California Ag Network

Tag: Julie Anna Potts

  • Meat Institute Releases Report on How Animal Ag Supply Chains Are Calculating Emissions

    The Meat Institute released a new report entitled,  “Greenhouse Gas Accounting: Emissions Factors Brief,” offering a closer look at how companies across the animal ag supply chain are currently measuring and reporting upstream greenhouse gas emissions.

    “This report is intended as a practical resource for companies throughout the meat and poultry supply chain to better understand how emissions data are developed, to ask clearer questions of data providers, and to build strategies that reflect their operational realities,” said Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts. “The report also outlines current knowledge gaps and points to where practical guidance and coordination could help improve alignment throughout the supply chain.”

    The brief reflects input from Meat Institute packer and processor members through surveys, interviews and industry roundtables, along with review by independent experts. It focuses on the scope 3 emission factors used today for beef, pork and poultry, and highlights areas where approaches differ across data sources, system boundaries, and calculation methods.

    For the broader supply chain, the report shows that:

    — Reported emission factor values span a wide range across proteins, often due to differences in functional units, geographic assumptions and whether impacts such as land use change are included or reported separately.

    — Many companies reference the same core U.S. studies, but apply them in different ways based on their own sourcing regions, customers, and reporting needs.

    — Recent publicly available data for poultry remains limited, with most of the reported information coming from third-party tools rather than published literature.

    — Method choices — such as how methane is modeled or which Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment values are applied — can meaningfully affect reported results, even when companies are working from similar underlying data.

    This report is a product of the Meat Institute’s Sustainability Committee.

    — Story contribued by the Meat Institute

  • Meat Institute Updates Animal Handling Guidelines and Audit Forms

    The Meat Institute today published updated versions of the Animal Welfare Audit and the Meat Industry Recommended Animal Handling Guidelines, reinforcing the industry’s commitment to humane animal handling, employee safety, and continuous improvement.

    “Humane animal handling is a core responsibility of meat packers and a foundational element of a safe and ethical food system,” said Julie Anna Potts, President and CEO of the Meat Institute. “These updated Guidelines and Audit reflect the latest science and best practices, giving companies the tools they need to protect animal welfare, support their workforce, and deliver wholesome food to consumers around the world.”

    The Guidelines and Audit were authored by the Meat Institute’s Animal Welfare Committee, working with Colorado State University Professor of Animal Behavior Dr. Temple Grandin.

    The Audit is certified by the Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization (PAACO).

    Packer/processor members that complete the Animal Welfare Audit actively align with the Meat Institute’s Protein PACT goal that by 2030, 100% of Meat Institute members who handle live animals will pass third party animal transport and slaughter audits.

    For the new Animal Handling Guidelines, Audit forms and additional resources, go here.

    The primary changes to the updated Audit and Guidelines include:

    • Points for each criterion allowing users to set goals for each element of the Audit for continuous improvement.
    • Transportation and slaughter audit for bison.
    • Vocalization of cattle in the slaughter Audit will now be scored similarly to swine vocalization to maintain consistency across species.

    The Meat Institute will host a webinar – open to the public – on Feb. 19 at 12 p.m. ET to detail the recent updates made to the Audit and Guidelines. Register here.

    The Meat Institute will also highlight these changes at this year’s Animal Care and Handling Conference May 12 – 13 in Kansas City, MO. The conference will focus on improving animal welfare throughout the supply chain, the latest academic research, and applying best practices.

    The Audit was originally developed by the Meat Institute’s Animal Welfare Committee and Grandin in 1997, and its adoption by meat companies helped transform how livestock are handled and processed in meat plants.  By measuring objective criteria like animal vocalizations, falls, the movement of animals, and effective stunning, facilities evaluate their animal handling practices, identify problems and drive continuous improvement.

    For audio/video of the Meat Institute’s Director of Animal Health and Welfare, Jesse Fulton, M.S. discussing the Guidelines and Audit, go here.

    Additional Meat Institute resources related to animal handling are available here.

    The Meat Institute represents the full community of people and companies who make the majority of meat American families rely on every day. The Meat Institute’s hands-on regulatory and technical expertise, proactive advocacy, unique convening power, collaboration within and beyond animal agriculture, and sector-leading continuous improvement initiatives drive relationships and resources that ensure meat continues to be a vital, trusted pillar of healthy diets and thriving communities for generations to come. To learn more, visit: MeatInstitute.org.

  • Meat Institute Joins the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness

    The Meat Institute announced it has joined the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness, expanding its access to food safety best practices and other efforts to prevent foodborne illness on behalf of meat and poultry companies.

    The Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness is a nonprofit program of Stop Foodborne Illness. It brings together consumer advocates, leading companies, and like-minded organizations committed to the goal of preventing foodborne disease. The Alliance comprises 20+ members from around the globe working together to share best practices and advance food safety culture.

    “Our members heard from Christopher George, a Stop Foodborne Illness constituent, at our recent Food Safety Conference in Kansas City,” said Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts. “His personal testimony about his son nearly dying from contracting E. coli O157:H7 was a powerful reminder of the life-or-death consequences of all we do to protect against foodborne illness.”

    Stop Foodborne Illness works to amplify compelling personal stories, like George’s, about the impact of foodborne illness to motivate people at all levels to do the right thing every day to make food safe. The Meat Institute’s membership in the Alliance will help the Meat Institute collaborate and share best practices which then helps Meat Institute members with continuous improvement and to further establish a culture of food safety at their companies. An example of the important work conducted by the Alliance is its Food Safety Culture Toolkit, a free resource library of video testimonials from impacted consumers, interactive games, and customizable communication and assessment tools.

    This is the latest in a series of tangable initiatives led by the Meat Institute to re-emphasize food safety as a top priority for its members. Earlier this year, a task force was created to build a set of tools and templates for top company executives to use in governing and promoting a food safety culture.

    The Meat Institute will offer programming and training on these tools for senior executives at the “Protein PACT Solutions Summit” in October. To learn more and to register go here.

    The Meat Institute is also working on new industry guidance on Listeria control called the “Foundations of Listeria Control,” to be published later this month.

    Continuing the conversation from the Food Safety Conference, the Meat Institute is offering a Food Safety Exchange Series designed to provide ongoing education and insight on the critical issues shaping food safety.

    In addition, the Meat Institute offers the “Advanced Listeria monocytogenes Intervention & Control Workshop” twice a year with the next held October 22-23, in Kansas City, MO.

    About the Meat Institute
    The Meat Institute represents the full community of people and companies who make the majority of meat American families rely on every day. The Meat Institute’s hands-on regulatory and technical expertise, proactive advocacy, unique convening power, collaboration within and beyond animal agriculture, and sector-leading continuous improvement initiatives drive relationships and resources that ensure meat continues to be a vital, trusted pillar of healthy diets and thriving communities for generations to come. To learn more, visit: MeatInstitute.org.

  • EPA Provides Regulatory Relief to Meat & Poultry Companies

    The Meat Institute applauded President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for stopping costly changes to wastewater regulations that would have closed meat and poultry processing facilities, driving up the cost of food, killing jobs and hurting rural economies.

    “This important decision by Administrator Zeldin ends a regulatory disaster that would have forced meat processing facilities to close, causing food prices to go up and hardship for livestock and poultry producers,” said Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts. “We are grateful for the swift action of the Trump Administration to put the consumer first and eliminate burdensome regulations that destroy jobs.”

    EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin signed a final action withdrawing proposed revisions to the EPA’s Meat and Poultry Products Effluent Limitations Guidelines (ELG) for wastewater discharged by meat and poultry processing (MPP) and rendering facilities.  Last amended in 2004, the meat and poultry ELGs currently apply to about 180 of the estimated 5,300 meat and poultry facilities nationwide. EPA estimated between 845 and 1,620 facilities would be subject to and incur costs should the proposed ELGs become final.

    To protect small and medium sized meat and poultry processors most likely affected by these changes, the Meat Institute joined the Meat and Poultry Products Industry Coalition which is made up of the Meat Institute, National Chicken Council, National Pork Producers Council, National Turkey Federation, North American Renderers Association and the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association.

    The Meat and Poultry Products Industry Coalition commissioned an economic impact analysis that found the Agency grossly underestimated the number of facility closures should the proposed guidelines be enacted from the 16 sites in the EPA estimate to 74 sites.

    The projected number of near-term job losses associated with these facility closures would increase from nearly 17,000 that EPA estimates in the proposal to over thirty thousand to nearly 80,000 direct job losses from plant closures.

    The proposed rule would have also harmed the relationship between MPPs and publicly-owned treatment works (POTWs). Indirect discharging MPP facilities often make significant financial investments in maintaining and upgrading the POTW or shouldering major surcharges for the POTW’s continued operation and maintenance, which reduce public treatment costs for residential ratepayers and improve the quality of local and downstream waters.

    “In January, the Meat Institute called on the Trump Administration to roll back onerous regulations that would reduce the upward pressure on the cost of food, said Potts. “Three of those top priorities to protect consumers have been addressed with today’s news demonstrating President Trump’s commitment to ending the damaging and inflationary policies of the Biden Administration.”

    About the Meat Institute
    The Meat Institute represents the full community of people and companies who make the majority of meat American families rely on every day. The Meat Institute’s hands-on regulatory and technical expertise, proactive advocacy, unique convening power, collaboration within and beyond animal agriculture, and sector-leading continuous improvement initiatives drive relationships and resources that ensure meat continues to be a vital, trusted pillar of healthy diets and thriving communities for generations to come. To learn more, visit: MeatInstitute.org.