Jerky Treat For The Holidays

Roger Croteau
Express-News

JOHNSON CITY — The packages are small, just 2 or 4r ounces. But for American soldiers serving in war zones overseas, they are a little taste of home, and always appreciated.

Whittington's Jerky is giving its customers a way to show a little appreciation to U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Customers can buy a pound of jerky through the "Jerky For Any Soldier" program, and Whittington's will pay to ship it. A network of military chaplains will distribute the treats to soldiers who have little or no support from family or friends at home.

"It costs this little company a lot to do it," said Susan Whittington, who owns the firm along with her husband, Sam. "We're just a mom-and-pop operation, but it is something we'll never stop doing. It's become a tradition."

The Whittingtons run a separate program, "Sticks For Pics," in which soldiers who send back a photo of themselves holding a bag of their jerky get a free package sent to them.

The soldiers' photos and letters fill the walls in various parts of the firm's Johnson City building.

"I have been away from home for a long time," one soldier wrote. "I look forward to going home to Burnet and taking that short drive to Johnson City where I can shake your hand and give you a proper thanks."

The company ships hundreds of pounds of jerky to Iraq and Afghanistan each year.

"We ship it in 2- or 4-ounce bags, and the soldiers always tell us they keep two bags for themselves and give their buddies the other two," Whittington said.

The company makes about 100,000 pounds of jerky each year in the little 2,600-square-foot building along U.S. 281. Almost the entire operation is done by hand. Three workers trim the large inside rounds of beef and then slice it into strips. After it is tumbled in a machine that uses vacuum pressure to pull a spice mix through the meat, it is smoked for 16 hours. When it's been dried in the mesquite-fired smokers, the jerky is cut and hand-packaged, weighed and vacuum-sealed.

Most other manufacturers put their beef into an electric dryer for three or four hours, Whittington said.

"We only do one thing," she said. "We make jerky and the product is our baby so we want to do it right."

To buy a pound of jerky for the "For Any Soldier" program, call (877) 868-5501 or order online at whittingtonsjerky.com and click on the "Any Soldier Program" icon.

The jerky costs $26 a pound, or $29.95 a pound for the new all-natural variety. The company has seven varieties of jerky.

Whittington's Jerky on the web