Harvest Public Media: Choice Cuts: Meat in America

"Choice Cuts: Meat in America" looks at the trends of the American meat industry, the challenges it faces and the changing face of consumer demands. This half-hour television special is a production of NET News and features reports from Kansas City Public Television and Rocky Mountain PBS. The U.S. has put itself in the lead for meat production and consumption. The question is, can those rates keep accelerating while continuing to feed the world? "Choice Cuts: Meat in America" visits Lexington, Nebraska to talk to new Americans in a meat-packing town. Beef producers show-off feedlots as models of efficiency, while a producer of grass-fed beef talks about what sustainability means to him. The consumer reigns as king when it comes to meat, but how exactly are producers responding to these voices? A butcher shop in Kansas City opens its doors for classes where customers go behind the counter and get "hands-on." In Texas, a former employee of meat industry giants pursues the genetics of 'prime beef at prime prices.' To see what the future plate looks like, a reporter in Colorado visits with a yak rancher and vegetarian food developer to see what kind of alternatives lie ahead.