For the seventh year, members of Washington's beef industry have teamed up with Second Harvest to add beef to the food distributed at the holidays.
To date, approximately 94 tons of meat have been given away to Yakima residents who are facing food insufficiency. The beef growers' generosity not only helps needy families, but also the food banks that help them. Meat is always on the “wish list” for these organizations, but its perishability makes it difficult to keep and distribute.
Every year Agri Beef, based in Idaho, gives Second Harvest meat worth $50,000; local beef processors and cattlemen, and others, add to that to help the needy. People are given a choice of 2lb of ground beef, or a roast weighing 3-4lb, plus recipes to prepare them.
According to KayDee Gilkey, a spokeswoman for Washington Beef, the program has distributed over one million servings of beef since 2011. The Yakima County Cattlemen's Association president, Kevin Curnutt, said everybody in the beef community, feedlot works, ranchers, and others, work all year to prepare for this program, and the effort tends to bring them together.
Over 300 families received food at Second Harvest’s Mobile Market in Yakima recently, and of course, beef was included.
In order to make sure everyone who needs assistance knows about programs like this, organizers could work with a flyer printing company to create a mailer for area residents, explaining the effort.
