The Nebraska Pork Producers Association has been busy promoting the pork industry across the state. Staff, board members, and mentoring students have spent many hours educating consumers about the benefits of incorporating lean pork into a healthy diet, have taught urban and rural students about the differences and similarities between kids and pigs at county Ag Fests, have tested high school FFA members knowledge about the industry at State Convention - this is just a glimpse of the work they've done!
Mentoring students Mat and Dana discuss how pork has become healthier over the past 50 years at the Bryan LGH Diabetes Center. Over 400 folks attended in hopes to learn more about diabetes prevention, treatment and control.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Eating Disorder Education and Prevention (EDEP) organization strives to increase awareness about eating disorders on campus. Mentoring student Emily distributed healthy and easy to make recipes to students, staff, and faculty during the Body Bazaar hosted by EDEP.
Board member and officer for NPPA, Dave Harrington provided man power for the seventh annual Life on the Farm in Kearney, hosted by the Buffalo County Extension. Dave taught over 400 3rd grade students from Kearney Public Schools about the differences and similarities between kids and pigs. One teacher said, “Each of the stations really teaches the children about the various aspects of agriculture. The hands on experiences of petting the animals, seeing the products, and listening to the presenters share information first hand makes the entire program wonderful.”
Similarly, Custer and Dawson County Extension hosts Ag Fest in Broken Bow and Lexington to create awareness of the importance of agriculture in people’s lives. This year nearly 750 4th and 5th grade students experienced hands on learning at Ag Fest. Mat, a mentoring student helped teach students about the pork industry in a fun and interactive way by using a spinning prize wheel. Students learned about pork basics, pork byproducts, the health benefits of eating pork, and general fun pork trivia.
State FFA is an exciting time of year for 3,500 FFA members, parents, and guests. NPPA provided a promotional booth during convention. Members of the mentoring class and staff manned the booth during the 3 day event. FFA students stopped to spin the prize wheel and answered questions corresponding to where the spinner landed. Each student was encouraged to apply to be a part of NPPA Pork Mentoring Program.
The mentoring students met and visited some important and influential members of Nebraska’s Legislative body. Students met Sen. Erdman – Chairman of the Agriculture Committee, Sen. Stuthman – District 22, Trent Nowka – NPPA Lobbyist, Chauncey Brown – Page, and Justin Brady – Radcliffe and Associates to learn more about the Nebraska Legislature, policies and issues facing agriculture and the pork industry, as well as, special and unique information about the State Capitol.
The mentoring students attended the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa. They participated in National Pork Board’s State Intern Training, toured the offices of NPB, were trained in Neighbor to Neighbor and completed their PQA Plus Certification.
Allied member, Keith Kinley with Advanced Agri-Direct, of York, spoke with the group about having goals and utilizing their talents. The group was present for the unveiling of a new feeder/water from Advanced Agri Direct while on the fairgrounds. They also met industry folks, and were fortunate to join in a luncheon provided by National Pork Producers Council with guest speaker Chuck Conner, Deputy Director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The mentoring students and other volunteers helped make the Pork Chop Scramble a huge success. Mentoring students and volunteers manned holes, operated games/contests, and helped raise money for youth scholarships.
Mentoring students and numerous producer volunteers gave over 200 pounds of delicious pork loin samples to baseball fans in Lincoln during the first ever NPPA Trailer B event. Trailer B is an exciting mobile marketing tool that helps pork producers and volunteers connect with consumers while trying the tasty samples of pork. Baseball fans also tested their knowledge of pork trivia and putted with Pete the Pig.
Mentoring students took tickets and served food to 220 special guests at the V.I.P. Tent during Ribfest and the Live Auction. Ribfest serves as a fundraising event for the Strategic Investment Program. This money allows NPPA to work on regulation and legislation that affects agriculture and the Nebraska pork industry.
Mentoring students helped welcome and direct 2000 4-H and FFA members and their families to an appreciation BBQ for Nebraska’s agriculture Youth. The BBQ was sponsored by the Nebraska Soybean Board and the Nebraska Pork Producers Association.