A charity has been set up by farmers to help put food on the tables of hungry Kiwis.
South Island farmers Siobhan O’Malley and Wayne Langford created Meat the Need to connect donated produce from farmers with processors and food banks. Originally scheduled for a June launch, the big day was brought forward to help farmers reach those hit hardest by the economic fallout of the coronavirus lockdown.
Now, Silver Fern Farms is delighted to announce its role as a founding sponsor of the new charity, enabling its farmers across New Zealand to donate meat locally to those who need it most.
Meat the Need enables farmers to help feed New Zealand families who are struggling to make ends meet, by providing a way for them to donate livestock that is then processed by Silver Fern Farms and delivered to food banks.
“Silver Fern Farms’ role in getting their farmers on board, and as the processor of the donated livestock, is pivotal in getting the meat to those who really do need it most,” said Langford.
“We’re thankful for the urgency they’ve placed on finalising the details so that we could get this up and running faster than planned in response to current needs.”
The first delivery of 5,000 packs of meat, processed and donated by Silver Fern Farms, was delivered to the Christchurch City Mission on Thursday, 23rd April. It is expected that supply of product will extend to other regions as more farmers donate stock.
Silver Fern Farms involvement in Meat the Need is a direct respond to caller from its farmers for a way to give back to their community.
“Silver Fern Farmers are proud of the role they play in producing food for our nation and the world and want to contribute to ensuring Kiwis don’t go hungry. They want to know that all New Zealanders benefit from the fact that we produce large amounts of the best red meat in the world right here,” expressed Silver Fern Farms’ Head of Communications and Sustainability, Justin Courtney.
“When Meat the Need approached Silver Fern Farms in 2019 it was an easy decision to throw our resources behind this, especially in recent weeks as we have accelerated the planning and implementation in response to the increase in need that has been created by the global pandemic.”
A simple booking process has been put in place for farmers who supply livestock to Silver Fern Farms for processing to donate the value for an agreed number of livestock into the Meat the Need charity fund. Silver Fern Farms processes then provides a quality, natural beef mince to food banks.
“We’re already seeing significant interest from our farmers in donating, and we are actively promoting this to them so that together we can help Meat the Need to build the supply of mince to food banks both now and into the future,” said Courtney.
Meat the Need is one initiative in Silver Fern Farms’ wider Sustainable Chain of Care programme, which is committed to making a difference by investing in local communities, sustainability and the environment.
Farmers and the public can also get involved by donating funds to Meat the Need through its website meattheneed.org
