Ontario Beef Farmers Support Local Communities During Crisis W
hen Ontario food banks put out the call for help during the COVID-19 pandemic, farmers from across the province stepped up to help. While news channels were full of crisis updates and illness reports, good news stories emerged about community food bank donations of items like eggs, ground beef and vegetables. Many of these donations came directly from local farmers or farm organizations who wanted to help their neighbours. Here are a few highlights from across the province.
Elgin The Elgin Beef Farmers supported the West Elgin Daffodil Auxiliary and their local community of Dutton during the COVID-19 pandemic. The group donated $500 towards the purchase of 300 lb. of ground beef and coordinated a socially-distanced pickup and delivery of the beef. The Elgin Beef Farmers were proud to be part of the community outreach program, showing support from local farmers.
ground beef donation from charity camps to the community pantry this year. Since its inception, the spirit of the community pantry has spread. Dave says a neighbour now collects empties and donates the money to buy food items, and whenever the pantry was running low a call for donations over social media was met with overwhelming response. The couple even offered a portion of their large vegetable garden to anyone who wanted to try growing their own food. Two sisters now manage the entire garden, growing produce for the community pantry and anyone else who needs it. “This all stemmed from the pandemic situation, when it was a tough time and people were in need. Everyone appreciates the pantry – those who use it and those who are able to make a difference by donating,” says Dave, explaining that, while pantry visitors have slowed in recent weeks, the pantry will remain open with community support.
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Linn McCann, West Elgin Daffodil Auxiliary and Alan Carroll, past president of the Elgin Beef Farmers in Dutton.
Frontenac Ground beef donations were an essential food item at the Yarker Road Community Pantry in Frontenac County. More than 1,000 lb. of beef was donated by the Beef Farmers of Frontenac, members themselves and local cattle breeders. This unique self-serve approach to providing the local community with access to food started with an industrial-sized fridge strategically positioned at an entrance way to the Perry Farm, the home of Dave and Kim Perry in Harrowsmith. On March 31, the couple set up and stocked the fridge, including donations of ground beef, pies from Kim’s store, Food Less Travelled, vegetables and other pantry staples. Access to food, grocery stores and for some, the ability to purchase food on limited means as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, was the driving force for setting up the community pantry. Over the weeks, the pantry was named the Yarker Road Community Pantry and, thanks to the local community, donations of food and money poured in. “The pantry works on a free access system where people can come and help themselves or drop off donations. It has become so popular we added a small building for dry goods,” says Dave Perry, who is also the president of the Beef Farmers of Frontenac, and notes that the group reallocated their annual 20
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BEEF FARMERS OF ONTARIO While many local associations supported their regional food banks and community programs, BFO provided an annual donation of $20,000 to the Feed Ontario program to purchase fresh ground beef. An additional $10,000 was also donated to support Feed Ontario’s COVID-19 Emergency Food Box program that created pre-packed emergency food boxes with a week’s worth of food in one centralized location for food banks across Ontario. BFO is pleased to report $3,875 in cash donations was also raised after BFO challenged producers and consumers to rally together to support the Feed Ontario Food Box program. As a result, 403,000 emergency food boxes were packaged and shipped to every corner of the province to help alleviate the impact of COVID-19 for families in need. Despite some of the most challenging times, good news stories continue to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you to everyone who continues to support their food banks, community programs, friends and neighbours.
