Governor Mike Rounds accepts a copy of The Healthy Beef Cookbook from SDBIC President Roger Gerdes .

Healthy Beef Cookbook for Governor’s Kitchen

PIERRE (February 25, 2007)--Governor Mike Rounds says The Healthy Beef Cookbook he received during the recent Governor’s Council on Beef will be front and center in the Governor’s home.

Roger Gerdes , president of the South Dakota Beef Industry Council (SDBIC), presented the cookbook to the Governor in appreciation for his work in marketing beef through the South Dakota Certified™ Beef program. “The Governor told me that this is one cookbook that won’t be put away,” says Gerdes, a beef producer from Miller, S.D. “He said it will be on the First Family’s kitchen counter and put to good use.”

            The Healthy Beef Cookbook includes 130-plus lean beef recipes and is the result of a beef checkoff-funded partnership between the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), on behalf of The Beef Checkoff, and the American Dietetic Association. The SDBIC brought the co-author of the cookbook, Texas chef Richard Chamberlain, to South Dakota in November 2006 to promote the book through book signing engagements and a media tour. The book is available in select bookstores across the state and online.

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The SDBIC collects and administers the Beef Checkoff on cattle sold in South Dakota . Checkoff dollars are utilized strictly for promotion, education or research programs. Fifty cents of every dollar is directed to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board for programs on the national level. The SDBIC retains 50 cents, which is invested in additional national programs or in-state programs.

The SDBIC is comprised of three representatives from eight agricultural organizations: SD Beef Breeds Council, SD Cattlemen’s Association, SD Cattlemen’s Auxiliary, SD CattleWomen, SD Farm Bureau Federation, SD Farmers Union, SD Livestock Market Association, and SD Stockgrowers Association.