Is it time for Kentucky Damn Proud?

http://www.southsidermagazine.com/Articles-c-2010-01-26-91208.113117_COLUMN_Is_it_time_for_Kentucky_Damn_Proud.html

by Kara Keeton

I consider myself a locavore. At least, I try my best to be one.

Visit me in the summer and you will see my counters, table and usually my refrigerator overflowing with vegetables from my CSA basket or my own garden. I buy hundreds of pounds of berries from local producers to freeze and enjoy in the winter months. As for protein, all the meat in my freezer right now is from Kentucky processors or courtesy of my friends and family who enjoy deer hunting. Then there are the local jams, salsa, sorghum, apple cider vinegar, flour, cornmeal and a multitude of daily-use items in my cabinets that are made locally.

One might say that being a locavore makes me Kentucky Proud, which is true, but I want to go a step further. I'm trying to be Kentucky Damn Proud.

What is Kentucky Damn Proud, many of you might be asking? Kentucky Damn Proud is how many in Kentucky's agriculture community define a product that is completely grown, harvested, processed and packaged right here in Kentucky.

Having always understood that for a product to carry a Kentucky Proud label, it meant that the major ingredients were grown and/or processed in Kentucky, I was surprised at the outcry from readers last week who felt the new Kentucky Proud Angus beef product line should not qualify as a Kentucky Proud product.

While the finishing and processing of the animals used in the Kentucky Proud Angus beef line is taking place outside of Kentucky, the animals are bred, born and raised on Kentucky farms. Does this make the Kentucky Proud Angus line of beef "Kentucky Damn Proud?" No, but it is Kentucky Proud.

All Angus cattle in the Kentucky Proud Angus beef program must be born in Kentucky, meet all Certified Preconditioned Health (CPH) standards, and be USDA Process Verified Program (PVP) certified. The cattle will be sold from the farmer to PM Beef, the Minnesota-based company that is collaborating with the Kentucky Proud program on the Kentucky Proud beef line, at CPH sales across the state. Documentation and affidavits proving that the cattle were born and raised on a Kentucky farm, with the specific name of the family and farm location, will accompany each head purchased by PM Beef. Multiple levels of auditing will be done to assure the documentation is accurate and follows the cattle from farm to processing to distribution.

Ouita Michael, owner and chef at Holly Hill Inn in Midway, is known for incorporating Kentucky Proud products in her menus at Holly Hill Inn and her other restaurants in the area. While she was unsure about the Kentucky Proud Angus beef line when she first heard about it, she told me she now feels that the level of certification that will be put in place to ensure that the cattle are born and raised in Kentucky make it a great compromise to get Kentucky raised beef to the consumer.

"One of the things we are really great at in Kentucky is raising cattle, we have a lot of great cattle producers, but there is minimal processing available compared to the number of producers and the number of consumers that we have for Kentucky beef," said Michaels in an interview after the Kentucky Proud Advisory Council meeting on Monday. "So this project bridges that gap, and gives us a Kentucky Proud line of beef products."

Dr. Lee Meyer an economist with the UK College of Agriculture confirmed that Kentucky currently doesn't have a large facility in which to process the number of cattle that is needed to provide a consistent quantity to the market at the estimated demand for the Kentucky Proud Angus beef line. Meyer pointed out that Kentucky does have several USDA-certified processors dotting the state that are used by farmers to process cattle for the direct marketing of beef products to consumer. However, one of the problems or challenges that Kentucky's small processors face is the animal byproducts, Meyer said, which is not an issue for large-scale processors such as PM Beef.

"The byproducts are the hide and non-edible organs that remain when an animal is harvested and processed," explained Meyer. "For a large-scale processor that has a market for these products, this is an estimated $100 value per animal, but for our small processors, this is a $100 expense to have to dispose of the waste."

It is the economies of scale that PM Beef has as a large processor that makes it possible for Kentucky-born and raised cattle to be taken out of state to finish, harvest and process while still being able to distribute and market the product at a price point that is competitive.

There are already several great Kentucky Damn Proud beef brands that can be purchased a farmers' markets, on-farm markets, and in specialty retail outlets in the state. At this time though none of these brands have both the quantity and can meet the price points needed by large retail outlets and the food service industry in the state, the new Kentucky Proud Angus beef line does.

It is the fact that the Kentucky Proud Angus beef line of products are price competitive, quality Kentucky Proud products that have markets such a ValueMart and Kroger interested in putting them on their retail shelves.

At the Kentucky Proud Advisory Council meeting Bill Clary, director of public relations at the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, said that in the perfect world the choice would not be to structure this project with the cattle going out of state for processing, but it is better than what existed before.

"The ultimate goal is that Kentuckians be able to feed themselves out of their fields and farms, but our infrastructure is nowhere near a point to make that happen," explained Clary. "Just because we aren't there yet it isn't an excuse to throw our hands up and say since this isn't perfect then let's not do anything at all. It is a work in progress."

Ouita agreed that not only is the infrastructure a work in progress, but so is the Kentucky Proud effort.

"Part of Kentucky Proud is processing and supporting food entrepreneurism and agriculture entrepreneurism and that is what the brand has been about," said Ouita in discussing the growth of the Kentucky Proud brand. "So if we are going to support agriculture development in the stat we have to support it at different levels, not just at the producer level but also at the processor level, the distribution level and at the retail level. All parts have to work for the producer to be protected so if it all works down the line we have a strong farm economy."

Kentucky Proud on a label doesn't guarantee that a product it all natural, organic, or that it is comprised of 100 percent Kentucky grown products. What it does guarantee is that the main ingredients of the product are grown or processed in Kentucky. This is what makes it possible for many of the value-added products in the state, from salsas to wines, carry the Kentucky Proud label.

I believe it is my responsibility as a consumer to not just buy a product based upon a label, but to take time to educate myself on the seasonal availability of local products in my area. I want to support the local farmers and processors and I work hard to be Kentucky Damn Proud in purchasing the food I serve to my family and friends.

While I feel it isn't fair to deny Kentucky cattle producers a chance to have a new market for their premium product, nor to deny consumers across Kentucky a chance to have the Kentucky Proud Angus beef line of products at a competitive price. Maybe it is time to make it a little easier for those that want to be Kentucky Damn Proud.

The Kentucky Proud Advisory Council discussed the possibility of creating a two tier labeling program to differentiate between regular Kentucky Proud products and those that are raised, harvested, and processed 100 percent in Kentucky. If you feel passionately about making sure the Kentucky Proud program continues, but recognizes those products that are Kentucky Damn Proud let your voice be heard.