All It Takes is Five Minutes
Hello! This week’s audio file contains comments from not only my dad (as mentioned below) but beef producers JoJo Carrales and Bill Begger. This file is a little more in depth than the blog post and provides some interesting points.
Photo courtesy of Heartbrand Beef
You can accomplish quite a bit in five minutes or less. You can fry an egg, brush your teeth, schedule an appointment, maybe you can run a mile in that time frame — heck, you can even change someone’s outlook on agriculture in that short amount of time.
I know I say this just about every other week, but truly, it takes less than five minutes of your day (or even your week) to advocate for the agricultural industry — and my dad proved this statement a few months ago. Now, I’m not the bragging type, but I think if there’s one thing we should all be allowed to brag on, it’s is our loved ones. Today, I’m going to do just that because I’m incredibly proud of my dad.
At the beginning of August, my family ran out of steak which basically means my dad hit the panic button. He was in Tyler, Texas visiting a church member in the hospital and stopped at Sam’s Club on the way home. While at Sam’s, he found an entire choice rib-eye roll for a decent price. So, Dad put the giant cut of beef in his buggy and went on his merry way.
As he walked down one of the aisles, he said a man saw his buggy, chuckled, then asked him what the rib-eye roll was. Dad explained that a rib-eye roll was a rib roast and he would get about 14 ribeye steaks out of this specific cut of beef.
Dad went on to explain the difference between select, choice, and prime and answered a few of the guy’s questions. He also explained marbling, and even told the guy he prefers beef that’s not lean because lean beef has less flavor.
A worker behind the meat counter overheard my dad and hollered at him, “Hey, we’ve got a prime rib roast down at the end of the aisle for about $0.50 more a pound.”
Dad looked at guy he was originally talking to and said, “If there’s enough, I’ll go grab us both one of these prime ribeye-rolls — I’ll be back.”
Low and behold, there were two prime ribeye-rolls left and Dad grabbed them both — one for him and one for the guy. Dad said right about the time the guy put the giant slab of meat in his buggy, his wife walked up and started laughing. She asked what he was doing, then the guy recounted everything my dad had just told him.
Dad said this guy told his wife, “I’ve sat right here, and this brother has taught me more about meat in five minutes than I’ve ever known. I’ve been buying beef my whole life and I had no clue about all the stuff this guy just told me.”
The guy added that this conversation had changed the way he will buy beef in the future.
The couple then thanked my dad for sharing his knowledge, then told him they were having some guests come over for supper later that weekend.
“I can promise you, that guy told those six friends of his who came over for supper everything I’d just told him,” Dad said.
To hear my dad tell this story takes a while because he’s known for being *slightly* long winded, but he said the whole ordeal in Sam’s Club took about five minutes of his time.
There are 1,440 minutes in a day, meaning 0.3 percent of my dad’s day was spent advocating for the agricultural industry.
There are 10,080 minutes in a week, meaning .05 percent of my dad’s week was spent advocating for the agricultural industry.
My dad changed someone’s opinion forever. He did this by welcoming conversation and answering questions in a civil and warm manner — not by making fun of the guy for his lack of knowledge on beef. So why can’t we all do this?
A small fraction of your time can shine a light on the agricultural industry and shape the perceptions of uninformed consumers. So, share that Facebook post from Farm Bureau, download that podcast from agvocates like “The Farm Story” and “From Urban to Agriculture,” and welcome small talk at the grocery store. It’s crazy to think that these small actions could actually make a difference, but they can and they will.
