There’s nothing like sitting around the table enjoying a meal with your family and friends. For many families across the country, the pandemic has posed financial hardship. Hunger in the U.S. alone has grown from about 37 million people before the pandemic to more than 50 million Americans who experienced food insecurity in 2020, according to Feeding America. [Farm Journal’s Pork 3 November 2021 by Jennifer Shike]
It’s no surprise meat is one of the most expensive items to purchase and most needed donations for food banks, says Annette Hacker, communications manager with Food Bank of Iowa, which serves 677 partner agencies across 55 Iowa counties.
Here’s how you can help make a difference and fight food insecurity. Join the National Pork Producers Council in its annual "Give-A-Ham" campaign. NPPC’s national social media campaign encourages hog farmers and others involved in the industry to donate pork to organizations serving the food insecure and challenge others to follow suit. The "Give-a-Ham" challenge began Nov. 1 and will run through the end of the year.
"It’s good to celebrate things that are important to us," says Jen Sorenson, National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) president and communications director at Iowa Select Farms. "We work with over 100 food pantries across rural Iowa. I’ve never heard that they have plenty of meat. There is always a great need for protein."
Pork is the perfect protein, she adds. Not only is it lean and versatile, but families can make pork stretch over a few meals.
"The ability to get a really great pork product and having it stretch over so many meals while providing lean protein for families and children is such a perfect product to give away because it helps so many," she adds.
In 2020, participants gave away 15 million pounds of pork (220 million servings) to food pantries to help those in need through the "Give-A-Ham" challenge.
"We will all be challenging and embracing the camaraderie in our industry – producers and all those who contribute so much to the pork industry, including our friends at Extension, ag colleges, lawmakers, policymakers and partners. The industry is much more than hog farmers themselves – a lot of people contribute to make it what it is," Sorenson says.
And it doesn’t have to be ham, she adds. For example, Iowa Select Farms is giving away 18,000 pork loins at food pantries across rural Iowa. All pork donations are encouraged and welcomed.
"We are hoping to significantly increase not only the reach, but also the giving," Sorenson says. "We invite anyone – if their heart is in a giving place this holiday season – to put it out on social and use #giveaham to be connected to the campaign."