Guest Blog March 2014 By
Chandler Keys
Chandler Keys is principal at Keys Group, based in Washington D.C. He previously served as vice president for government and industry relations for JBS USA and before that for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
The meat industry should tell the truth with one voice
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(The views and opinions expressed in this blog are strictly those of the author.)
In the coming months the red meat industry will have an opportunity that doesn't come around very often: a chance to create something new. I’m speaking of forming one consolidated organization to represent our interests.
To do this we will have to accept change and give up comfort – and these are historically alien notions for our industry. We like tradition, after all.
We do difficult things for a society that desires our products but would rather not know the details of how they wound up in their supermarkets. So for us, organizing to meet and console one another is attractive. This has some merit and the new association will still provide this service but what is more important is to engage outwardly and advocate with one voice.
The new organization must strive to focus on issues that are a priority to the public and find solutions to deal with them. We may become frustrated and sometimes infuriated with our naysayers’ lack of knowledge but that doesn't mean we can't address them with earnest effort.
The meat business has always been a mystery to the general public shrouded in hyperbole from exposé journalism. We, in turn, tend to shun inquiry. While it is true that the industry has made recent strides to break this behavior, we nevertheless must do more.
With this in mind it is important we have one association that takes the risk to open up and tell the unvarnished story. We must start with the obvious. We slaughter animals then we cut them up so they can be consumed. That is what we do. Rather than using euphemisms, we need to be plain-spoken. I sincerely feel most people in the general public can handle the truth.
We must remember that our detractors will never go away. They will poke and prod us on a daily basis. We must firmly push back, remembering the overall population just wants us to do our job and provide them with meat.
This does not negate our responsibility to do the right thing. We must continue to improve on how we run our industry. To that end, we must prioritize issues that give the public the most concern and that over which we have control. We should "own" these issues. Too often associations drift into the “issue du jour.”
The problem is that as these issues accumulate, trade groups tend to lose sight of their core concerns. It's not that secondary issues aren't important; it’s just that they're secondary.
It takes discipline to play a supporting role on these peripheral matters but by doing so, an organization has the time and space to become the lead on its core priorities. This also conveys a seriousness of purpose to the public.
We need to agree on what issues we should own. There should only be a few and they must be obvious. Then we must identify the issues for which we will play a supporting role. This may sound simplistic and detractors will say surprises need to be accounted for. That’s all well and good, and I agree – to a point.
But to be taken seriously by the public we need to be supremely competent regarding our core issues. To this end, it is imperative we move forward to form a new red meat organization in the coming months.
Our message to the world should be that we are here and ready to be accountable.
3/12/2014
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