Consumer Trends
Organic food meets economic downturn
For the past few years, organic and natural foods have occupied the fastest growing aisle of the supermarket.
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Wasted energy
Ethanol had a lot to live up to. It was going to use our plentiful corn to set us on a path toward energy independence, while reducing the greenhouse-gas emissions from our cars and providing a boon to farmers.
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Sowing the sky
Conservative estimates say the human population will increase by about 3 billion people by 2050. Using today’s farming practices, a landmass 20 percent bigger than Brazil will be needed to grow enough food to feed them.
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One nation, under sprawl
Here’s something farmers and environmentalists can agree on: Sprawl is bad.
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The green trend lives
Last month, the research firm NPD Group reported that the green consumer trend is over. “It’s basically a card that a lot of people played while it was hot and trendy,” according to one industry analyst.
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Teach your consumers well
Beef is good for you. That’s the simple message the industry continually seeks to broadcast.
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Flavor and juiciness
Even though tenderness is usually considered the most important element of the palatability trio — tenderness, juiciness and flavor — juiciness and flavor can’t be ignored.
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Show some tenderness
Tenderness, juiciness and flavor — these are the qualities that determine whether someone eating a piece of beef will be happy or unhappy. Of those, tenderness is generally considered the most important.
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Coming soon: new cuts for consumers
Be on the lookout for at least four new beef value cuts. The new cuts, fabricated from the beef chuck roll, are predicted to debut in foodservice and retail channels in 2008.
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Growing a community
Organic food is hot, but local food is hotter. While grocery stores are identifying any food they can with a local label and farmers’ markets are multiplying, some consumers are getting their food straight from the source: the farm.
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Foie gras for thought
Twice each week, a dozen protesters wave signs at incoming patrons of Le Bec-Fin, a famous Philadelphia restaurant. Some of them show photographs of a normal duck liver next to one that is swollen to 10 times that size, a liver destined to become foie gras.
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- Cow-calf corner: Review calving season and make improvements
- Feeder cattle review: Feed report neutral to slightly bearish
- Cattle Outlook: Retail choice beef up 9% over past 2 years
- United States Cattle on Feed down 3 percent
- Family contribution takes reward for cattle shooting over $16k
- Nebraska Cattle on Feed down 3 percent
- New school lunch beef recipes win approval from kids, foodservice
- Drier weather to give big boost to U.S. corn plantings
- Prices for corn and soybeans, five years from now
- Agriculture is expected to remain strong in the coming decade
- What sick day? Farmers take just three a year
- Senate Agriculture Committee completes Farm Bill markup
