Dr. Dilger of the University of Illinois joins hosts Drs. Francisco Najar-Villarreal and Phil Bass in a wide-ranging discussion. In this episode, they cover everything from pork quality to cultivated meat to scholarly journals and local agriculture.

“2020 was the year that no one saw coming,” said Jonathan Amidei, chief operating officer of Swaggerty Sausage Co. Inc.

Before the COVID-19 outbreak, consumers were purchasing a variety of pre-portioned or portion-controlled meat and poultry products. A shift in lifestyle changes because of the pandemic caused the total poultry and meat portion size category (0- to 6-ounce sizes) to drop 3.8 percent to approximately $654.2 million for the latest 52 weeks ending Feb. 21 in total U.S. multi-outlets, according to IRI Inc., Chicago.