BECOME A BEEF ADVOCATE - - JOIN THE FIRST IDAHO MBA CLASS!

 We face a number of challenges in the beef industry. Among those is combating anti-animal agriculture activists with the truth about beef and beef production. Beef producers work hard every day to be good stewards of the land and their animals and to provide safe and nutritious beef for America’s dinner tables. We need to be equally passionate and vocal in telling our story.

 If you meet an anti-beef militant who insists that beef production is the major source of global methane emissions, what would you say? If a neighbor or a consumer you happened to talk to at the grocery store told you he or she doesn’t eat much beef because of its fat content, could you share a few basic beef nutrition facts that could persuade this person otherwise? 

 The good news is – there are answers you can give these people if you yourself are armed with the facts and the beef checkoff is giving you those facts. That’s what the checkoff-funded Masters of Beef Advocacy (MBA) program is about -- equipping beef producers across the country with the tools they need to tell the beef story. 

 The MBA program is a free, self-directed online training program designed to equip beef producers and industry allies with the information they need to be everyday advocates for the beef industry.  The six courses, which average less than one hour per week, include such things as:

·           -  Modern Beef Production – Sharing the many benefits of modern, efficient U.S. beef production

·           -  Beef Safety – Communicating why producing safe food for consumers is a top priority

·           -  Beef Nutrition – Explaining how great-tasting beef strengthens and sustains our bodies

·           -  Environmental Stewardship – Sharing how we’re protecting the environment for future generations

 After completing the program, participants will be ready to become everyday beef advocates and to get out and meet consumers where they live. This may be as simple as talking to friends and neighbors, or going out to broader audiences such as schools, businesses and civic groups to tell the beef story, or the “virtual” world of the Internet and responding to blogs, online news articles and more. 

 You are invited to participate in the beef checkoff’s new Masters of Beef Advocacy (MBA) program and be one of the first graduates for Idaho’s 2009 class.  To enroll send an e-mail to beefcouncil@idbeef.org with your name and email address.