History of Ribs & Hope - Ribs are Like Hope

While George Washington’s diary records him attending a “barbicue” in 1770, the tradition goes all the way back to 1492 and Christopher Columbus. After landing on Hispaniola, they observed the indigenous people cooking meat over an open, indirect flame. They also used green wood to produce more smoke and reduce burning. The Spanish called it barbacoa because cooking took place on a wooden frame or post.

But hang onto your hats, it was not pork. The first pigs didn’t arrive in the Americas till the 1500’s. It was probably Hernando de Soto in 1539. Many of the domesticated pigs brought over in ships escaped captivity and their wild population exploded.

And like all things American, we could not leave well enough alone. Over the years, this simple and straightforward way of cooking has changed into our word barbecue. Or is it barbeque? Bar-B-Q? BBQ?

No matter how you spell it, annually it’s BIG business.

• $4.9b spent on grills, smokers, camping stoves, accessories, and fuel (1).

• 60,000+ pork producers annually market more than 115 million hogs.

• 550,000 jobs come from pork.

• $39b is added to the GDP (2)

We not only are looking for ways to change and improve barbecue, but we do the same thing with life, with hope. We think, we hope that life can be better, more peaceful, less stressful. After all, the self-help industry didn’t grow to more than $11b annually by accident.

Just like you, we’re all looking for hope. In our hearts, we believe that there must be a better way, a more hopeful way, a more hopeful life. But it’s not right in front of us. We all need help. We need a guide.

There are lots of hopes, many different kinds of short-term hopes. Some point to hope in a thing, a philosophy, a checklist, or a set of things to do or say, even religious observances.

I want nothing but the best hope for you. Not just a hope so, a real, solid hope. A hope you can depend on.

And the best news about the hope I’m pointing you to, it doesn’t cost a nickel. Because real hope is based and sourced in a person.

(1) www.NPD.com, Enhanced Retail Tracking Service

(2) www.NPPC.Org, National Pork Producers Council