The Illinois Pork Producers Association is proud to announce 45 recipients of the IPPA Food Service Grant for the fall of 2022. The application opportunity was made available to all Illinois high school culinary, food services and consumer education classes. With additional funding provided by IPPA, all the schools who applied this round were awarded.

The grant was created to educate students about pork production, which refers to the raising of pigs, and the quality protein that pig farmers raise. The grant provides necessary funding to purchase pork that teachers can implement in their respective classes.

This spring IPPA awarded just over $9000 to 41 schools, reaching 3,860 students. The fall grant gives another $10,000 worth of funds that will help classrooms expose over 4,300 students to the simplicity of cooking with pork. In one calendar year, this program will successfully educate over 8,160 students in the state of Illinois.

"The opportunity to form partnerships in our schools and communities with Illinois Pork helps continually build the relationship of how pork is grown and cared for within the next generation," says Thomas Titus, president of the Illinois Pork Producers Association. "A positive experience when cooking and consuming pork is pivotal based upon how it is prepared and our good service grants ensure that students are learning to cook pork properly."

The selected high schools are as follows:

IPPA understands that no two classrooms across the state have the same format and are here to support the teachers. The association encourages them to be creative with their planning to implement multiple cuts of meat and varying flavor profiles into their lesson plans.

This grant is made possible by IPPA and Pork Checkoff funding. 

Source: Illinois Pork Producers Association, which is solely responsible for the information provided, and wholly owns the information. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.