Month: December 2018

WHY WOULD ANOTHER COUNTRY WANT U.S. MEAT?

Why would another country want U.S. meat?  Well, it turns out that in many countries, the U.S. is well respected as providing high quality protein.  Some countries, like Mexico, don’t grow enough hogs to provide all the pork their citizens want, so they buy from the U.S. because it’s close, easy, and cheap because of our free trade agreement.

Other countries appreciate our food safety standards.  Or maybe governmental officials from the country have visited our farmers and they like what they see.  The reasons are endless.

U.S. poultry buyers guide

But when another country is interested in buying U.S. poultry or eggs, they might refer to a buyer’s guide, like this one provided by the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council.

The guide helps international customers understand the frozen, uncooked chicken cuts that are available, as well as the processed and specialized products for sale.

Maybe more importantly, the guide also helps the customers understand the safety standards U.S. poultry is subjected to before its allowed to be sold.

“All U.S. chicken meat which is offered for export must be inspected and approved by the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The 90-year-old agency is regarded as a
model for food inspection services worldwide. A USDA inspection stamp indicates that a chicken product was properly processed, has been inspected and is safe to eat. There are three integral layers in FSIS food safety  assurance: manual inspection, HACCP and pathogen reduction.”

Did you realize you live in a country that provides one of the safest food options available worldwide?

TRADE HELPS THE WORLD TO EAT

We talk a lot about trade on this blog, but let me boil it down for you again:

American farmers are great at growing food.  Corn, is a big commodity, but because we’re great at growing corn, we are also great at growing cattle, pigs, and chickens because they eat corn.

When one country has all the food (corn, soybeans, pigs, cows, chickens) and another country doesn’t, the answer is trade.

Last week, our board got a chance to meet with the U.S. Meat Export Federation, whose goal is to help other countries that need more protein sources understand how to use the protein we sell from the U.S. and help them import it into their country.

Here’s a video created by the U.S. Meat Export Federation summarizing a U.S. Pork Seminar they held in the Dominican Republic.

The effort that goes into opening and servicing an international market is huge. First we must work with government officials to alleviate any concerns working with the U.S. Then we have to help the chefs and restaurateurs understand how to use our cuts of pork in their traditional recipes. Finally, we work with grocery stores to help international customers know how to prepare our pork in their homes.