Hello world, welcome to WFHR's Rapid Support.
Probably brought to you by Croc Conceptic for this August 25th, 2025.
Have your host James here.
We're joined right now by our great friend, Caitlin Riley from the Wisconsin Beef Council.
Caitlin, how you been?
I can't complain, but you know, it's just amazing how quickly these days have been going
and I love fall, but I'm not quite ready to collect summer yet.
I hear you.
I get it.
Completely understand and you know, but one of the things that I think we have to look
forward to is of course, fall foods and different things like that that we have.
And of course beef and Wisconsin beef in general is so versatile that every season we've
got something to look forward to and enjoy about it.
But before we get into some of that, Caitlin, if you don't mind, I wanted to touch on feeding
Wisconsin and kind of begin there.
Right.
Like we said, I know a lot of kiddos are going back to school right now, but throughout
the summer months and even during the school season, we know that there's some parents
or families out there that might have a little bit of strain on their budget.
And we know that beef is a really nutritious food that we want to make sure stays on
family's plates.
So what we did, and this is our second year with this fundraiser, was in the spring,
we sold shirts and they said fueled by beef.
What we did with the proceeds from those shirt sales was we used it to purchase $1,500 worth
of ground beef for feeding Wisconsin's food network.
And now the reason why we chose feeding Wisconsin is because it touches all the counties
in Wisconsin.
We didn't just want to impact one area or another, we really wanted to reach the broad spectrum.
And I think what's been really cool, like I said, James, this has been the second year
of our T-shirt fundraiser.
We hosted it a little differently on our website this year.
And one of the options that we had for folks who purchased shirts was to make an additional
donation above and beyond the cost of the shirt, to be able to continue expanding this
effort.
And it was amazing to see how many folks did that.
Some folks went as high as donating an extra $50.
And some folks did just an extra couple of dollars to round it up to make it an even
number for their final total.
But every little bit really did help.
And it was so rewarding to be able to drop off.
It was about 280 pounds of ground beef at our food pantries.
My job is to talk and you make me speechless, Kayla.
Those numbers are amazing to hear.
It's so rewarding.
I admit to the audience that this is one of my causes is certainly hunger in this country.
And demolishing that getting rid of it as much as we can programs like this, fundraisers
like this really do that.
I've also admitted to you and others out there, I'm a carnivore.
I love meat.
I love beef.
I love it.
I love it.
I'm a big fan of what you guys do there and everything.
But to be able to give people different ideas of what to do with this and to kind of remind
us that yes, beef tastes good or we eat a lot.
It's a bit main part of our diet and our dinners, but it is so nutritional as well.
It is very helpful to kids, especially young kids.
That's right.
So many of our children are in their prime developmental stages, not just physically, but also mentally.
And beef has 10 essential nutrients that help with a lot of that cognitive development
in addition to providing the protein to keep their minds and their muscles going.
It really does make every single bite count when it comes to our teens and our tweens
out there.
You know, the dietary guidelines for Americans recognizes that lean meat can nourish
a healthy lifestyle with that protein, iron, zinc, clothing.
And it's really important, especially for our kiddos that are 10 to 19 years old because
at that time, they're gaining up to 20% of their final adult height, about 50% of their
adult weight, and their bone mass is incredibly increasing.
So we just want to make sure that we're keeping that valuable product on their plate anyway
that we can.
And like you said, two James, we have a lot of different recipes on our website.
So even if folks, I'm one of those who's not a great cook in the kitchen.
So we want folks to also not be intimidated by cooking this nutritious protein.
So we have some of those recipes on there that can even help you if you're looking to
get ready for the school fees and look your kiddos and be able to batch prepare some
of those recipes or incorporate them for breakfast before they go off to school, high-protein
snacks when they're come home and even that nutritious dinner.
We've talked about this a lot when it comes to buying Wisconsin beef.
You're not just getting good food and supporting Wisconsin-made products.
You're sporting our ag industry, our farmers out there, and that's a win-win kind of situation
there.
You add on that a third win with this when we're also talking about the Wisconsin-beef
Council donating over 1,500 worth of pounds of ground beef to food banks and helping
those families to wouldn't have it otherwise.
That's gigantic.
Again, there are no words.
We know that kids learn better when they are not malnutrition, when they have the amount
of food that they need for their brains to be able to be in there and register all that
information, retain it, and move on to the next day.
This is an investment.
This is an investment in our future.
This is an investment of Wisconsin families.
It's a donation.
I understand the wording of it and everything, but keep in mind, this is just as much of
a donation as it is an investment and all of that.
Absolutely.
We're so excited.
It's fun when we can come up with a new shirt design, and it's fun to be able to see people
get excited about it, but you really hit the nail on the head there, James, where it really
is heartwarming when we can see the impact that folks have, and we had a chance to connect
with Jackie Anderson.
She's the executive director at Feeding Wisconsin, and she said that meat and protein is one
of the most sought-after items at food pantries, and so it's really critical that we're
able to help provide that and fulfilling to be able to see them have something so valuable
come to them that they'll immediately be able to pass on to those families in need.
I was curious about the designing of the shirt and all that I imagine that was a lot of
fun.
You know, you kind of touched on it already.
We have a little bit of this at the station where when we give things away or we're able
to be a part of things like that, how good it feels, it never gets old, and I've been
in radio two decades, and I never get tired of giving things away or doing some of that.
I can't imagine what it must have felt like for you and the team there when you see these
final numbers and how much people gave.
Oh, it really is, and I think one thing, too, is realizing that it can be done.
I know, you know, each food pantry is different whether you're working with a statewide one,
like feeding Wisconsin or your local food pantry, and sometimes folks might have these
great ideas or they might have a product that they want to donate, but they just don't
know how to do so.
And they've all been very, very receptive to us just chatting with them, asking questions
because we, for the first time this year, in the past, we gave them the monetary donation,
but this year we thought, why don't we work directly with the Wisconsin meat processor,
which is what we did.
We connected country-pride meats in the Jamesville area, and so we worked with them, and they
gave us a little bit of a discount of the ground beef so that we could stretch those dollars
even more.
And we just connected with feeding Wisconsin, asked them what the regulations were, so that
we could safely transport that product, and knowing full well that they have the cooler
space and the capacity there to keep it frozen, and keep it as fresh as possible for those
families.
I know there's a lot of folks out there that might also be thinking that they want to
do something similar, and I encourage them to do so, and connect with their local
pantries just to see what the rules are and what they have available to them to be able
to keep those products safe and nutritious.
How wonderful of them to work with you on that and lower the price and make it more accessible
and every good, a big tip of the hat to them for that.
That's wonderful.
Thank you for sharing that, Caitlin.
Appreciate it.
Yeah, they've been just gems to work with.
Are people still able to purchase the shirts or anything like that?
We will be opening up the fundraiser again next spring.
So James, hopefully we'll connect then when we have our new design, if anyone has ideas
for new designs that they would want to be in the t-shirt, feel free to let me know
send that over to me at krilyatbeasttips.com.
You can find our contact information on that website, beasttips.com.
But it'll be a new opportunity for us in the spring, and hopefully we'll just keep making
this even bigger and even better to extend the reach of that impact.
Yeah, we're looking forward to talking about that.
We'll definitely have you back to bring that up and we'll get into it then.
And I appreciate you.
If Caitlin Riley joining us right now from the Wisconsin Beef Council, something else you
guys are working on is looking for people's favorite spots among trails.
That's right.
So we've talked a lot, James, about our burger contest, right?
And that was happening in the spring, and everyone loves beef burgers, and now that we're
getting into the fall, we're thinking, we're really getting into comfort food mode.
And we started chatting with our friends over at Gather Wisconsin.
For those who are unfamiliar, that's another great resource out there.
For all things, agriculture, we're very specific.
To beef here at the Wisconsin Beef Council, I don't think that needs to be said.
And Gather Wisconsin touches on each of the commodities.
And we teamed up and decided that we wanted to put together a prime rib trail.
We know that supper clubs are iconic in Wisconsin, and prime rib is a staple at those supper
clubs.
And so what we did was we reached out to our social media audiences and just said, hey,
we want to know where's your favorite spot to go and grab a prime rib, whether you're
taking your sweet heart out or taking the family out for a dinner.
And so we have 16 locations spread across the state.
I think the closest one to you guys, James, is probably the loading zone eatery in Warsaw.
And we're just starting to do a soft launch of that.
We released it on Facebook.
And we also have it on the bottom of our website under the resources tab on beeftips.com.
And just looking forward to folks getting out there and enjoying that family atmosphere.
You know, sometimes it's a birthday celebration in anniversary, but just making those memories
while having beef at the center of the plate is a lot of fun.
You know, especially for locals, two areas, you've got those spots and those
areas that stand out more than others for you, sharing them is a great way to add to
this and kind of, you know, share the love of the state along with the love of beef.
That's right.
It's really fun to see the different ways that they do it.
I know that this prime rib locations on the trail this year, maybe in 2026, but I was
working with the group in the Seymour area.
And they have a stuffed prime rib.
It's apparently the only stuffed prime rib in the state.
And I didn't even know that that was a thing.
And then you can go to another separate club location and they just all have their own
little flavor culturally and with the dish that they're adding to these creations.
And one thing that always cracks me up too is the different prime rib rules.
You know, at one, you tilt your menu this way to let them know that you're ready to order
or at another one you need to sit here at the bar and put in your nae.
It's so fun.
And whenever folks come to Wisconsin and they always ask, you know, what is a separate
club?
I really struggle to define it.
But then when I take them out, then they get it.
And we actually go and sit down and enjoy that ambiance and atmosphere.
It's really fun.
It's one of those things.
Once you experience it, you know exactly what it is.
You know exactly what a separate club is once you've done it.
You guys did a great job with this list.
Again, if you go to beeftips.com and you'll find the prime rib trail, you'll see the great
diagram of Wisconsin and how it takes you up and down the state, literally back and
forth up and down the state in some ways.
I'd love to see like somebody kind of challenge themselves to hit all 16 of these.
Are you looking to add more locations to it, correct, Caitlin?
We are.
We're hoping to make this an annual event of the prime rib trail.
Our initial thought when we wanted to put it together was let's make a huge map and
get all the locations on there.
We just thought, you know, it is a little bit fun, too.
Like you said, maybe have an annual challenge.
And so we just took some nominations or some suggestions from our folks on our social
media channels who said, hey, this is a great place for us to go to.
And so it's a little less overwhelming than if we put all the locations in Wisconsin
on one map.
And I think each year we'll just keep building out this web page and having links to the
previous maps, but bringing fresh faces and fresh restaurant locations on there and
really kind of spreading the love.
If there are any of our listeners out there that would like to be a part of this or anything,
are there any kind of requirements to be a part of this prime rib trail?
I think the biggest thing is just make sure you can have that prime rib on your menu.
I know quite a few of our restaurants keep it as they're special, whether it's Friday
night or Saturday night.
And that's it.
We really, I know with our best burger contest map, that's pretty rigorous to get on
in that top eight and elite eight.
And this is more so just, hey, we just want to know where your fan favorites are.
And so if you are restaurant out there interested in being placed on the trail, feel free to
contact us or information on that website, beeftips.com.
If you are a prime trail or prime rib lover that wants to get one or two of your favorite
spots on the trail, do the same thing.
Reach out to us.
We're open ears.
See this is just a fun, friendly way of showcasing some of our favorite dining spots in Wisconsin.
And Caitlin, is that the best way to get in touch with you?
If people have follow up questions or want to add to it at all, beeftips.com?
Absolutely.
Beeftips.com.
Go towards that bus about us tab and you'll find our contact information there.
We have our different staff members there, including our new staff member, Emily Stump,
who just joined us in July.
So we've been having a lot of fun and the summer looking forward to some more activations
in the fall and we're always open to suggestions, feedback.
And even if you just have a question about a recipe, we talked about how we're getting
into fall and I really don't want to jump too far ahead, but pretty soon we're going
to be getting into the holidays.
And one of my favorite parts about working on this job is when someone says, my grandmother
used to use this recipe and I can't find it anymore.
Will you help me find it or think of it?
And we have our beef lady, Angie Horkin, who is a kitchen connoisseur.
And so she's really good at saying, I know exactly what recipe they're talking about.
And I think she has them all filed away in her office and she'll crack it out even if
it's no longer on the website.
She has a track of it.
So that's a lot of fun too.
So if you have questions about cooking beef that you find in your freezer and you're
not sure what to do with that cut, if you're curious about a recipe that takes 30 minutes
or less.
Or if there's a prime rib favorite that you guys make for yourself for the holidays,
but you just can't remember what to do with it.
Reach out to us.
We're happy to be a resource.
That website again, beeftips.com.
Caitlin, always good talk with you.
We'll hang out again real soon.
That sounds great.
Thanks, James.
Thank you.
And thank you all for joining us for another edition of the WFHR's Rapid Support.
Probably brought you by Crocketceptic.
