By Bruce Cochrane.
The Manager Public Relations and Consumer Marketing Programs with Manitoba Pork is inviting consumers to think about and enjoy bacon during August, Bacon Month in Manitoba.
In 2014, on the heels of the expansion of the Maple Leaf bacon processing plant in Winnipeg, August was designated Bacon Month in Manitoba.
Activities planned to recognize bacon this month will include Bacon Night at the Winnipeg Goldeyes baseball game August 17, the Winnipeg BBQ and Blues Festival August 19 and 20 and a bacon party at the Pony Corral August 31.
Susan Riese, the Manager of Public Relations and Consumer Marketing Programs with Manitoba Pork, says bacon plays an important in Manitoba's culture and economy.
Susan Riese-Manitoba Pork:
As far as the economy goes, definitely jobs would be a significant contributor there, employing people in the processing industry in general and obviously that includes the bacon facility here and we export a lot of the product out to different provinces and North America and obviously that brings money back to the Manitoba economy as well.
I would say jobs and then definitely the financial aspect as well.
Of course the spin off effect.
You can't just count those because, as the industry grows, there's other sectors that are affected from packaging to transportation and so on.
As far as the culture goes, I don't think Manitoba is necessarily unique to the bacon craze.
It seems to be popular no matter where you go around the country, North America.
What is unique, of course, is the fact that we are the bacon producing capital of the nation so I think that's the significance there.
Riese says bacon is still a very popular breakfast food, it adds flavor to foods like burgers and poutine, you can wrap things in bacon or top things with bacon so bacon is being incorporated into a growing number of recipes.
Source: Farmscape