SA pig farmers hit back at Cancer Council’s school newsletter message to can the ham sandwich

A push for ham sandwiches to be cut from kids’ lunchboxes has left farmers’ mouths agape as SA health campaigners reveal their stance on the controversial campaign.

Pork producers have hit back at a Cancer Council healthy lifestyle campaign encouraging parents to “ditch the ham sandwich” from children’s lunch boxes.

South Australia has about 160 commercial pork producers, and farmers on Tuesday lined up to say people should instead focus on encouraging a balanced diet – and keep a strong focus on where their meat comes from.

The Cancer Council advice discouraging parents from packing ham in lunch boxes was contained in a nutrition snippet send out to schools, to include in newsletters.

Cancer Council says its snippets on ham and Meat-free Mondays were designed to provide tips on healthy eating, and were distributed to schools in NSW.

Cancer Council SA has no plans to send out any such information to local schools, though similar advice is also listed on the national organisation’s website.

Gumshire Park owner Michael Blenkiron says discouraging pork consumption is “a bit of a worry” for the industry. Picture: Tait Schmaal

Michael Blenkiron, of Gumshire Pork in the Barossa, said anything discouraging pork consumption was “a bit of a worry” for the industry.

“As far as eating ham, there’s a lot less fat in ham than there was years ago – pigs are bred leaner and also a lot quicker,” he said.

Clare Hughes, Cancer Council Australia’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Committee chairwoman, said at least one in three cancer cases were preventable and deaths could be reduced significantly by choosing a “cancer-smart” lifestyle.

Among its recommended changes were people limiting their intake of processed meat.

“We know that ham is a lunch box staple for many families, however, there is strong evidence, including research from The International Agency for Research on Cancer, that eating too much processed and red meats is associated with increased risk of bowel cancer- one of the most common cancers in Australia,” the committee said.

“Experts concluded that over the long term, consuming a 50g portion of processed meat consumed daily increased the risk of bowel cancer by 18 per cent.”

Waikerie pork producer Mark McLean says consumers should focus more on where products come from and how they’re produced - and having a balanced diet. Picture: Tom Huntley

Waikerie pork producer Mark McLean said the lunch box messaging could confuse consumers.

“Many years ago, we were told we needed one wine a day, or some coffee was helpful, and chocolate,” he said.

“Next thing, there’s a different report coming out saying it’s not good for your health.

“But there’s lots of people eating a balanced diet across the world – the Mediterranean diet – that does have meats, olive oils, nuts and fresh fruit.”

Mr McLean, a former chairman at Pork SA, encouraged consumers to look for Australian pork products which had a strong reputation for animal welfare, environmental and health standards.

At Mount Jagged, pork and beef cattle farmer Trev Paech said he objected to the “Meat-free Monday” campaign, saying people should pay stronger mind to where their meat came from and how was produced.

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