Food for life

From Ruby Stephens

Shannon City

On behalf of the Food For Life Committee, I want to thank all who have donated animals and money during 2009 and already in 2010.

I want to explain the locker inspectors situation. This is the way I understand it, and if I am wrong, please call me and correct me. All lockers are inspected for certain standard guidelines and for the cleanliness of their equipment and facilities. Lockers that sell meat over the counter or that process meat for Food for Life have to have the animals inspected before and after butchering by a federal meat inspector to be sure it is safe for humans to eat it. There is only one locker in our area now who does this; it is the Corning Meat Processing Plant. They are really busy, so we have to make an appointment ahead to get on their schedule to have an animal processed for us. We really need at least five animals a year to keep up, so if you think you might have an animal for us, let me know as soon as you can. It may be several weeks before we can get it in. I hope this will help you understand our situation. If you call and have an animal for us right away, I will try my best to get it as soon as I possibly can. We do want to be sure the meat we donate to those in Union County in need have a safe source of the needed protein for their meals.

In 2009, Food for Life supplied 1,040 Union County people, who are having a tough time, with meat. Terri has been at Family Development for four years, and this is the most people she has served since starting here.

We spread out to Afton and Lorimor and are now furnishing meat for their food pantries. I’m sorry I was so slow finding out about their food pantries. We truly are a Union County mission project.

We filled the freezers at Family Development in January thanks to two generous farmers, one for two animals and another for helping care for them till we could get a butchering date. We also had another family donate a half beef to us.