As many of you know, my oldest daughter is in FFA. She and her friends (and parents) met with their chapter advisor last fall, and filled out an FFA "Food for All" grant application. The grant was funded for $2,500.
The idea behind the grant is that FFA kids use the money to buy inputs to raise food - either vegetable or meat. Our local chapter used the funds to produce meat, and named the project "Meating the Need".
DD1 and one of her friends just finished raising 80 broiler chickens. They were processed yesterday, and delivered to our local food pantry. That's about 400 pounds of meat.
The community is getting involved as well. A local feed mill supplied about 75% of the feed for the chickens. The local Rotary and Gavel clubs have donated some money, one of the Gavel club members donated two of his own hogs for the project.
My brother-in-law donated a cow. That meat was all ground into hamburger, and donated to the food bank.
When we bought fair pigs in April, we bought one extra pig that will be processed with the other two donated pigs.
Our state Pork Producers association donated 100 meat thermometers that will be handed out during food distribution. The grant and donations will pay for aluminum roasting pans that will be distributed at the food pantry.
The kids are also producing a video that will be shown during distribution that will help the clients better understand safe food storage and preparation techniques, and the kids will all be there during distribution.
This project is particularly timely, as our local grocery store closed last September. Indeed, our community meets the definition of a Food Desert. The clients that use the food pantry can least afford to travel to the closest grocery stores.
Meating the Need
July 10th, 2015 at 03:00 pm
July 10th, 2015 at 03:07 pm 1436540820
July 10th, 2015 at 03:29 pm 1436542184
Brilliant! You should be so proud of your daughter!
I have my grandfather's FFA picture from about 1940. So cool that the history of the organization.
July 10th, 2015 at 03:56 pm 1436543804
July 10th, 2015 at 04:08 pm 1436544508
July 10th, 2015 at 09:43 pm 1436564628
July 10th, 2015 at 11:12 pm 1436569923
July 10th, 2015 at 11:14 pm 1436570058
July 11th, 2015 at 04:32 pm 1436632346
The way others began donating to the project reminds me of the stone soup fable.