Stuffed Pork Chop Recipe

 Another educational and yummy post from Miss Avery Kraus of Nebraska. -KFM

Covid-19 Pandemic Takes a Toll on U.S. Pig Production

    In April, pork producers in the United States faced major problems due to the Covid-19 because they had nowhere to ship their market ready hogs. Some reverted to culling or aborting as their finishing houses would otherwise get to full. Several processing plants in the United States had to temporarily close down because workers had fallen ill with Covid-19. The pork industry has been hit especially hard with production cut by about a third. Hog farmers nationwide will lose an estimated $5 billion, or $37 per head for the rest of this year due to the pandemic. To help with some of the loss, the U.S. government announced a $19 billion Covid-19 aid package for farmers, of which $1.6 billion is reserved for the hog industry. Thankfully in June the U.S. federal government claimed that pig processing had almost returned to 2019 levels. 

    As a consumer pork prices are 18.5% higher than they were a year ago, but pork prices for producers are still at a low. Lean hog meat is selling for $0.48/lb and the break even price for farmers just to cover production costs is $0.60/lb. Even with the high pork prices in stores and the government funding does not come close to getting the pork producers to a break even point. Sadly many generational family farms will never recover and will go bankrupt due to this pandemic. 

Fun Facts:

Did you know that a single serving of lean beef, pork, and poultry is the size of a deck of playing cards? Even though the portion is a standard size for all servings vary dramatically in calories and protein. 3 ounces of beef brisket gives you 280 calories and 22 grams of protein while at the other end of the spectrum, a lean pork tenderloin provides the same amount of protein but only 120 calories. 

Stuffed Pork Chop Recipe 

Ingredients: 

- 4 pork chops

- 1 (6 ounce) box Stove Top stuffing mix, prepared as directed on package, then cooled to room temperature 

- ½ cup sour cream

- 1 (10.5 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup

- salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Put pork chops in a 9x13 baking pan. 

2. Make stuffing as directed on the package and cool to room temperature.

3. In a mixing bowl combine sour cream, soup, salt and pepper. Mix well. 

4. Slice pork chops horizontally to create a pocket and fill with stuffing. 

5. Pour soup mixture over each chop and top with any leftover stuffing. 

6. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until no longer pink in the middle.