DES MOINES, IOWA – JUNE 17, 2020 — The National Pork Board is pleased to announce Kara Behlke, of St. Louis, Missouri, has joined the team as director of nutrition and dietetics.
Behlke comes to the Pork Board from Schnuck Markets, a 112-store supermarket chain operating in five Midwestern states, where she was the director of health and wellness strategy. In this role, she was responsible for creating an enterprise-wide health and well-being strategy in support of the company’s mission for improving the quality of food in customers’ baskets. She has held a variety of positions related to both brand marketing and nutrition in the retail food and commodity spaces, having worked for Schnucks, Hy-Vee and the New York Beef Industry Council.
“We’re incredibly pleased to have Kara’s leadership and expertise at the Pork Board,” said Angie Krieger, vice president of domestic marketing. “Not only is she already making an impact on the nutrition strategy we launched this year, but her experience working with retail dietitians is going to be invaluable to our efforts to build pork’s presence in retail meat cases across the country.”
“As customers pay more attention to what they eat and how that impacts how they feel, I’m honored and delighted to be joining the Pork Board as they increase their focus on wellness to help promote healthier choices,” Behlke said. “There are strong connections between how we live related to how we feel. Pork and U.S. pork producers play a powerful role in building a healthier future in the global marketplace.”
Originally from Benkelman, Nebraska, Behlke holds a BS degree in dietetics from the University of Nebraska Lincoln and completed her dietetic internship at Yale Medical Center. She is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and a previous member of the Retail Dietitian Business Alliance Advisory Board and CEOs Against Cancer. Behlke plans to relocate to the Des Moines, Iowa, area.