Back of the bread is the flour,
Back of the flour is the mill,
Back of the mill is the sun, and the rain and the maker’s will.

I heard this at church camp growing up and it’s always stuck with me. It truly is amazing how much work is behind all of the food we eat.

Take the meat industry for example. It seems pretty simple: butcher a steer, get a steak. Just to get the steer ready to harvest you need:
Cow/calf producer
Backgrounder/feedlot
Veterinarian
Nutritionist
Crop growers/ Feed sales
Equipment dealers/maintenance

Once the steer is ready for market, a whole new branch of people get involved:
Animal buyers
Livestock haulers
Live animal handling
Plant operations (harvest/fab/package/ship)
USDA inspectors/graders
Product/ingredient companies
Food scientists
Maintenance/Engineering/Tech

At this point, the product is ready to go to the store and again ties in a new group:
Plant merchandisers/store purchasers
Truckers to move product
Store stockers
Meat counter workers
Equipment/packaging companies

But wait, there’s more!
Why did you buy that steak?
Did the label that went through a specific design and approval process catch your eye?
Did you see a branded advertisement from a marketing agency?
Did you find a recipe shared by an industry organization you wanted to try?

Back of the steak is the steer,
and a huge industry made up of endless careers that this list doesn’t even begin to touch on. It truly is amazing how much time, planning, and people it takes to create something as seemingly simple as a steak. #SteakScience