Pork Marketing Canada is a new national initiative originally developed by Alberta Pork and Ontario Pork to help grow the domestic pork market.

The program was officially unveiled in Manitoba earlier this month.

Manitoba Pork Council home economist Marlene McDonald says many food service and retail operations operate either regionally or nationally so this is one way to develop programs that will operate in many different areas.

Marlene McDonald-Manitoba Pork Council

The initial program is a joint web site and it's a very attractive colorful web site with information on recipes, health and nutrition, food service and retail.

It does have provincial contacts and a very extensive recipe library so it can be used by consumers, it can be used by food service professionals and retailers as well.

It has a virtual meat counter on it where consumers can go and identify different cuts of pork and how they're handled and how to cook them so it's a wonderful source of information for all things to do with pork.

It's a place where we can have a consistent message across the country.

We can avoid doing the same thing over and over again in lots of different areas and take advantage of the expertise that we have.

There is a function on the web site to ask a dietitian, ask a chef, ask a butcher.

People have the opportunity to get quick feedback on their questions from an expert and so we think it's going to be a really good source of information as well as a place where we can have some really interesting programs not just in Manitoba but all across the country.

The new web site can be accessed www.putporkonyourfork.com.