I have a Twitter account, but this is not a Twitter message: Tonight I am going to eat pork. Please do likewise. To heck with China and Russia.

The New York Times has an article entitled "Pork Industry Fights Concerns Over Swine Flu" that notes in part:

Several countries on Tuesday announced that they were banning some or all pork products from the United States, angering trade negotiators and hog farmers. To date, countries including the Philippines, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Ecuador have banned pork from the United States, with Mexican pork exports also covered by most of those bans.

China banned pork from certain states, and Russia banned all meat imports, not just pork, from certain states.

The challenge, the officials say, is persuading those countries to reverse the restrictions so they do not become permanent.

“If you don’t reverse bad policy quickly, people get used to it,” said Allen F. Johnson, a former chief agriculture trade negotiator for the United States trade representative and now a consultant.

While it may be too soon to know how the swine flu outbreak will affect pork sales, early indications are mixed. Pork sales at Wal-Mart are down by high single digits, a spokeswoman said. However, pork sales have remained constant at Publix, a grocery chain based in Florida.