Earlier this month the Manitoba Pork Council kicked off a radio, television and newspaper campaign aimed at dispelling some of the negative myths currently circulating about the province's hog industry.

Public affairs and marketing manager Tracey Bryksa says research has shown the general public knows very little about the hog industry in Manitoba and, with the Manitoba Clean Environment Commission undertaking a review of the environmental sustainability of the hog industry, it was felt that this was a critical time to get out more information.

Tracey Bryksa-Manitoba Pork Council

We are doing quick hits on TV so there are three 15 second commercial spots that will run.

Each one comes up with a quick message about the industry.

The same idea for radio, with four different radio spots and again they're 15 second spots as well, quick hits of information.

The newspaper is a little bit more detailed.

There was a large four page insert that ran in the Winnipeg Free Press on the weekend on March 3rd and 4th and it kind of laid out a picture of the industry, what the hog industry and hog farmers do for the environment, when it comes to food quality, job creation, money going back into the economy, things like that.

It was kind of a quick education on the hog industry.

Further to that we will be running adds in the paper.

Each one will be focused on a specific area, whether it's the economy, job creation, food safety, environmental contributions.

Bryksa says, in addition to highlighting the good work that hog farmers are doing to protect the environment, the campaign will touch on the economic benefits of hog production.

She points out the hog industry has created over 15 thousand jobs and adds over a billion dollars to the provincial economy each year which are significant benefits to the province that people should know about.