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One million pounds is a lot of ground pork. On Dec. 13, Pork
Power, a pork donation program run by the Illinois Pork
Producers Association, will celebrate hitting the monumental
milestone of 1 million pounds of pork given away to local food
banks since the program began in 2008.
“Illinois pig farmers really shine because they care about their
local communities,” Lana Shovlin, communications director for
IPPA, told The Center Square. “They donate their animals to make
sure that families have high-quality protein for their meals.”
Since 2008, the "Pork Power: Partnering to Fight Hunger"
campaign has provided more than 3.3 million meals to families in
need across the state, Shovlin said.
During a donation event Nov. 28 at Midwest Food Bank in
Bloomington-Normal, IPPA President-elect Chad Leman said farmers
and their commodity partners are “deeply passionate” about
helping Illinois families that cannot sit down to nutritious
meals because of hardship.
Other sponsors of Pork Power include the Illinois Corn Marketing
Board, the Illinois Soybean Association, Compeer Financial,
Farmweld, the Illinois Association of Meat Processors and Knox
County Pork Producers.
Farmers donate animals to participating meat processors,
including Steidinger Foods and Turasky Meats in Central
Illinois, while the IPPA and its partners pay for the processing
and the delivery of the pork to the food banks.
“The program would not be possible without the help of local
packers and processors across the state,” Shovlin said.
During the Illinois State Fair at the Pork Patio, people buy and
wear $20 Pork Power T-shirts that are sold to promote the
program.
"People like collecting them," Shoveling said.
IPPA creates a new shirt design every year.
“100% of the profits from the sale of the T-shirts goes to the
program,” Shovlin said.
The 2023 design will go on sale on the IPPA website next week.
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