Rendering’s Role in the Rest of the Story Animal agriculture has a great sustainability story, yet that narrative is not complete without including how rendering extends, in multiple ways, livestock and poultry sustainability.
by Sharla Ishmael Clear Point Communications Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in Render magazine. To learn more about the rendering industry and its interdependence with the livestock business, visit www.rendermagazine.com.
R
eaders of a certain vintage will remember Paul Harvey’s famous tag line he used to sign off each episode of his radio show: “And now you know. . .the rest of the story.” That is exactly what the rendering industry does for the livestock and poultry business—it provides the rest of the sustainability story, which is the mantra for any business in today’s political and social climate. Consumers increasingly value products made in a sustainable manner, and they want to know the story behind that production. Animal agriculture is providing that information in all kinds of ways, from checkoff-funded promotional materials targeted to consumers, to YouTube videos highlighting conservation efforts by farmers and ranchers, to prioritizing sustainability in industry organizations’ longrange plans. New collaborative entities have sprouted up to bring together a diverse range of stakeholders interested in the sustainability of animal agriculture, such as the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Poultry and Eggs or the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef. These groups include not only livestock producers, but also the World Wildlife Fund, McDonald’s, The Nature Conservancy, meatpackers, and citizen/society representatives. Virtually every conference held for beef, pork or poultry in
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recent years had at least one session on sustainability. Livestock and poultry folks are working hard at getting their sustainability message out to the public. Yet there is more to that story, which is where rendering plays a key part.
Half of the Story
It is easy to find infographics referring to the by-products from livestock with titles like, “Everything but the Oink,” or “There’s a Cow in My Marshmallow,” which list typical by-products most consumers probably do not realize come from livestock. These by-products are available because the rendering industry transforms the roughly half of each meat animal that is not edible into usable products. Darling Ingredients Inc. has put together an informative green paper that explains it well. “In the United States, the human demand for consumable meat proteins generates approximately 56 billion pounds of unconsumed meat by-products and used cooking oil (UCO); these materials are processed and converted into usable proteins, minerals, fats and oils by the rendering industry. Without
• JULY 2021
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