Up to 150,000 kg of ground pork will be heading to the tables of Manitoba's hungry in the coming weeks and months, thanks to $500,000 in funding announced by the province Wednesday and a massive hog cull underway across Canada.
The money will be used to process up to 5,000 culled sows, which the province says is between 10 and 20 per cent of all the animals that will likely be killed in Manitoba as part of a country-wide program to keep the hog industry from collapsing.
Winnipeg Harvest's David Northcott thanks Agriculture Minister Rosann Wowchuk after Wednesday’s announcement.
"That's a significant amount of meat," said Minister of Agriculture Rosann Wowchuk, who said the usual food-bank fare isn't always high in protein.
The money will be administered by Winnipeg Harvest, an undertaking executive coordinator David Northcott described as "a joyous problem to have."
Northcott said Winnipeg Harvest has existing distribution systems to make sure the meat reaches the 38 food banks across the province, and stressed the group will make sure it ends up in northern communities as well.
They're aiming to have as much as 4.5 kg of ground pork going out in each monthly food hamper for the roughly 17,000 households that use food banks in Manitoba.
"For producers, this is really positive news," said Manitoba Pork Council chairman Karl Kynoch, who said no hog farmer wants to see the culled pork go to waste.
The sentiment was shared by Keystone Agricultural Producers vice-president Robert McLean.
"I just think that's a great idea, a great thing to do, because what a waste," said McLean, who runs a hog, cattle and grain operation in the Manitou area. "It's perfectly good meat and we certainly don't want to throw it away."
Wowchuk said a similar partnership with Winnipeg Harvest helped successfully distribute excess beef during the BSE crisis.
Based on estimates on the number of hogs that will be culled in Manitoba, as many as 90 per cent won't be processed into pork for food banks -- unless the province and Winnipeg Harvest can find additional financial partners. Mennonite Central Committee, which runs a meat canning project, and the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce have already agreed to be involved, said Northcott.
Wowchuk said she expects it will take a couple of weeks to work out the logistics of getting the pork processed and distributed to food banks. Much of the rest of the meat will likely be turned into pet food.
Earlier this year the federal government announced its plan to pay $50 million to Canadian pork producers to cull herds by 10 per cent, or 150,000 hogs. That would work out to roughly 35,000 culled hogs in Manitoba, said Manitoba Pork Council general manager Andrew Dickson, depending on how many producers get involved in the program. Each producer will be compensated roughly $225 per sow.
lindsey.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca-- With files from Larry Kusch
The federal program comes at a precarious time for the struggling Canadian pork industry, pushed near collapse by low market prices, the rising cost of feed and the strength of the Canadian dollar. New country-of-origin labelling requirements are also pending later this year in the United States.
The money will be administered by Winnipeg Harvest, an undertaking executive co-ordinator David Northcott said is "a joyous problem to have."
Northcott said Winnipeg Harvest has existing distribution systems to make sure the meat reaches the 38 food banks across the province, and stressed the group will make sure it ends up in northern communities as well.
They're aiming to have as much as 4.5 kg of ground pork going out in each monthly food hamper for the roughly 17,000 households that use food banks in Manitoba.
"For producers, this is really positive news," said Manitoba Pork Council chairman Karl Kynoch, who said no hog farmer wants to see the culled pork go to waste.
As many as 90 per cent of the hogs that will be culled in Manitobawon't be processed into pork for food banks -- unless the province and Winnipeg Harvest can find additional financial partners. Mennonite Central Committee, which runs a meat-canning project, and the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce have already agreed to be involved, said Northcott.
Wowchuk said she expects it will take a couple of weeks to work out the logistics of getting the pork processed and distributed to food banks. Much of the rest of the meat will likely be turned into pet food.
The federal government plans to pay $50 million to Canadian pork producers to cull herds by 10 per cent, or 150,000 hogs. That would work out to roughly 35,000 culled hogs in Manitoba, said Manitoba Pork Council general manager Andrew Dickson.
Wowchuk said a similar partnership with Winnipeg Harvest helped successfully distribute excess beef during the BSE crisis.
Based on estimates on the number of hogs that will be culled in Manitoba, as many as 90 per cent won't be processed into pork for food banks -- unless the province and Winnipeg Harvest can find additional financial partners. Mennonite Central Committee, which runs a meat canning project, and the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce have already agreed to be involved, said Northcott.
Wowchuk said she expects it will take a couple of weeks to work out the logistics of getting the pork processed and distributed to food banks. Much of the rest of the meat will likely be turned into pet food.
Earlier this year the federal government announced its plan to pay $50 million to Canadian pork producers to cull herds by 10 per cent, or 150,000 hogs. That would work out to roughly 35,000 culled hogs in Manitoba, said Manitoba Pork Council general manager Andrew Dickson, depending on how many producers get involved in the program. Each producer will be compensated roughly $225 per sow.
lindsey.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca
-- With files from Larry Kusch
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