By WMBD-TV

NORMAL – Local farmers donated 6,600 pounds of ground pork to Midwest Food Bank on Thursday.

Since 2008, the “Pork Power” campaign has been a partnership between the Illinois Pork Producers Association, Illinois Corn Marketing Board, Illinois Meat Processors Association, and the Illinois Soybean Association Checkoff Program that donates ground pork to underserved communities as a way to give back to the community.

“As pork producers, we not only want to be conscious of environment and sustainability, we want to be good community members. Supporting those in need is a big part of that and the holidays is the perfect time to do that,” said Patrick Bane, pork producer and member of National Pork Board.

“I just something we really enjoy doing. We’ve been blessed with our business and it’s just a way for us to give back a little bit and help them alongside these other agencies,” said Brad Steidinger, owner of Steidinger Foods, a family-owned meat processing company based in Fairbury.

Aimee Beam, executive director of Midwest Food Bank, said food insecurity in the area has risen by 25 percent since last year. Each month, the food bank distributes food to 461 organizations throughout the Central Illinois region, serving 132,000 people per month.

“There’s been incredible outreach for food, a real spike in food insecurity with increase in prices and inflation,” she said.

Beam said ground pork is a unique donation, as donations to food banks usually consist of canned goods.

“We really are in a constant need for high-quality protein, and this is really something special that people can add to their food meals… We don’t get a lot of donations like this but it’s a very important part of it,” she said. “A lot of times we’ll have to purchase things like that. We’d much rather redirect that money to be able to do other things and do bigger things for our clients.”

For the farmers, the donation also serves a way to share the benefits of eating pork. They even included a recipe card for those who don’t normally use pork products.

“Years ago, pork was used in different ways. There was lard for cooking, but today it’s a very lean, a very healthy product. Three ounces of lean pork is as lean as skinless chicken breast. So we’re trying to promote that in the industry,” said Bane.

“We appreciate the fact they did that recipe card, because it’s true people don’t always know how to prepare things that are healthy and this is such a help,” added Beam.