By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

WAYNE TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Suzanne Beckett was crowned the Ohio Pork Industry Queen at the Ohio Pork Congress. She also served as the Butler County 2009 Pork Queen.

A freshman at Miami University she is majoring in Special Education. Suzanne is the daughter of Randall and Alesia Beckett.
“This is an awesome opportunity and I cannot wait to get started,” she said of her year as queen.

To earn her crown, on the first day of the contest Beckett had to give one planned speech and answer three impromptu questions.
“I gave my speech as if I was talking to children and giving them a lesson on how pigs grow up,” Beckett said. “I’m going to be a special education teacher. I feel that children are the backbone of our world. In order to get ideas we need to educate them and as they grow up they will lead to consumers of pork.

“I aimed my speech at children who knew nothing about pigs,” she said. “Most people in America are three generations removed from a farm. I gave basic information like a mother pig is a sow; that pigs live in a barn to protect them from the weather, basic things so no matter whom my audience was we would all be on the same page.”

Most of the questions she was asked were based on, how, as a teacher, her knowledge and abilities would help to promote the pork industry.

The second day Beckett was handed a piece of paper with a topic written on it and she had to give an impromptu speech. The topic was the national pork board and its programs.

“As the pork queen most of the situation I will be in will be impromptu situations so it was good to get that practice ahead of time,” she said.

Beckett did not grow up on the farm but many family members are farmers and she raised pigs for the Butler County Fair for 11 years.
“So at a young age I was taught the importance of agriculture and how hard it was to raise animals,” she said. “I wanted to be the pork queen so I could share the knowledge that I already have from my background and so I can learn even more about the pork industry.”

That is important because consumers need to think about where their food is coming from.

“If you’re not knowledgeable about that then you won’t know for sure that you are getting safe products,” she said. “It is very important to educate the public how the pork producers are aware of their moral and ethical responsibility to take care of their animals.”

During her year as queen, Beckett will do at least five in-school promotions when she will teach classes about pork and at least five grocery store promotions where she will help consumers learn more about what they’re buying. She will be traveling throughout the year; will spend time at the Ohio State Fair and at county fairs talking to the public about the pork industry.

Beckett is a member of the Wayne Town and Country 4-H club and hopes to be a 4-H advisor in the future.