The Rural Voice, 1999-06, Page 28"I didn't realize pork
could taste so good!"
It's the response Pat
Louwagie remembers
hearing from people who
have attended pork
barbecues put on by the
barbecue committee of the
Perth County Pork
Producers' Association
during his five years with
the committee.
In that response is both
the reward for the
volunteers working with
the committee, and the
purpose the committee
was created in the first
place: to introduce more
people to the taste of pork
and show them how to
cook it properly.
Association members
designed their first
barbecue in 1965 and had
it built by a local welding
shop. Their first major
barbecue was the
International Plowing
Match in Perth County.
For many years Perth pork
was on the menu of many
IPMs but the huge number
of .volunteers needed for a
five-day event at the
height of harvest season
made it hard to run year
after year, says Fred De
Martines, who has been
involved in the committee
for 15 years.
Today the volunteers
handle 14 to 15 barbecues
a year for groups from 400
up. The largest barbecue is
their annual contribution
each August to the Zurich
Bean Festival where they
cook 5,500 to 6,000 fresh
pork chops. They also
barbecue at the Ontario
Pork Congress each June.
The committee has
become a healthy
business, handling
$60,000 a year, says De
Martines. Handling that
much money has meant it
has had to become more
businesslike and
accountable, he says.
In 1997 the committee
24 THE RURAL VOICE
Putting
pork on
their fork
Perth County Pork Producers'
barbecue committee has been passing
on the good word about the great taste
of pork since 1965
Story by Keith Roulston
moved 21,400 pounds of
pork either through their
barbecues or as frozen
products sold from depots
around the county. That
was up 3,000 from the
previous year.
Whereever they travel,
they get a chance to
interact with the public.
When they serve
something like smoked
pork chops, which are
nearly unknown beyond
southwestern Ontario
because the large,
federally -inspected
packing companies which
sell to major chain stores
don't make them, there are
often people talking to the
cooks asking about the
meat and where to get it.
It's for some of those
people that the committee
sells its specialized
products like smoked pork
chops or teriyaki pork.
The good word from
barbecues has seen these
local products make their
way, via visitors to the
area, across Canada from
Halifax to Vancouver, De
Martines says.
"It makes you feel
good," he says,
"especially when people
keep coming back."
The committee
members are also happy to
talk to people about how
to cook the product to get
the best taste, says De
Martines.
The original barbecue
committee did a good job
with their first barbecue
design, he says. Though
the committee replaced
the original barbecue five
or six year's ago, they built
it exactly the same as the
old one.
The barbecue, with up
to five racks which hold
up to 50 baconburgers at a
time, can mean a lot can
be cooked in a hurry, says
Louwagie. "It's not hard
to cook up 200-400 pieces
of meat," he says.
If the committee is to
serve a meal at 6:00 p.m.,
Louwagie says, they'd
probably arrive about 3:00
p.m. The barbecue is easy
to move from one site to
another because it's built
on a trailer. They set up
the barbecue then get the
charcoal going. It takes
about a half-hour to get
the fire going well, he
says.
The barbecue crew is
easy to spot, decked out in
white aprons and hats. It's
one of the things that has
changed since the early
years, says De Martines.
Back then health regula-
tions were a little more
relaxed. Today the
committee works with the
local Health Unit to make
sure they meet all
standards like using
gloves, hats or hair nets
and keeping fire
extinguishers handy.
The committee has, in
the past, provided entire
meals or just the meat and