Indiana Pork is hoping you “Give a ham” this Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“Indiana Pork is pleased to kickoff the holiday season by giving back to our neighbors in need,” says Jeanette Merritt, director of communications for Indiana Pork and a pork farmer herself in Miami County. “We are joining the National Pork Producers initiative called ‘Give-A-Ham’, where we are encouraging our pig farmers and anyone who has a charitable spirit to purchase a ham this holiday season and find a food pantry, find a neighbor, find somebody who is in need of that.”
Indiana Pork kicked off the Give-A-Ham campaign at an event Wednesday at Gleaner’s Food Bank in Indianapolis with Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch where they donated nearly 400 hams for Gleaner’s to distribute to Hoosiers in need.
Merritt says giving, not just at this time of year, is engrained in Indiana’s pig farmers.
“We have farmers all across the state we know do various giving throughout the years, but the agriculture community, our farmers all around the state, are the last people that want recognized for it. They don’t want anybody to pay attention to what they’re doing or to praise them for giving back because it’s just something that the ag community does…We know that many pig farmers around the state donate ground pork, hams, or different items to their favorite charities throughout the year. We just want to spotlight that as we head into Thanksgiving and Christmas.”
If you “Give-A-Ham” this holiday season, use the hashtag #giveaham on social media to encourage others to do the same.
On a separate note, those involved in pork production should register soon for the Midwest Pork Conference. It’ll be held December 6th at the Boone County Fairgrounds. Registrations can be made leading up to the event, but discounted early registration ends on Friday.
