Indiana Pork Joins with ISDA to Feed the Hungry

Indiana pork meal upgrades

Indiana pork fair tentThe Indiana State Fair is just about set to kick off and Hoosiers across the state are gearing up for all the fair has to offer, including the new Coliseum and that delicious fair food. This year Indiana Pork is teaming with the Indiana State Department of Agriculture to feed the hungry, and Sarah Ford, director of checkoff programs at Indiana Pork says you can help when you visit any of their 3 pork tents.

“For any entrée that a customer chooses, they can make it a meal, so that’s an upgrade, applesauce, chips and a drink for an additional $3.00. For every upgrade that we sell at the pork tents during the Indiana State Fair one ground pork meal, which equates to a quarter pound, will be donated to Indiana food banks.”

Ford told HAT the partnership with ISDA stems from the agency’s livestock promotion grant program.

“We decided to submit an application for that and really the goal is obviously we want to promote livestock in Indiana, and from our perspective we want to promote Indiana pork and our producers, so this is an opportunity to promote pork at the Indiana State Fair and also to feed those in need in Indiana. We felt like it was a great partnership. It’s a win-win for everyone.”

Pig OutIndiana Pork is hoping 30,000 of their customers will choose the make it a meal upgrade.

“We sold just over 29,000 meals last year, so we’re thinking with our fairgoers and our great and loyal customers we can easily reach 30,000 meal upgrades this year which will be 7,500 pounds of pork for Indiana food banks,” Ford said.

The ground pork meals will head for the statewide association of food banks, Feeding Indiana’s Hungry (FIsH.)

“We are very excited about this partnership”, said Emily Weikert-Bryant, executive director of FIsH. “Protein is in short supply at our food banks, so this is a great opportunity to provide a much needed food source.”

“The grant dollars are made available to benefit both livestock producers and the community, and this partnership is a perfect example of everyone working together toward the common good of Indiana and its citizens,” said Ben Kenney, director of communications at ISDA.

The Indiana State Fair starts Friday and runs through Sunday, August 17th.

Indiana Pork is a not-for-profit association representing Indiana’s 3,000 family pork farmers through the pork checkoff program.  Learn more at www.indianapork.com.

(Picture (c) 2013, AroundIndy.com, LLC, all rights reserved. Used with written permission of the copyright owner)

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