Simcoe County beef farmers donate to area food banks

Local food banks in Simcoe County are now stocked up on beef thanks to the Simcoe County Beef Farmers Association.

Jim Whitley, a farmer on the advisory council, donated roughly 500 pounds of beef from his farm.

“We learned about it from other counties or districts that have done this type of thing, and it just fit with our farm and what our county association wanted to do, and so yeah, the stars all aligned for us,” said Whitley.

The first half went to the food bank in Creemore at St. Luke’s Anglican Church. It will help 26 families in need.

“It’s wonderful because it will probably last a few months. We will give weekly to our families, and ground beef is such a diversified way of making meals. This is local beef, which again is really exceptional for us, and we are grateful to Jim Whitley for that,” said Reverend Lorna May at St. Luke’s Anglican Church.

Often smaller food banks don’t get the same support from all levels of government that larger food banks receive. And with inflation and rising costs, the need is now.

“We recognize how important it is for us as farmers to donate back to the community and the big need we have,” said Katherine Giffen, Simcoe County Beef Farmers Association president.

The other 250 pounds of the donation went to the Angus Food Bank.

“With the number of families that are in need in this area, it’s growing, there’s quite a few, this is really going to help us out because normally we would have to purchase some of that ourselves,” said Stephen Kennedy, Angus Food Bank volunteer.

Volunteers say this donation will last them roughly two to three months. The Angus food bank serves 125 families a month regularly.

“A lot of people really are finding it difficult, there’s a real crunch out there in terms of finances, and meat is probably one of the most expensive things that people can buy,” said volunteer Elizabeth Kenney.

The Simcoe County Beef Association says they hope to be able to make more donations in the future, possibly every spring and fall, to continue addressing the need locally.