Educators Reminded of Beef's Benefits

May 14, 2001

Through a combined state and national effort, grade school and high school teachers across the United States are being reminded of the many beef industry educational materials available to them. Checkoff-funded aids that address such topics as nutrition, the environment, consumer sciences and others are featured in a new flyer being distributed by state beef councils and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA).

The flyer describes and illustrates more than a dozen teachers' aids prepared by the NCBA on behalf of the Cattlemen's Beef Board and state beef councils. The materials are targeted to specific age groups and professionally written, designed and marketed with teachers in mind. Some of the materials are provided free to teachers in grades 3-7. All materials are available to teachers through the beef industry's education web site, www.teachfree.com.

Several of the materials have won national awards for their effectiveness in reaching children and getting across the beef industry's message. Among the materials being promoted in the flyer are "Eat Well Grow Strong," an educational poster for second graders; "Caretakers All," an environmental program for grades 3-4; "Fueled for Flight," an education kit that uses space travel to teach 5-6 grade students about how the body uses energy; "Basics About Beef," a colorful 24-page booklet that covers all aspects of beef nutrition, purchasing, storing and preparation; and "Facts for Your Files," a series of background sheets on numerous topics important to both consumers and the beef industry.

State beef councils are promoting the materials through distribution of the flyer as well as through ongoing communications with teachers in their states. The NCBA promotes the beef industry's materials at teacher conferences, through direct teacher contact and through ongoing contact with national teacher organizations. More than 170,000 teacher aids were distributed through these channels in fiscal 2000, reaching in excess of 3 million students.

Descriptions of all materials can be obtained by going to the beef industry's web site, www.beef.org, or the industry's site for teachers, www.teachfree.com.