Farmers Union again supports Second Harvest Heartland with 35,000-pound pork donation
March 10, 2020
By now, many are well-familiar with the impact of COVID-19-related job losses and economic hardship. This has led to an alarming rise in food insecurity.
Fortunately, places like Second Harvest Heartland exist to help meet the needs of Minnesotans. Minnesota Farmers Union (MFU), a grassroots family farm organization, is proud to support Second Harvest’s work in a big way once again.
On Thursday, March 11 at 9 a.m., MFU, as part of the five-state Farmers Union Enterprises (FUE) group, will donate 35,000 pounds of Redwood Farms pork ribs to Second Harvest Heartland’s Brooklyn Park facility. The organization previously donated pork in May 2020 and joins the Farmers Unions of Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana in making such donations.
Redwood Farms is a meat processing facility part of FUE’s family of businesses, Farmers Union Industries (FUI), which funds Farmers Union activities in the FUE states. Normally, it supplies premium pork products to high-end restaurants in major cities across the United States. As these restaurants have had to shut their doors because of the pandemic, Redwood Farms has been dealing with a significant surplus of pork and decreased demand.
“Donating pork to Second Harvest Heartland is a win-win,” MFU President Gary Wertish said. “People in need of food assistance will be able to get healthy, delicious pork, and Redwood Farms is able to continue processing meat from family farmers and keep people employed.
“I’d like to again thank Second Harvest for their long-standing commitment to feeding Minnesotans and supplying fresh food from Minnesota’s family farmers.”
One year into the pandemic, Second Harvest Heartland is delivering 23% more food to its food shelf partners throughout its 59-county region. Meat is one of the most requested items at food shelves and is increasingly hard to come by.
“Gary and his team know that Minnesota farmers are vital to hunger relief, partnering with Second Harvest Heartland to make sure their surplus produce and protein is put to good use to feed the hungry, including those from Greater Minnesota communities,” said Allison O’Toole, Second Harvest CEO.
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Minnesota Farmers Union—Standing for Agriculture, Working for Farmers (www.mfu.org)