Podcast: Promoting U.S. beef, well-balanced diet in Japan

In this podcast, Curt Tomasevicz, a spokesman for the Nebraska Corn Board, talks about his part in a recent mission to Japan to promote U.S. beef as part of a balanced diet and provide meals to tsunami and earthquake evacuees.

The Nebraska Corn Board initiated and funded the mission, which took place in July, to get an in-depth view of the U.S. corn-fed beef promotions taking place in Japan through the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). Photos from the mission are on Flickr.

Tomasevicz helping prepare meals for evacuees.

"We had an opportunity to spend time with key individuals from various companies but also made sure to visit with a number of consumers so we could tell a bit of our story," said Tomasevicz, the Olympic gold medalist. "As an athlete I shared the importance of eating a well balanced diet that includes protein like Nebraska and U.S. beef."

A girls soccer team had an opportunity to pepper him with questions they had practiced in English. They wanted to know why the team was in Japan and what he liked to eat. The team presented the girls with bento boxes, which are lunch boxes that included U.S. beef with rice.

Tomasevicz also enjoyed preparing meals for evacuees. This was also a great experience for John Willoughby and Bill Schuster to see how their efforts through the Nebraska grain donation program went into effect.

"It is difficult to describe the devastation, and while I know the Corn Board posted pictures online, the scene is incredible in person," he said.

While Tomasevicz didn't mention it in his radio report, the gold medal he carries is recognized everywhere. For more on how that helped in this mission, click here.

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