DES MOINES, IOWA – After debuting nearly 15 years ago, the Pork Checkoff’s Operation Main Street (OMS) program has reached a major milestone – sharing facts about pigs and pork to 10,000 audiences. Wesley Lyons, a veterinarian from Sycamore, Illinois, made the historic presentation to nurses at the Northern Illinois Chapter of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses Fall Forum in Rockford, Illinois.
“I was honored to present the 10,000th OMS speech, especially to a group of critical care nurses,” said Lyons, with Pipestone Veterinary Services. “Nurses often have more time to interact with patients than physicians, which makes them a critical group for us to share up-to-date information about how pigs are raised today.”
The OMS program was created to help pig farmers interact with and connect to their communities about animal care, food safety and public health and other facets of how today’s pigs are raised. Since then, it has transitioned into a program that also reaches key influencers, expanding to include veterinarians such as Lyons and other industry representatives to serve as speakers. To date, the nearly 1,500 trained OMS speakers have collectively volunteered 17,604 hours to share pork’s story.
“OMS provides the opportunity for audience members to ask questions about pigs and pork from the farmers and veterinarians who care for pigs daily,” said Ernie Barnes industry services director for the Pork Checkoff. “OMS speakers interact with chefs, nurses, veterinarian students, nutritionists, bloggers and other important groups who interact daily with audiences. OMS presentations help them confidently and accurately talk about the science and practice of raising pigs.”
A new program update is an ability for audience members to virtually tour a pig farm. Through a collaboration with South Dakota State University (SDSU), OMS speakers can include live-streaming video tours of SDSU’s Swine Education and Research Center, in Brookings, South Dakota.
“The live tours show how pig farmers follow the We CareSM ethical principles every day in their barns to raise healthy pigs,” said Lyons, who included a virtual tour in the 10,000th presentation. “Many people are surprised at the high level of care pigs receive in the climate-controlled barns and at how pig farmers safeguard natural resources.”
OMS speakers and those who attend presentations are encouraged to use the hashtag – #OurPorkStory – to increase the online presence of pig farming.
The National Pork Board has responsibility for Checkoff-funded research, promotion and consumer information projects and for communicating with pork producers and the public. Through a legislative national Pork Checkoff, pork producers invest $0.40 for each $100 value of hogs sold. Importers of pork products contribute a like amount, based on a formula. The Pork Checkoff funds national and state programs in advertising, consumer information, retail and foodservice marketing, export market promotion, production improvement, science and technology, swine health, pork safety and sustainability and environmental management.
For information on Checkoff-funded programs, pork producers can call the Pork Checkoff Service Center at (800) 456-7675 or check the Internet at www.pork.org.
