Press Releases
Recognizing animal protein's critical role ahead of UN Climate Summit Agriculture Day
WASHINGTON, DC - The Interamerican Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) convened its first-ever "Sustainable Agriculture in the Americas" pavilion at the UN Climate Summit (COP27) and partnered with the Protein PACT and other stakeholders to convene a total of 9 events focused on animal agriculture's key role in sustainability solutions.
U.S. Meat Sector Releases First-Ever Data Report on Environment, Other Key Indicators
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 1, 2022
CONTACT: Sarah Little (443) 440-0029
WASHINGTON, DC - A major new report released in advance of the United Nations Climate Summit next week in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, reveals that about 81% of facilities reporting data are covered by Meat Institute members' commitments to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
NAMI and FMI: New Look for the Annual Meat Conference
WASHINGTON, DC - The North American Meat Institute and FMI - The Food Industry Association today unveiled a new look for the Annual Meat Conference (AMC) while promising a renewed, high-impact forum to encourage strategic trading partner experiences and to better deliver on the demands from the meat customer.
"Our pulse on the shopper has never wavered, but we recently made some new discoveries about our organizations, the businesses we represent and how we deliver an event experience to support our members' goals for innovation and growth," said the organizations. "We decided that 2023 is our year to design a brand with the team at Midan Marketing that evokes a modern, personalized protein experience."
North American Meat Institute Selects Class of 2023 Emerging Leaders
WASHINGTON, DC - The North American Meat Institute (Meat Institute) selected 12 participants for its 2023 Emerging Leaders Program, which will apply the vision of the Meat Institute's Protein PACT to future industry executives who proved themselves ready to take the next step in their leadership journey.
This unique program - sponsored by Food Safety Net Services, A Certified Group Company and Sealed Air- will prepare the winners with the knowledge and understanding, at both the industry level and operational level, they need to champion continuous improvement outlined in the Protein PACT within their own organizations and the industry.
These participants were selected based off their commitment to continuous improvement in the industry, their leadership potential and the individual initiative they've demonstrated.
NAMI Board of Directors Elects New Officers for 2023
ORLANDO, FL - The North American Meat Institute (Meat Institute) Board of Directors today elected its slate of officers for 2023, with Steve Van Lannen, President and COO of American Foods Group, elected to serve as the incoming Chairman in January of 2023.
"This is both an exciting and a challenging time for the meat and poultry industry," said incoming Chairman Steve Van Lannen. "We will continue to build on the leadership of our past Chairman, Brad McDowell, to ensure the Meat Institute continues to provide exemplary service to its members and, through the Protein PACT, support the industry's contributions to healthy people, a healthy planet and healthy animals."
In addition, Peter Bozzo, Vice President of Michael's Finer Meats and Seafood, was selected to serve as Secretary and will serve his first term as an officer.
The 2023 Slate of Officers includes:
America's meat companies fill the "protein gap" to help end hunger in the United States
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 28, 2022
CONTACT: Sarah Little (443) 440-0029
WASHINGTON, DC - Aligned with the Biden administration's goal of ending hunger in the United States and with the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, the North American Meat Institute and America's leading meat companies are advancing industry-wide best practices and increasing access to nutrient-dense meat for families in need.
NAMI Calls for Swift Senate Approval of Esteban, Taylor and McKalip Nominations
WASHINGTON, DC - The North American Meat Institute (NAMI or the Meat Institute) called for swift consideration of three nominations critical to the meat and poultry industry pending before the full Senate: Jose Emilio Esteban to be Undersecretary of Agriculture for Food Safety, Alexis Taylor to be Undersecretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs and Doug McKalip, nominated to be Chief Agricultural Trade Negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).
"The meat and poultry industry supports the nominations of Esteban, Taylor and McKalip," said Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts. "Their leadership in food safety and trade is much needed and with strong bipartisan support, they should be considered without further needless delay."
U.S. Chamber Agrees: Proposed Legislation Would Micromanage Beef Markets, Harm Consumers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 13, 2022
CONTACT: Sarah Little (443) 440-0029
WASHINGTON, DC -In Case You Missed It: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business organization, agreed with the North American Meat Institute and concluded beef market legislation before the House and Senate would "dramatically expand the federal government's role and ultimately harm consumers," in a post shared to their blog here.
The blog post was written by the U.S. Chamber's Sean Heather, Senior Vice President, International Regulatory Affairs & Antitrust, and was published July 12, 2022.
The following is complete text:
U.S. Chamber Agrees: Proposed Legislation Would Micromanage Beef Markets, Harm Consumers
WASHINGTON, DC – In Case You Missed It: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business organization, agreed with the North American Meat Institute and concluded beef market legislation before the House and Senate would “dramatically expand the federal government’s role and ultimately harm consumers,” in a post shared to their blog here.
The blog post was written by the U.S. Chamber’s Sean Heather, Senior Vice President, International Regulatory Affairs & Antitrust, and was published July 12, 2022.
The following is complete text:
Industry Leaders Strengthen Collaboration on Food Security
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 11, 2022
CONTACT: Sarah Little (443) 440-0029
WASHINGTON, DC - The North American Meat Institute's (NAMI or the Meat Institute) Executive Board voted unanimously late Friday to designate food security a non-competitive issue, strengthening industry-wide efforts to end hunger and ensure families in need have access to nutrient-dense meat.
NAMI: Prices for Cattle at Record Highs; Grassley-Fischer & Special Investigator Bills Costly
WASHINGTON, DC – With the U.S. House and Senate considering legislation to intervene in beef and cattle markets, prices for cattle are at or near record highs calling into question the need for heavy-handed government interference.
“Just last week one cattle marketing analyst described the high prices as ‘stratospheric,’” said Julie Anna Potts, President and CEO of the North American Meat Institute. “As many industry economists have said, the beef and cattle markets are continuing to behave predictably given supply and demand and do not need government mandates and intervention.
“The Grassley-Fischer bill being marked-up in the Senate Agriculture Committee this week will cost producers in the largest cattle producing region millions of dollars, and producers around the country will lose the ability to market their cattle as they choose.
NAMI: Prices for Cattle at Record Highs; Grassley-Fischer & Special Investigator Bills Costly
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 21, 2022
CONTACT: Sarah Little (443) 440-0029
WASHINGTON, DC - With the U.S. House and Senate considering legislation to intervene in beef and cattle markets, prices for cattle are at or near record highs calling into question the need for heavy-handed government interference.
North American Meat Institute Applauds Passage of Ocean Shipping Reform Act
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 13, 2022
CONTACT: Sarah Little (443) 440-0029
WASHINGTON, DC - The North American Meat Institute (Meat Institute) today applauded the House of Representatives for passing a bipartisan bill to address unreasonable ocean carrier practices undermining the competitiveness of American exporters, including the meat and poultry industry. The bill , the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which was introduced by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and John Thune (R-S.D.), now goes to the President to be signed into law. The Meat Institute also thanks Representatives John Garamendi (D-Calif.) and Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) for their leadership on the House version of the bill.
Meat Institute to SCOTUS: Prop 12 Unconstitutional
WASHINGTON, DC - In an Amicus Brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, The North American Meat Institute (Meat Institute) today urged the Court to reverse a lower court's judgement upholding California's Proposition 12 (Prop 12 or the law).
"A fundamental premise of our federal system is that each State is a sovereign laboratory of democracy, but only within its own borders," the Meat Institute said in its brief. "As a result, the Constitution denies California the authority to dictate the conditions under which farm animals must be housed outside California's borders.
"Nor may California erect trade barriers whose purpose and effect are to regulate commerce outside the State."
The brief was filed in support of the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation in their case against Karen Ross, Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
North American Meat Institute: Special Investigator to Cost Taxpayer $9 Million; is Redundant
WASHINGTON, DC - The North American Meat Institute (Meat Institute) today released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 7606, the Lower Food and Fuel Cost Act, a bill that establishes a special investigator for meat and poultry at the U.S. Department of Agriculture:
"We are disappointed the House voted to waste $9 million in taxpayer dollars on a redundant special investigator when that money would be much better spent helping Americans seeking assistance from record inflation," said Julie Anna Potts, President and CEO of the Meat Institute. "This bill simply replicates the authorities already granted to USDA and the Department of Justice to enforce the Packers and Stockyards Act and creates an expensive new government office."
North American Meat Institute: Meat and Poultry Industry is Resilient
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 26, 2022
CONTACT: Sarah Little (443) 440-0029
WASHINGTON, DC - The North American Meat Institute (Meat Institute) today released the following statement in response to a U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service report on Agricultural Competition and the first in a series of rules changes the Administration is proposing under the Packers and Stockyards Act:
Warren/Rounds Resolution Myth-Facts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 20, 2022
CONTACT: Sarah Little (443) 440-0029
WASHINGTON, DC - The North American Meat Institute (Meat Institute) today released the following Myth-Fact resource debunking the mischaracterizations about beef and cattle markets in a resolution introduced by U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Mike Rounds (R-SD):
Myth: In the press release announcing the resolution, Senator Warren says beef companies have lowered wages for workers. This assertion is completely false.
North American Meat Institute: Special Investigator Redundant, Wasteful, Costly
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 18, 2022
CONTACT: Sarah Little (443) 440-0029
WASHINGTON, DC - The North American Meat Institute (Meat Institute) today released the following statement after the House Agriculture Committee favorably reported the Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act:
"We are disappointed in the Committee's vote to approve this bill despite opposition from the Meat Institute and the nation's largest livestock producer organizations," said Julie Anna Potts, President and CEO of the Meat Institute.
"USDA and the Department of Justice already have the authorities this bill would grant making this expansion of government bureaucracy with its required staff and offices duplicative and wasteful.
North American Meat Institute Applauds Nomination of Alexis Taylor to be USDA Undersecretary for Trade
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 16, 2022
CONTACT: Sarah Little (443) 440-0029
WASHINGTON, DC - The North American Meat Institute today applauded the nomination of Alexis Taylor to be the Undersecretary for Trade at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
House Committee Report Distorts the Record: Worker Health and Safety is First Priority in Meat and Poultry Industry
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 12, 2022
CONTACT: Sarah Little (443) 440-0029
WASHINGTON, DC - The North American Meat Institute, the nation's trade association for meat and poultry packers and processors, today said the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis' partisan report distorts the truth about the meat and poultry industry's work to protect employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The following is a statement from Julie Anna Potts, President and CEO of the North American Meat Institute:
"The Meat Institute and its member companies voluntarily provided hundreds of thousands of pages to the Committee. The report ignores the rigorous and comprehensive measures companies enacted to protect employees and support their critical infrastructure workers.
