"Our success is in our people. We're good because they're so good."

Every executive I have interviewed for Meatingplace has voiced some version of this sentiment, and the same is true for my fellow editors. However, logistically it's impossible to get all the employees of most companies in a photo, or even a series of photos. So the CEO and perhaps one or two other top executives wind up standing in for all the other folks in white frocks, lifting and cutting for hours on end in a cold, damp facility, or bending over microscopes and testing equipment, or managing customer or supplier accounts, scheduling the logistics and so on. Which doesn't quite seem fair.

We have a lot of fun with our BreakTime feature on the back page of the print magazine, spotlighting all kinds of meat people and the interesting things that they do when they're not working -- crossbow hunting, playing in blues bands, playing in rock bands, building rockets (really!), collecting art. (Enter "#MPBreakTime" into the search box on our website to read them all.) But that only gives us 11 great meat people opportunities a year.

Enter Julie Larson Bricher, our science and technology editor. Attending a couple of meetings earlier this summer, she gathered candid photos and quotes or anecdotes from a raft of folks -- from professors to execs to assistants -- and posted them to all our social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn). She tagged the series "Meat, the People, a community snapshot project" and the community loves it!

Sharon Beals told us that the most important thing she's learned about the meat industry is that, "Everybody cares. People don't think we care. We care deeply." Casey Owens Hanning bragged on her excellent turkey breast cutlets. Keith Belk shared his favorite braising hack. John Scanga dispensed some advice: "The meat industry is huge but it is really like a small family, and it doesn't take very long for you to cross paths with someone you've studied with or worked with in the past, or somebody who knows somebody who you've studied with or worked with in the past. So always treat people the way you want to be treated."

You can pull them all up by searching "Meat, the people" or #meatthepeople either in your browser or your favorite social media channel. And be sure and read the comments, too!

All of our editors are getting into the act, and will be adding to the feature on an ongoing basis. So when you see one of us at a meeting or conference, come tell us a story and flash a grin, and join our gallery. We're celebrating everybody who makes this industry great.

Meat, the People

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