By Bruce Cochrane
The Manager of public relations and consumer marketing programs with Manitoba Pork says activities planned as part of the 2015 August Bacon Month celebration will begin tonight in Winnipeg.
Last summer Manitoba Pork designated August as "Bacon Month" in Manitoba.
Susan Riese, the Manager of public relations and consumer marketing programs with Manitoba Pork, says the month long celebration of bacon this year kicks off tonight in Winnipeg with a bacon themed Winnipeg Goldeyes baseball game, the "Bacon Makes it Better" campaign will be highlighted by several events and fund raisers throughout August including the "Barbecue and Blues Festival" the third week of August and a big "Bacon Party" near the end of the month at the Pony Corral Pier 7.
Manitoba Pork designated August as Bacon Month last summer.
Susan Riese-Manitoba Pork:
We figured if someone was going to own it, we wanted it to be us on behalf of our producers.
At the time we were also aware that the Maple Leaf bacon and ham processing plant here in Winnipeg had finished its expansion, we knew that the bacon trend was alive and well and we were looking for a fun campaign to run during the summer to take a break from some of the more serious issues that we'd been dealing with at the time.
With the expansion, Winnipeg is home to the largest state of the art bacon processing facility in Canada, which means more jobs for Manitobans but it also creates economic spin-offs for other industries as well.
The challenge has been that not many people are aware of how important the pork industry and its processing plants are to Manitoba's economy and also that there's a connection between the bacon on their plate and the farmers that raise the hogs that supply the bellies to make the bacon.
Highlighting these facts through our bacon campaign is one way of creating that awareness and some pride in Manitoba's pork industry.
Riese says the best way to lean more about the special activities during Bacon Month, or the Bacon Makes it Better campaign, or to access bacon recipes is to visit ManitobaPork.com/bacon.
Source: Farmscape