The nation’s largest one day food drive is gearing up for this Saturday. the 17th annual “Stamp Out Hunger” drive is being sponsored by the National Association of Letter Carriers. Carriers around the nation collected a record 73.1 million pounds of food in last year’s drive. South Carolina District Postal Service spokesman Harry Spratlin says persons are asked to leave non-perishable food items in or near their mail boxes early Saturday morning. Postal carriers will be collecting the items during their regular Saturday deliveries.The items will delivered to local food banks. Spratlin says he would like to see a million pounds of food collected in the state this year.

“A lot of people out there are needy. so we’re hoping and asking for it and trying harder than ever to reach the public in many ways. all we can do is ask and we know our state has been really good to this food drive in years past so we’re just hoping for a little bit of that and a little bit more.”

Spratlin says with the growing unemployment rate in the state there are a lot of people in need of help right now.

Spratlin says persons who wish to contribute to the food drive should make sure that the first thing they do Saturday morning is to put those food items out for their local mail carrier to pick up. “Be sure to leave something out at the mailbox in the morning for the letter carrier. Just try to do early enough in the day to where he will be able to pick it up when he comes around for his regular delivery of the mail.”
Spratlin says persons may leave items in a paper bag or cardboard box.

Spratlin says as mail carriers return to their respective post offices, volunteers will be ready to see that the food gets to the proper places. “We’ll have volunteers waiting (at the post offices). These are volunteers from food banks, churches, also postal retirees are involved. They will take all the food and pack it into big boxes and then have trucks come and take it to the food banks.”

Spratlin says nationwide over 125 million post cards were mailed out to postal customers to remind them of the drive. The mailings were sponsored by the Campbell Soup Company and the U.S. Postal Service.

As the summer approaches and South Carolinians begin to grill out, the National Pork Board wants to remind everyone that there is no correlation between the swine flu and the consumption of pork. Guy Fieri, most famous for his show  “Diners’, Drive-Ins and Dives” is leading the charge with grilling tips and barbecue recipes he has made available at this website. Fieri says pork is a versatile meat that gives you many options when grilling.

“I took a pork chop, pounded it out and wrapped it with, believe it or not, strawberries and jalapenos, a little roasted red bell pepper, some artichoke arcs and a little cream cheese,” said Fieri.

“I rolled it up, then wrapped it in bacon and grilled it. It’s just an example of the versatility you can do with pork. So, if you’re thinking about starting to grill, it’s grilling season. I know out there in South Carolina you guys got to be grilling by now. You guys have awesome weather. Pork is your pal. It’s time to do it.”

Fieri has featured ‘The Beacon’ in Spartanburg on his show  “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” and says there is nothing quite like it. “The Beacon in Spartanburg…you know…the first special we did for this show to kind of launch the show, we went there and hung out with our buddy, JC, who gives the traditional statement of ‘Call it!’. You walk up and you’ve got to CALL IT. You tell him what you want and he yells it out to the entire cook staff. That’s probably always going to be one of our favorites.”

Fieri is a big fan of barbecue in this region and rates it among the best in the world. “Of all the barbecues, I am a Carolina barbecue fan. That’s probably my favorite. Vinegar-based barbecue sauce, I am starting to drool a little bit, is the way to do it and you guys, honestly, have some of the best in the world.

“That’s another thing. You take this pork butt, rub it, give it a little seasoning, give a lot, brine it, do what ever you choose to do. But you go low and slow on that bad boy and then you shred that and throw it on top of whatever bread you like.”

Guy Fieri has launched four shows on The Food Network. “Guy’s Big Bite”, “Diners’, Drive-Ins and Dives”, “The Ultimate Recipe Showdown”, and “Guy Off-the-Hook” are all his shows. He also owns several restaurants in California and has authored many books.