Source: Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off
Each year the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders (CYL) program hosts a spring event targeted at increasing the scope of CYL’s understanding of the Canadian beef industry. This year, the Canadian Beef Centre of Excellence (CBCE) is bringing together CYL and the Hawksworth Young Chef Scholarship program to provide participants with a completely different experience as they explore the Canadian Beef Advantage together.
Pairing the next generation of great Canadian chefs with young beef producers will help to develop peer relationships between the group, who will spend June 11-12 together at the CBCE learning about beef from the producer and culinary perspectives.
The event schedule includes multiple opportunities for the young chefs to learn why Canadian beef is a superior product and how it is raised by producers who are passionate about what they do. The group will be touring ranching operations, including Soderglen Ranches, and will be hearing from environmental experts, including representatives from the Ducks Unlimited team, soil and forage champions, Doug Wray, and wild plant expert Julie Walker. The goal of the program is to remain informative and innovative for CYLs, while demonstrating to the Hawksworth Young Chef Scholarship group the passion for the product and love of the land that Canadian producers possess.
CYLs will also have a chance to play “chef” during the Canadian Ranching Heritage Culinary Challenge at the Bar U Ranch. During this event, they will be paired up with a young chef, and will compete for the top spot, in an outdoor, campfire cook-off.
By bringing these two groups of young beef enthusiasts together, the CBCE connects future leaders in Canadian beef production with the next generation of Canadian top chefs. As food influencers, chefs have an outstanding opportunity to help tell the Canadian beef story. Through building relationships with taste makers like the Hawksworth group, CYL hopes to find more champions for Canadian beef. Developing positive peer relationships between the groups will be a great step to show the integrity that cattle farmers and ranchers from across the country share.
Check out this past CYL event in collaboration with the CBCE
In addition to the Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off and import levy funding, Canada Beef leverages cattle producer dollars with government industry development funding such as Growing Forward 2 and Western Economic Diversification to maximize the benefits of producer check-off investment through the Canadian Beef Centre of Excellence and other strategic initiatives.
