“We’ve grown up picking our produce from shelves and peeling our meat from plastic packets,” she said.

“The fact the majority of young people are physically distanced from farms also means they can’t simply go ask a farmer about the origins of their meat. Understanding how beef and lamb reaches their plates is a major step in helping them distil all the information out there and start making informed decisions about beef and lamb.”

Ms Rosebery said social media was essential for reaching urban markets.

“Especially for young people – Facebook and Instagram deliver a huge portion of the information they receive around food.

“These platforms also allow young people to stay in-the-loop with what their friends are doing and thinking about food by plugging into the power of peer-to-peer learning.

“What we’ve found is nothing can replace the experience of venturing out and meeting the people and places where food is grown. Social media can help facilitate young people coming together and doing that, but it can’t replace it.“

Since March 27, 2012, Target 100 has completed more than 90 research and development projects, accumulated more than 230 producer case studies, created more than 80 YouTube videos viewed by thousands online, gained more than 10,000 Facebook followers, developed 10 curriculum-aligned resources for schools, reached 2 million people through cinema advertisements and shared the story of beef and lamb producers with 20,000 urban consumers at events across the country.

Getting the message out at Dunedoo

FROM Facebook to Youtube, you can see a lot of Rob Lennon online as he uses the internet to help educate consumers about his organic Wagyu beef.

Mr Lennon, “Gundooee”, Dunedoo, has worked with Target 100 and Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) to help find his feet in the online world and now has a strong social media presence across multiple platforms including a website, blog, Twitter and Facebook, while a Youtube video of his TedX presentation about sustainable cattle farming has been viewed more than 2000 times.

“The most important thing I can do is educate the consumers,” said Mr Lennon (pictured with farmhand Daniel Hayes).

Animal welfare, environmental impacts, stock traceability and soil health are just some of the topics Mr Lennon has discussed online.

“I get really good feedback from people who are interested in farming issues.”

He understood for many farmers it could be difficult to find the time to have an active social media presence.

However, he said it was worth the effort, especially as more people in both the cities and the country were spending more time online.