Agricultural News
Livestock Producers Join Regional Food Bank in Beef for Backpacks Program
Tue, 25 Sep 2012 18:07:26 CDT
Oklahoma livestock producers are joining the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and other groups focused on feeding hungry Oklahoma children with a new project, Beef for Backpacks. The project will use donated cattle to produce beef sticks for the Food Bank's Food for Kids Backpack Program.
The project was launched during a news conference with Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb at the state capitol on Sept. 25.
The Beef for Backpacks program is a collaboration among the Oklahoma Farming and Ranching Foundation, Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Oklahoma Beef Council, Oklahoma State University Food and Agricultural Products Center and the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.
"We currently provide thousands of chronically hungry children with a backpack of kid-friendly, nutritious food every weekend and school holiday throughout the year," said Rodney Bivens, executive director of the Regional Food Bank. "These beef sticks add to the nutritional content, and we are confident the kids will love them."
Radio Oklahoma Network's Farm Director Ron Hays spoke at length with Bivens and Tom Buchanan with the Oklahoma Farming and Ranching Foundation about the Beef for Backpacks program. You can hear their conversation by clicking on the LISTEN BAR at the bottom of this story.
The Food for Kids program was started by the Food Bank in 2003 to provide chronically hungry children with food-filled backpacks for weekends and school holidays. The program serves 475 elementary schools in 53 counties across central and western Oklahoma, providing backpacks to more than 13,500 chronically hungry children each week.
The Regional Food Bank estimates it will need between 20,000 and 25,000 beef sticks every month to supply all of the children on the Backpack Program.
"We are excited by the opportunity to provide a nutritious source of protein to the children," said Monica Wilke, executive director of the Oklahoma Farming and Ranching Foundation. "For every 100 pounds of beef donated, we'll be able to produce 800 beef sticks to help feed Oklahoma children."
For more information about the Food for Kids Backpack Program, click here.
You will also find more about the Beef for Backpacks program on News 9 by clicking here.
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