Customers of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Loeffel Meat Shoppe can support the local community with their ground beef purchases in May, which is National Beef Month.
As part of the shop’s “buy one, give one” promotion, for every pound of ground beef sold through May 30, the store will donate a pound of ground beef to local organizations that help feed those in need. The meat shop sells frozen ground beef in one- and two-pound chubs priced at $4.34 and $8.38, respectively.
“We spent some time earlier this year meeting with local organizations to discuss ways we could collaborate to help serve our community,” said Jordan Wicks, a Nebraska Extension meat specialist. “We normally offer beef promotions in May, so this year we decided to put a different spin on it to help us and our customers support our community.”
As of 2022, more than 43,000 people in Lancaster County were food insecure — defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as lacking access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life.
The meat shop is also one of 59 locations statewide participating in the Nebraska “Good Life, Great Steaks” Beef Passport presented by the Nebraska Beef Council from May 1 to Sept. 30. The free program is celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2025 and consists of 19 meat processors, 31 restaurants and nine meat markets throughout Nebraska.
“We’re excited to participate in the beef passport program this year,” Wicks said. “Our local customers always tell us that we’re one of the best-kept secrets in town. Our students and staff do great work, and we’re ready to share their work and products with people from across the state who visit us.”
Participants can “check in” by purchasing a beef item at participating locations. Each check-in is worth 100 points, and those points can be redeemed for prizes from the Nebraska Beef Council. Points can only be collected once at each location, and each check-in will serve as an entry into grand prize drawings for one of two beef bundles.
For more information about the program and participating locations, visit the Nebraska Beef Council website.
The Loeffel Meat Shoppe is open 1 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays and 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Fridays. The store will also be open during East Campus Discovery Days, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 14, July 12 and Aug. 9.
Located at 3940 Fair St. on the university’s East Campus, the shop is a USDA-inspected retail meat operation that sells fresh and frozen cuts of beef, pork, lamb, goat, smoked and sliced sausages, brats, naturally cased wieners, multiple varieties of ready-to-eat snack sticks and fresh eggs. It has operated since the 1960s.
Retail sales from the meat shop help offset costs associated with academic programs in the Department of Animal Science. Livestock are harvested and processed for sale in the Loeffel Meat Laboratory with assistance from Husker students. Students gain experience by learning how to process, package and sell the products that they process, in addition to playing a role in developing new products to sell in the shop, such as the jalapeño popper bratwurst — a two-time national award winner.
