In 1954, I launched my career in the meat industry when I accepted the newly created position of Extension Meat Specialist at Michigan State University. At that time, all information came from the print media and, to a limited extent, broadcast. It was still an era when there was a disconnect between academia and the meat industry, with the latter being a pretty tight-knit fraternity. In order to keep abreast of the meat-industry happenings, my best source was the then-weekly The National Provisioner. Not only did it provide the news but it also offered a weekly market summary — a must if you were following economic trends.

In 1959, I moved to Iowa State to begin its extension program in Meat Science. One of my first acts was to acquire a subscription to the Provisioner. I also added the daily Yellow Sheet so our office would have the latest available market information.