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Americans consume about 51 pounds of pork a year on average, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. While ham is a traditional element of many Easter meals, Ellis said prices typically peak in June, near the height of the grilling season when demand is highest. The low point is usually at the end of the calendar year because that's when large numbers of hogs reach the market. Many organizations, like the Food Bank for the Heartland, don't even attempt to deliver a special holiday meal to the people they help because their goal is to offer the most nutritious food at the lowest possible price. Donations from business and individuals have been down over the past two years, making it harder to keep up with the need in the 93 counties in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa that the food bank serves, spokesman Brian Barks said. Most food pantries, shelters and other programs receiving food from the Omaha food bank this Easter will receive staples like pasta, peanut butter or canned chicken. The food bank recently received 4,200 3-pound hams from the USDA, but Barks said those were gone within a couple of weeks. "Meat has almost become a luxury item at the food bank," he said.
[Associated
Press;
Associated Press Writer Laura Crimaldi contributed to this report from Providence, R.I.
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Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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