Pork Producers Provide 50,000 Meals for Underprivileged Iowans

CLIVE, IOWA (May 9, 2023) — The Iowa Pork Producers Association’s new Pork in the Pantry program provided more than 50,000 meals for underprivileged Iowans over the past few months. Forty county pork-producer organizations worked with the state association to donate pork to local food pantries. The Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA) matched up to $1,000 for each county, totaling nearly $40,000 statewide.

Food pantries are frequently short of meat products, so this was a great way to get nutritious protein into the diets of food-insecure Iowans.

“I am so proud of the way county pork producer organizations stepped up and delivered for Iowans in a time of need,” said IPPA President Trish Cook, a pig farmer from Winthrop. “Our first year for the Pork in the Pantry program exceeded our expectations, and we helped a lot of food-insecure Iowans with delicious and nutritious meals. Pork producers care about this state and its people, and this is just one way for us to show we care.”

The pork donations included bacon, brats, chops, ground pork, hams, loins, roasts, sausage, and tenderloins, as well as convenience meals like precooked deli ham. Many groups purchased the pork from area meat lockers and grocery stores, helping to keep the dollars in their local communities.

“Iowa’s pork producers are amazing,” said Joyce Hoppes, IPPA’s consumer information director. “Their support of the Pork in the Pantry program shows their commitment to making their communities better and enriching the lives of the food-insecure with some delicious and nutritious, high-quality protein meals.”

Counties participating in Pork in the Pantry this year include:

Adair

Adams

Buchanan

Buena Vista

Calhoun

Cass

Cedar

Cherokee

Chickasaw

Clay

Clayton

Delaware

Des Moines

Grundy

Hamilton

Hardin

Henry

Howard

Ida

Jasper

Jefferson

Johnson

Jones

Kossuth

Lyon

Madison

Marshall

O’Brien

Page

Palo Alto

Plymouth

Poweshiek

Ringgold

Sac

Sioux

Story

Taylor

Washington

Webster

Winneshiek

About the Iowa Pork Producers Association 

The mission of the Iowa Pork Producers Association is promoting, educating, and providing a leading voice for a sustainable, socially-responsible, and globally-competitive pork industry.