- Photo courtesy of the Iowa Food & Family Project

For a few days in early June, Tama County is at the epicenter of the pork universe.

Since 1990, the Tama County Pork Producers have provided their grilling expertise to the visitors of the World Pork Expo in Des Moines at their Big Grill lunch stand.

The expo, put on by the National Pork Producers Council, brings in thousands of pork producers as well as pork industry professionals and experts from around the globe to the Iowa State Fairgrounds each summer for three days of education, trade show exhibitions and networking opportunities.

After a two-year hiatus due to concerns about swine fever in 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the world’s largest pork trade show, and its premier lunch vendor, were back in business for 2021.

“Last year, we did very little,” Tama County Pork Producers board member Dennis Gienger said. “We did a few farm sales and that kind of thing, and that was it. Now this year, we’re getting back into the groove. And it’s been good, to get people together and get everybody out and around.”

Keith Sash, Gladbrook Mayor - Photo courtesy of the Iowa Food & Family Project

Gienger said around a dozen producers from Tama County were on hand at any given time throughout the event, held June 9-11, to staff their food stand, along with volunteers from Farm Credit Services and Rabo Agri Finance.

The menu at the Big Grill featured pork ribs and a rotating selection of pork loins and burgers. Roughly 150 racks of ribs, 1,500 loins and 1,500 burgers were grilled up and served to expo attendees.

The Big Grill gets its name from a gigantic grill operation the Tama County Pork Producers used to operate at the World Pork Expo. The 200-foot grill unit was shelved some years ago in favor of smaller grills that could be more portable. Gienger said the Tama County Pork Producers still have the components to assemble the original Big Grill and hopes it can reemerge at an event in the not-so-distant future.

On display during the expo and at several regional events is a newly-branded trailer unveiled this year with the help of the National Pork Board. The new trailer design features the Real Pork marketing slogan along with shots of juicy pork tenderloins heating up on a grill, a map of Iowa showing Tama County and some pork industry images and the county organization’s name in bold lettering.

Also getting a brand refresh is the Tama County Pork Producers walk-in freezer that resides at the Hometown Family Market in Gladbrook to assist the grocery store as well as the pork producers organization as it prepares and executes various grill vendor outings each year.

David Calderwood, Tama County Pork Producers - Photo courtesy of the Iowa Food & Family Project

In the coming weeks the Tama County Pork Producers will stay busy slinging burgers and loins at area events like the Traer Winding Stairs Festival, the Tama County Fair and the National Plowing Contest in Conrad. Most recently, the group was one of a number of local food vendors selling at the Gladbrook Corn Carnival June 17-19.

Proceeds from food stand events go to sponsor 4-H and FFA programs at the county fair and toward an annual donation to the county sheriff’s K-9 dog unit.

The Tama County Pork Producers will also be helping to send a group of Tama County students to Florida in late July as part of an agriculture exchange tradition between the Iowa and Florida Pork Producers organizations.

Gienger himself has been traveling to Florida to promote the pork products since 1992. As the decades have gone by, he remains energized and encouraged by the prospects of the pork industry in Tama County and beyond.

“One reason why I stay so involved and keep going with the Tama County Pork Producers is because we have such a great group of people,” Gienger said. “On top of that, we’ve had new, younger members coming up in recent years as well. And so the organization doesn’t seem to have trouble keeping things going because we’re always off doing new and different things.”

Dennis Gienger, Tama County Pork Producers - Photo courtesy of the Iowa Food & Family Project

Photo courtesy of Sheryl Jesina

Tama County Pork Producers members work the tongs at the Big Grill during the World Pork Expo in early June. The world’s largest pork industry trade show returned to the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines June 9-11 after a two-year hiatus. The expo is one of a number of events the Tama County organization attends to serve food and promote their industry. Photo courtesy of Sheryl Jesina

Photo courtesy of Sheryl Jesina

Photo courtesy of Sheryl Jesina

Photo courtesy of Sheryl Jesina

Photo courtesy of Sheryl Jesina

Photo courtesy of Sheryl Jesina