Close-Up on Modern Beef Production: A Millennial Movie-Making Project
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Suggested Lead: By utilizing beef checkoff resources, America’s cattle farmers and ranchers last week commissioned Close-Up on Modern Beef Production, a millennial movie-making project that helps consumers understand modern beef production practices. Jennifer Stolp, who manages this issues management project for the beef checkoff, says the project is a collection of three videos made by student filmmakers showcasing different areas of beef production.
Stolp 1: “The program provides the venue for us to objectively tell the story of cattle farming and ranching in America today. The three films address animal welfare, environmental sustainability and the farming and ranching families who make raising cattle and raising beef their way of life. The finished films are all about 20 minutes in length and they provide consumers with sort of a documentary style of view of beef production from pasture to plate.” (22 seconds)
Each of these movies inspires consumer awareness and encourages them to take charge of their food choices. The checkoff utilized “millennial” filmmakers, ages 18 to 30 years, to complete this project. Stolp explains why this was key to the success of the films.
Stolp 2: “The millennial generation which are folks that were born from 1980 to 2000, are a really important demographic for beef consumption. The recent checkoff-funded research which indicates that millennial’s influence is going to continue to grow and is going to overshadow and displace baby boomers as the dominant demographic group in society. So by working with millennial-aged filmmakers, we’re extending that positive message about beef farmers and ranchers to this important audience.” (27 seconds)
Stolp explains a few of the steps the beef checkoff is taking to promote the videos and extend their use and popularity among consumers.
Stolp 3: “From a national perspective, we’re working on several different activities to promote the films. We are posting the videos online – they are going to be hosted on the Explore Beef YouTube channel and also embedded on the ExploreBeef.org website. So they will be available for viewers on both of those online spaces. We’re also putting together short cuts or highlights from each of the films that emphasize the important or interesting points that were addressed by our filmmakers. In addition to that, we’re working with the students and encouraging them to submit their films to regional film festivals and also to food festivals. And when the films are available online, we’ll be reaching out to journalists in both the traditional and social media or online spaces, to further promote them.” (39 seconds)
To view each video, visit ExploreBeef.org. For information on other efforts being funded with your beef checkoff investment, visit MyBeefCheckoff.com.
The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.
Funded by the Beef Checkoff.
SOCIAL MEDIA