Welcome to Meat Week

Video presentation of Meat Week

Madrid, 1 March 2022 - Coinciding with Meat Attraction, the International Meat Industry Trade Fair, which will take place at IFEMA MADRID from 8 to 10 March, Meat Week will be held, a sector initiative whose aim is to inform about the properties, values and nutritional qualities of meat and meat products. Between 7 and 13 March, Meat Week will host different activities aimed at professionals in the sector and the public, aimed at highlighting the benefits of meat in a healthy, varied, and balanced diet.

During Meat Week, organised in collaboration with the Meat and Health Platform and Meat Attraction, as well as with the support of the sector organisations and associations CARNIMAD, EDUCARNE, ANICE, ASICI, AVIANZA, INTERCUN, INTEROVIC, INTERPORC and PROVACUNO, different informative, educational and solidarity initiatives will take place.

Under the slogan #LaEnergiaDeCadaDia, Meat Week aims to highlight its fundamental role in meeting the daily requirements of important nutrients in a varied, balanced, and complete diet and integrating perfectly into the healthy eating patterns of the population and our Mediterranean diet model.

Meat is an essential element in the diet, as it provides the body with a large amount of nutrients, including proteins of high biological value, which contain all the essential amino acids; it is also a source of vitamins, especially those of the B group (B12, B6, B3, B1), and minerals such as iron, potassium, phosphorus, and zinc, which are highly bioavailable.

For all these reasons, meat products play a fundamental role in a healthy lifestyle and help to achieve a good state of health, within a varied and balanced diet and following the established consumption recommendations. Furthermore, their inclusion in the diet plays an important role in covering the recommended intakes of some of these nutrients in certain population groups such as babies, pregnant women, and the elderly. Thus, for example, in the case of infants starting complementary feeding, the presence of meat in the diet can contribute to meeting the higher iron requirements that occur during this stage. Similarly, pregnant women can also benefit from meat consumption. In fact, part of their increased protein, vitamin and mineral requirements can be easily met if meat is included in their diet in a moderate and balanced way. Finally, in older age groups, the consumption of meats such as pork, beef, rabbit, lamb, or poultry, and thanks to their high protein and essential amino acid content, also has a beneficial effect in terms of preventing sarcopenia (reduction of musculoskeletal mass) associated with ageing. Meat is a rich source of high biological value protein and several other micronutrients necessary for health.

Meat Week thus becomes a unique opportunity for society to learn more about the meat sector, a fundamental and innovative industry for our society, modern, adapted to the new consumer, strongly involved in all requirements related to animal welfare and sustainability and health, with the highest world standards of food safety, quality and control, guaranteed by the European Production Model, to meet the nutritional needs of different population groups and the enjoyment of the Mediterranean way of life.

Meat Week activities (all information will be available at www.semanadelacarne.com, including the presentation video):

-Distribution of posters and information material available in specialised butchers and charcuterie shops.

- Re-edition of the nutritional recipe book "Dietary guidelines and 10 menus for 10 km runners" (coordinated by Dr. Nieves Palacios Gil de Antuñano, specialist in endocrinology and sports nutrition of the Spanish Agency for Health Protection in Sport (AEPSAD).

-Solidarity nutrition: Collaboration of the livestock and meat interprofessionals with the NGO Mensajeros de la Paz and the Church of San Antón to prepare and serve dishes made with meat products throughout the week in their solidarity canteen for disadvantaged people (Asici, Avianza, Intercun, Interovic, Interporc and Provacuno).

- Two sessions of "Meat Detectives", a fun and educational activity for schoolchildren at MercaMadrid (Provacuno and Interovic).

- Innovation Hub and the Innovation Hub Awards: the new meat products of the year.

- 4th Scientific Symposium on white-coat pork (Interporc).

- Nutritional talks during Meat Attraction (Meat and Health Platform).

- Young Butchers Competition.

- International tandem: butcher vs chef.

- Duel at the top: Pepito Vs Paquito. Cockfight, hip-hop (Interovic and Provacuno).

- Meat and sport, inseparable allies.

- Competition for the best home-made hamburger.

- Activities aimed especially at professionals from the specialised meat and meat products trade, who, on this occasion, will have their own space, The Butcher's Shop, within the framework of Meat Attraction.