A study of the health benefits of meat consumption prompted a group of pork producers from O'Brien County to ask the pork checkoff to collect more information at the National Pork Board during the annual Pork Industry Forum in Orlando earlier this month.

A study published by the University of Adelaide in Australia last year found that a balanced diet that included meat proved to increase life expectancy compared to those who adhered to a vegetarian or vegan diet. 

The study followed the diets of about 20,000 individuals ...