SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy spoke to a receptive crowd in Nashville this week at the annual Cattle Industry Convention or CattleCon. And he discussed - forgive us - beefing up America's intake and production of beef. Natasha Senjanovic checked in with some of the attendees.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
NATASHA SENJANOVIC: RFK Jr. was met with a standing ovation from hundreds of ranchers and beef industry members at a CattleCon Q&A. The event was a last-minute addition. And the first question was, what prompted turning the new food pyramid literally on its head, with a steak right up top? Kennedy cited his campaign promise.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ROBERT F KENNEDY JR: To end the chronic disease epidemic in this country. We have the highest chronic disease burden of any country in the world.
SENJANOVIC: Well, that's not quite right. America's burden is the highest among high-income developed nations. That's also true for obesity rates, and nearly one-third of American teens are prediabetic. These chronic issues have been linked to diets high in ultra-processed low-nutrient foods.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KENNEDY: How do you have obscene obesity and malnutrition in the same individual?
SENJANOVIC: The Health and Agriculture Department say one remedy is more protein and more red meat than previously recommended. Their new dietary guidelines recommend animal and plant protein at every meal, raising its intake by some 50%. Many health scientists warn research shows too much saturated fat, such as from animals, isn't healthy. But bee farmers, not surprisingly, are fans of the new guidelines.
ALEX MCKENZIE: I mean, obviously, we like it. We're a little bit biased.
SENJANOVIC: Alex McKenzie and his family raise cows and hogs at Bear Creek Farms near Nashville. He says demand for their beef - a staple at local farmers markets - began rising markedly with COVID.
MCKENZIE: When the grocery stores ran out of beef, people were like, oh, my gosh, we need to find a more sustainable source.
SENJANOVIC: However, not all beef is created equal, says McKenzie. He and other farmers urge health-conscious carnivores to buy locally farmed and processed meat rather than from large corporations, which produce most of the country's beef. At CattleCon, Kennedy also nudged farmers to expand their herd numbers, which have dropped by about 50% since the 1970s. Todd Fritsch of Texas-based auction house Giddings Livestock says that's not a simple ask.
TODD FRITSCH: I know weather's a big driving factor. If you don't have grazable land or enough grass, but it's hard to increase the herd.
SENJANOVIC: But thanks to genetics, says Fritsch...
FRITSCH: We're breeding better animals, animals that grow larger. We're producing more beef with less animals.
SENJANOVIC: Still, up to 20% of our beef is foreign-born, much of it ground beef for burgers. Ben Harman, the chair of the U.K.'s National Beef Association, praised a new trade deal with the U.S. It promises the exchange of 13,000 tons of beef between the two countries, but what kind of beef is still unclear.
BEN HARMAN: What we are probably craving a little bit is some of your strip loins. But our consumers in the U.K. will not accept hormone-treated meat, and our government won't accept that either.
SENJANOVIC: In the U.S., the majority of cows receive growth hormones, which the U.K. banned in beef in the 1980s.
For NPR News, I'm Natasha Senjanovic in Nashville. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.