When the Ohio Pork Council came to the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank with a recent donation, it wasn’t your average box of canned or dry goods.
True to the organization’s name, the farms that raise swine went whole hog with 5,160 pounds of pork.
The idea was conceived during a webinar involving Farm Credit Mid-America’s swine leaders on the challenges facing the pork industry. The producers decided a donation to the food bank would give a boost to the state’s swine-producing industry and go to a good cause.
Jess Campbell, vice president of food and agribusiness for the farm credit organization, said pork producers in Ohio and Indiana were hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
“When they started to struggle at the beginning of COVID-19, we decided to have an update webinar,” Campbell said. “It was pretty doom and gloom.”
Overseas sales to China had plummeted and the restaurant industry, another big buyer of pork products, was having its own downturn. Ohio is the eighth-largest producer of hogs and pigs in the United States.
“My thought was that we’re saying all these things are horrible, but there’s got to be something good we can do,” Campbell said.
Campbell took the idea to the head of philanthropy at Farm Credit Mid-America, and the cooperative ended up funding $5,000 for the donation. Other sponsors came on board with the Pork Council and Ohio Farm Bureau, including Dennis Taylor Agency in Copley, Dustin Burgess Insurance Group in Akron and the Kim Davis Insurance Agency.
The Aug. 5 donation from Farm Credit Mid-America’s swine leaders was enough to provide 4,500 meals for Akron-area residents facing food insecurity.
Campbell said the food bank was appreciative, and members of the Ohio National Guard helped package the donation. Other donations have been made in the state, Campbell said. In one program, the Ohio Farm Bureau purchased show hogs from county fairs and donated them to other food banks in the state.
“Everybody’s trying to chip in,” Campbell said.
Dan Flowers, president and CEO of the food bank, said the donation from the people who raise pigs and hogs was especially helpful.
"Protein products are always hard to come by," he said. " and it's the most requested."
The ground pork was distributed to 25 charities in Summit and five surrounding counties, he said.
Usually, protein products are donated by a retailer or manufacturer, Flowers said. In that case, the food is already packaged. The forces behind the recent donation had to go an extra step to have the product processed.
"What was unusual was the coalition of people that came together to make it happen," he said.
Alan Ashworth can be reached at 330-996-3859 or emailed at aashworth@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj.
The Link LonkSeptember 18, 2020 at 05:01AM
https://ift.tt/2RBAvGr
Pork producers in region make donation to Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank - Akron Beacon Journal
https://ift.tt/2RsHZwT
Pork
No comments:
Post a Comment