Foodie Adventure: I’m a Canadian Beef Brand Ambassador. #LoveCdnBeef

I’ve been teasing some of you with my “new sponsored foodie adventure” and finally the Ts are crossed and Is dotted, and I can finally reveal what is up!

I have been selected to be a Brand Ambassador for Canadian Beef! I am one of 10 people from  Beechville, NS to Victoria, BC, who have been selected to represent this Canadian of all Canadian products and tasty of all tasty meats for the next 12 months.

I’ll be working directly with Canada Beef Inc. – “an independent national organization representing the marketing and promotion of the Canadian cattle and beef industry worldwide.” Through them I’ll be getting a deeper view of the Beef Industry in Canada and sharing that information with you through posts, recipes, facts, photos, experiences and looking for ways you can participate in the experience with me.

Canada Beef will be giving us monthly assignments and challenges and I’ll be blogging at least once a month sharing my experiences, tastes, adventures, recipes, insights, and disclosing all the way.  I’m eager to see the challenges Canada Beef assigns us and to find opportunities to include you more actively in the experience, but more about that later.

What does that “sponsored foodie adventure” actually mean?

As I said, this is a “sponsored foodie adventure”, that means that in addition to possible samples and beefy experiences, Canada Beef is paying me an honorarium for performing these monthly Canada Beef assignments. [Since I was on vacation, you’ll see a couple in close succession in the next couple of days.]

Why I’m excited about this:

Probably the best way to tell you this is to share what got me the gig:

First of all, I love beef.  From beef cheeks slow braised and made into tacos to a prime rib roast seasoned judiciously and cooked over hardwood.  I like it roasted, I like it grilled, I like it braised, I like it stir-fried, I like it tartared, I like it barbecued, I like it corned and I like it fried.  But there are things I still need to learn to do right (like that slow-braise for example) and this would be a fantastic opportunity to hunker down and learn, sharing my experience as I go.  

Second, I’m fiercely Canadian and love the fact that Canadian beef is being marketed that way.  Let’s talk about where it’s coming from, how it’s raised and why Canadian beef is the right choice.    

Third, I’m a big food geek and cattle farming is something I don’t know very much about.  Oh sure, we had a cow on our organic farm when I was growing up.  But she was a milk cow and she hung out with the sheep, so she didn’t really teach me about cow-culture. I’d love to learn more about which breeds are used in Canada, and which regions work best for them. I want to know how Canadian cattle are tended, fed, raised and result in the tasty beef that ends up on my plate.  

Fourth and finally, I love to travel and learn I’d love to visit farms, abattoirs, packing plants, butcher shops, and restaurants.  (Okay maybe not “love” the abattoir visit, but I’ve been to slaughterhouses and understand the role they play in putting meat on our plates.)  I think I’d be a great brand ambassador for Beef.  I hope you will agree.

You can check out what I was doing when I was Longo’s Taste Ontario Ambassador on unsweetened.ca: and on Longo’s blog, where I hope you’ll see that I am a strong believer in disclosure and represent my experiences in a playful and ethical manner.  More about me from a more professional foodie perspective at: www.alexaclark.com

Beefy Goodness – keeping it clean, clear and above board:

To make it clear which posts I’m writing in my role as Canadian Beef Brand Ambassador  I’ll be visually tagging them all with the logo you see at the top left of this posts.  That way you will know immediately when I’m writing with my Beef Hat on.    I may also occasionally use the one to the right:

While I’ll be doing monthly assignment, I will always be focused on what I see, taste and experience that I find interesting, remarkable or think will be of interest to you.

It’s important (to me) to point out that I won’t be a shill and I will be honest about my experiences with full disclosure (read my Disclosure Statement here).  If you feel that I’m straying or unclear in anyway, please let me know!

This post marks the start of my 12-month Canadian Beef Brand Ambassador series.

Almost immediately I’ll be:

• Introducing you to the other 9 Canadian Beef Brand Ambassadors and Canada Beef.
• completing our first assignment – to tell you about my favourite bits of BeefInfo.org
• completing our second assignment – talking about burgers… mmmm burgers.

Of course, I would love to hear directly what is of interest to you.  Please feel free to jump in at any time and tell me what you want to know, see, learn – more beef facts? More beef recipes? More beef I’ve eaten? More beef cooking techniques?  More Canadian cattle farmers dancing with cows?  I’ll do my best to get that information to you!   please let me know if you have anything you’d like me to do, ask, share or find out more about.