Dr. Meeker Receives Prestigious Tallow Master Award

Dr. David Meeker Receives the Tallow Master Award

NARA and FPRF’s Senior Vice President of Scientific Services, Dr. David Meeker, has been presented with the prestigious Tallow Master Award in appreciation of his distinguished service and outstanding contributions to the American rendering industry.   The award was presented at the Pacific Coast Renderers Association annual meeting in Laguna Niguel, California, earlier this month.   In his acceptance of the award, Meeker said, “Working for renderers has been the best job of my career.

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Pairing Service Dogs With Those in Need

As our regular blog readers know, NARA recently launched a quarterly podcast, The Invisible Industry, where we discuss and educate on all things rendering.   In our newest episode, aired on January 22, we interview staff from Canine Companions to talk about the great work they do to pair service dogs with those in need, and discuss NARA’s longtime partnership with the non-profit organization.   For this important conversation, host Marcus Wintzer, and episode co-host, Richard Weeks,

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2021 Don Franco Distinguished Service Award Winner

The 2021 Don Franco Distinguished Service Award Winner Kevin Custer

NARA  is pleased to announce the 2021 “Don Franco Distinguished Service Award” has been presented to Kevin Custer for his leadership and longtime commitment to the rendering industry, NARA, and to the association’s research and related programs. The Don Franco Distinguished Service Award is NARA’s highest honor. It recognizes truly outstanding work on behalf of the rendering industry in science, policy, marketing, or communications and is presented to a member, staff, or friend of the

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We Have a New Podcast: The Invisible Industry

NARA is excited to announce that we recently launched a new rendering podcast, The Invisible Industry: Everything You Didn’t Know (You Didn’t Know) About Rendering. Our panel style podcast airs quarterly episodes that discuss and educate on agricultural rendering, the rendering industry, and the sustainability benefits of rendering. Each episode features a new co-host from the rendering or related industry and unique guests who discuss a wide range of topics of interest to those in

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2021 Bisplinghoff Research Innovation Award Winner

NARA’s sister research foundation, The Fats and Proteins Research Foundation (FPRF), is pleased to announce that the 2021 “Bisplinghoff Research Innovation Award” has been presented to Merlin D. Lindemann, Ph.D, PAS, for his many years of research on the use of rendered products in swine nutrition. Dr. Lindemann is a professor of Animal and Food Sciences at the University of Kentucky. His work has been instrumental in establishing the value of rendered products in pig

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3 Cheers for Doggos! Celebrating National Dog Day 2021

NARA II

National Dog Day is observed every year on August 26th, and if you are a pet parent to a pooch, we know you appreciate your furry friend 365 days of the year! But we like to recognize National Dog Day to remind you that the pet food you feed your fur babies is safe, healthy, and sustainable thanks to rendering. Rendered protein meals, derived from the rendering process, are a vital ingredient in safe pet

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From Fries to Fuel

From Fries to Fuel Graphic

July 13th is National French Fry day, and that makes us hungry…but it also makes us think of renewable fuels. Why you ask? Well, the used cooking oil (UCO) that these popular (and all too crave-able) morsels are fried in is actually vital to the renewable fuel and biomass-based diesel industries. Renderers pick up UCO from restaurants and much of it (along with rendered animal fat) is used to produce sustainable biomass-based diesel – namely

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We Interviewed Dr. Kevin Finneran on his ACREC Funded Work

Fats and Proteins Research Foundation Logo

Director of Communications for NARA and FPRF (the Fats and Proteins Research Foundation), Anna Wilkinson, recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Kevin Finneran, a recipient of one of 6 projects selected for this year’s funding at the Animal Co-Products Research & Education Center (ACREC).   ACREC is a joint project with Clemson University and FPRF with the mission to:   Ensure microbial safety of rendered products for animal feeds and consumer protection Promote environmentally

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Newly Published Peer Reviewed Article Spotlights Rendering’s Sustainability

We are excited to announce a newly published peer reviewed article, How Agricultural Rendering Supports Sustainability and Assists Livestock’s Ability to Contribute More Than Just Food, in the animal science journal, Animal Frontiers; Volume 11, issue 2. The journal article covers the sustainability of agricultural rendering by outlining its benefits for each of the three pillars of sustainability (Environmental, Social and Economic). Additionally, the article discusses the many ways that rendered products surround us every

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Rendering (really) is Recycling

If you follow NARA on social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) or have visited our website before, you may recognize the phrase  “Rendering is Recycling”. In honor of Earth Month, we’re exploring what that means, and why spreading the word on the sustainability benefits of rendering is paving the way to a ‘greener’ future. Rendering probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think of recycling (or even sustainability for that matter) because

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The North American Renderers Association (NARA) is an Equal Opportunity Employer. It does not discriminate in the terms and conditions of employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other factor prohibited by law.

As a participant in USDA programs, we share the commitment to comply with all federal, state and local civil rights laws and those of the USDA. More about this commitment is available on the USDA website page here.