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Addressing consumer demands for socially responsible pork
production
Pork Industry Environmental Steward
Applications and Nominations Sought
Farmers are the
original environmental stewards and pork producers across the nation
work hard every day to protect air, water and soil quality. The
National Pork Board is receiving applications and nominations for 2010
Pork Industry Environmental Steward Award winners. The deadline
is March 31, 2010. The 2010 application/nomination form is available
online at pork.org. Click on the "For Producers" link near
the top of the home page, and then click on the "Environmental
Stewards" link on the left side of the page. You can also call
(800) 456-PORK for more information.
For more information, contact Allan Stokes, AStokes@pork.org, 515-223-3447.
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Promoting teamwork within the pork industry
Fat Quality Symposium
If you're interested in
learning more about where the industry stands in terms of fat quality,
consider attending the Checkoff-sponsored Fat Quality Symposium on
January 19 at the Sheraton Hotel in West Des Moines, Iowa. The program
will begin at 8 a.m. and last until 4 p.m., featuring speakers
discussing everything from nutrition to processing and exports. The
symposium is free of charge, but travel and accommodations are at
attendee expense.
For
more information, contact Steve Larson,SLarsen@pork.org,
515-223-2754.
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Adding measurable value to U.S. Pork
New Pork Cut Finds Success in Japan
Can you imagine a summer
barbecue season without pork back ribs? Until the spring of 2009,
Japanese consumers had never had the opportunity to savor this American
cookout favorite.
Before
then, the pork back rib did not exist in Japan outside of a select
few restaurants because the domestic pork industry produces
single-ribbed loins. Even the Japanese pork industry did not know about
the back rib. Enter the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).
What
followed from there is a textbook product introduction that, with
support from the Pork Checkoff, has put back ribs on the radar - and
the plates - of millions of Japanese consumers.
USMEF
introduced pork back ribs in Japan at the March 2009 FoodEx trade show,
where the high-value cut drew immediate interest from a number of
buyers, including national retailers Ito Yokado and Aeon.
Ito
Yokado, which has 179 outlets in Japan with estimated retail sales of
$15.9 billon, took the lead and began selling back ribs immediately
after FoodEx. USMEF helped the retailer organize tasting demonstrations
to support test sales at a limited number of outlets, and the
popularity of the item led Ito Yokado to expand sales to 100 stores by
July.
USMEF
also teamed with Ito Yokado to conduct a U.S. pork sweepstakes
campaign at its 105 outlets in the Kanto region during November with
funding support from both the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion
Council and the Nebraska Soybean Board. Fifty winning couples
received an invitation to a U.S. pork Christmas lunch party at the
Westin Hotel Tokyo on Dec. 20 where U.S. pork baby back ribs will be
the main attraction. Ito Yokado reported selling about 20 metric tons
(44,000 pounds) of the back ribs during the sweepstakes.
Retail
giant Aeon, with 1,850 stores and estimated retail sales of $58.1
billion, also debuted back ribs this spring and enjoyed better than
expected sales results.
The
retail channel wasn't the only avenue USMEF explored for introducing
back ribs. It conducted a baby back rib promotion with Guru Navi
(Gourmet Navigator), Japan's best-known restaurant Web site, which
draws more than 850 million hits per month. Forty-eight restaurants
participated in the month-long promotion from late August through late
September, with most of the restaurants using back ribs for the first
time. Chefs at each restaurant developed their own back rib recipes,
and more than 60 percent reported the promotion was a success. In fact,
40 percent of the participating restaurants decided to add pork back
ribs to their permanent menu after the promotion ended.
Through
the first 10 months of 2009, the United States has exported 783.4
million pounds of pork products to Japan valued at nearly $1.3 billion.
For
more information, contact John Hinners, JHinners@usmef.org, 303-623-6328.
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Blogs
Serve Up Favorite Holiday Pork Recipes
From Pork Roast with Apple Glaze to Pineapple Ham, readers
of the Mom Central blog and The Inadvertent Gardener blog who dished
about their favorite holiday pork recipe had a unique opportunity to
share some pork goodness this year.
People who left a pork-related recipe comment on the
Massachusetts-based Mom Central blog
or the California-based Inadvertent
Gardener blog had the chance to win a $50 retail
gift card from the Pork Checkoff. In addition, for each recipe comment
collected, the Pork Checkoff provided five pounds of pork (up to 100
pounds) to the Greater Boston Food Bank and the Alameda County Food
Bank.
"This was a new online promotion that we tested on a
small scale, and it went very well," says Cathy Lee Fredrickson,
online content manager for the Pork Checkoff. "Mom Central and The
Inadvertent Gardener reach our target audience, which includes mothers
with children in the home. These women are looking for a sense of
community online, and these blogs provide that connection, as well as a
trusted source of information."
Mom Central, which has a monthly viewership of 5,381, also
has 11,000 followers on the social networking site Twitter. While The
Inadvertent Gardener has a smaller following, its readers tend to be
very engaged, which is important, says Fredrickson, who notes that the
Pork Checkoff helped promote the holiday pork recipe contest through
its AllAboutPork updates on Twitter.
The Inadvertent Gardener writer, who praised a crown roast
of pork that her mother served one Christmas, noted how she now enjoys
serving a favorite cornbread and pork sausage stuffing recipe. When the
blogger invited readers to share their favorite holiday pork recipes, a
woman named Pilar posted this colorful comment:
"Boy oh boy! How to pick a recipe for pork. I have
tons - and I mean tons - of pork ideas! We are an oink loving family,
and pork is a holiday staple in our homes, from the traditional
Christmas dish of cochinillo (roasted suckling pig) to embutido, a
Christmas classic of ground pork, raisins, hard boiled eggs, chorizo
and other lovely goodies."
As Mom Central's blogger promoted the holiday recipe
contest, she described to readers how she planned to make a pork roast
for Christmas dinner and was evaluating a variety of options, including
Maple Sugar-Ginger Roast Pork, Fruit and Walnut-Stuffed Pork Loin, and
Prosciutto-Wrapped Pork With Sweet Potatoes and Pears.
"Readers view these influential bloggers as friends,
and when your friends recommend something, you take it to heart,"
Fredrickson says. "By connecting our message with these bloggers,
this allows us to expand pork's reach."
For more information, contact Cathy Lee Fredrickson, CFredrickson@pork.org,
515-223-2767.
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Spotlight Article
Pork's
real green story clears the air
Recently,
there's been more negative environmental news in the media regarding
livestock, and consequently, pork production, regarding greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions. Most notably, this new round of misinformation has
been quoted by Paul McCartney, which has garnered some wider media
interest. However, the Pork Checkoff is prepared to share the real
facts with producers and the public as it continues to take a leading
role in making sure the industry stays on top of this issue.
"U.S.
pork producers are among some of the most efficient and environmentally
conscious food producers in the world," says Allan Stokes,
director of environmental programs for the Pork Checkoff.
"Producers have a long history and tradition of providing a high
quality, safe and nutrition dense food source to help feed the world's
population. The industry's carbon footprint initiative is actively
researching ways to increase production efficiencies in
environmentally sustainable ways essentially reducing GHG emissions per
pound of food produced."
According
to the 2008 United Nation's, Framework Convention on Climate Change
November 2008 technical report on Challenges and opportunities for
mitigation in the agricultural sector, agriculture contributes 10
to 12 percent of the total global man-made GHG emissions. On a global
scale, the main sources of non-CO2 GHG emissions from agriculture are:
soils, enteric fermentation, manure management and rice cultivation.
Most notably, the report says GHGs from land-use change, including
deforestation in tropical areas, are (in most countries) associated
with agricultural activities and exceed emissions from all other
agricultural sources.
Livestock
is not a major contributor to GHG emissions. And more specifically,
pork production's carbon footprint is a small fraction of U.S.
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, says Stokes. "Animal agriculture
as a whole contributes a small part of U.S.GHG emissions. According to
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in 2007 only 2.8 percent of U.S.
GHG emissions came from animal agriculture and pork production
contributes even less--a mere one-third of one percent (0.33%) of total
U.S. GHG emissions."
To
learn more about Checkoff's work in this area and more specifics on
pork's carbon footprint, click
here.
For
more information, contact Allan Stokes, AStokes@pork.org,
515-223-3447.
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Pork
Checkoff. Your Investment. Your Future.
Pork Checkoff Service Center .
800-456-PORK
Reprinting of the Pork Leader
is encouraged
Produced by: National
Pork Board
Pork Leader . 1776 NW 114th
St . Des Moines, Iowa 50306
515-223-2600
If
you want to be removed from this e-mail newsletter distribution or if
you know someone else who would like to receive Pork Leader, then
please call the Pork Checkoff Service Center at (800) 456-PORK or
contact the editor by phone at (515) 223-2616 or by e-mail to troof@pork.org
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