Each week, the Lancaster Farming editorial department conducts a peer poll related to fun random topics that are in the news, often related to a pop culture or historical anniversary.
For example, this week’s poll question, prompted by the 52nd anniversary of a well-known British comedy troupe’s creation, is “What is your favorite Monty Python movie?”
The question goes out to our small department of 12 on Monday, and the results are revealed at Friday’s staff meeting.
But one poll question has been lingering for two weeks: “What’s your favorite meal?”
My struggle with that seemingly simple question is that I have too many contenders. Do I go with my grandmother’s spaghetti and meatballs, my dad’s Brunswick stew, my mom’s German potato salad or my uncle’s award-winning chili? The list of possibilities, and my dilemma, may have no end. In a world of weighty issues that affect our health, economy and planet, this is what occupies my mind.
I was contemplating my stepmother’s carrot cake the other day while dining at a local restaurant when my server delivered a mouth-watering cheeseburger with a side of clarity.
Suddenly I realized that wherever my culinary desires may wander, they always return to the most American of comfort meals — the cheeseburger.
Top that sandwich with onions, pickles and mustard and complement it with some fresh cut fries and a chocolate milkshake, and I’m ready to move on to the next staff poll question.
America's Love Affair with Burgers
I know that was a long drive to the store, but it’s Beef Month and I want to voice my support for the industry’s biggest celebrity. And since Dairy Month follows Beef Month, why not top that lonely burger with a slice of cheese?
USDA says Americans consume an average of 2.4 burgers a day, or about 50 billion per year, so my affinity for ground chuck is not unique.
Consumer demand has been pretty steady over the past 20 years, which should be reassuring to beef farmers, but some feel threatened, or maybe annoyed, by the encroachment of plant-based burgers. So much so that some states are pushing labeling and naming rights legislation.
I understand the emotion behind the movement, but it’s a waste of time and money.
The market for plant burgers is here to stay, but not at the demise of the real deal. The “keep it simple” consumer trend of fewer ingredients that don’t sound like they come from a chemistry lab is the best marketing strategy for beef.
Consider the 1974 McDonald’s Big Mac jingle — “two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.”
That iconic sing-along commercial has stood the test of time, and it makes me hungry for a real burger.
And not even the best New York ad agency can harmonize the ingredient list of a no-beef Impossible Burger. “Two water-soy-oil-modified food starch patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese...” doesn’t have the same ring, and it definitely doesn’t make me hungry. In fact, it suggests that I might want to stay close to a bathroom after eating that impossibly long list of additives (I didn’t include all of the ingredients in my commercial comparison).
People want real food made with simple natural ingredients that aren’t foreign to their vocabulary, and that’s what beef farmers deliver.
Many of us remember the “Where’s the beef?” commercials that Clara Peller popularized in the 1980s. Her comical critique of fast food chains that sell more bun than burger is now part of the national lexicon.
Thirty-seven years later, “Where’s the beef?” has new meaning and new marketing potential. One ingredient vs. 20 should be an easy win for the beef industry.
Of course, that doesn’t account for a pending cicada burger fad, but thankfully that food truck only comes to town once every 17 years.
May 20, 2021 at 05:15PM
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Opinion: Beef Burgers are the Real Deal | Food & Recipes from the Farm | lancasterfarming.com - Lancaster Farming
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