Importance of beef in the diet and production in the Republic of Serbia

The main socio-economic goals of the development of meat production (beef and veal) and meat products are the satisfaction of the nutritional needs of the popu lation, provision of raw materials for the food industry, the creation of necessary commodity food reserves and the necessity of exporting meat and meat products. Beef meat (beef and veal) is considered to be the best quality meat with the most suitable nutritional properties; therefore the price of this type of meat is generally higher than the prices of other types of meat. Meat is a high-quality food that is essential in the human diet, and which con tains the most important nutrients: protein 12-25%, fat 1-20%, carbohydrates about 1%, as well as minerals (especially calcium and iron), and vitamins (riboflavin, thiamine, niacin). The importance of meat in the diet is supported by the statement that about half of the fatty acids in meat are unsaturated. Among them there are fatty acids with “long” chains, which are important in the diet of the elderly, because they are unable to synthesize them from fatty acids with “shorter” chains. The paper also provides an analysis of the production and consumption of beef (beef and veal) for the observed period from 2012 to 2021 in the Republic of Serbia, during which period there is a certain cyclicality in production and consumption. The production of beef in the Republic of Serbia in the observed time period reached its highest physical volume in 2012. (82,000 t) after which it decreases until 2017 and 2019 (71,000 t) and in the following year there will be a slight increase to 75,000 t., at which level it has remained and there is no hint of stabilization or increase in beef production in the Republic of Serbia.