WASHINGTON– The North American Meat Institute (NAMI) announced that its executive board recently voted unanimously to designate food security as a non-competitive issue. 

With its Protein PACT for the People, Animals and Climate of Tomorrow, NAMI committed to fill the protein gap by 2025.

“Meat is one of the most needed products for families in need, and the Meat Institute’s members give generously nationally and locally to meet this need,” said Julie Anna Potts, president and chief executive officer of the Meat Institute. “Ending hunger requires even greater collaboration. Declaring food security a non-competitive issue will allow the Meat Institute and its members to freely share best practices, an especially important step as the industry prepares to support the September 2022 White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health.”

Additional to the food security vote, the NAMI also established a Food Security Committee, co-chaired by Tim Grailer of Tyson Foods and Pete Stoddart of Cargill. The committee will bring Meat Institute members together to facilitate discussion, information-sharing, and problem-solving related to charitable giving, hunger relief and food security. One area the group will look at will be cold storage and distribution infrastructure.

The Protein PACT will convene a stakeholder session bringing together Protein PACT partner organizations, NAMI members, and experts in animal protein and food security to discuss animal protein’s role in ending hunger. Stakeholder session key outcomes will be submitted to the White House organizers for the Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health.

Other non-competitive issues the Meat Institute has worked on include reducing worker injuries and illnesses, reducing pathogenic bacteria on meat products including E.coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes and achieving a 95% rate of the beef, pork and lamb plants voluntarily follow the animal welfare guidelines and audit program by Dr. Temple Grandin.