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12-21-2011, 09:52 AM
Wild game meat not welcome at Ontario food banks
Unless they grew up on a farm or died in a slaughterhouse, donations of moose, deer and other wild game are not welcome in Ontario food banks.
Citing strict provincial health regulations, Food Banks Canada is maintaining a “strong recommendation” to Ontario food banks to reject meat that was not raised in captivity or killed in a licensed slaughterhouse.
This year for the first time the Safari Club International’s donation of deer steaks and ground venison was rejected by a food bank in Lanark, Ont. The meat was cut, wrapped and frozen at a provincially licensed butcher shop.
“Deer and moose are the most organic meat you can get, and is consumed by millions of hunters every year,” wrote Len Dickinson, president of the Ottawa Valley branch of Safari Club International, in an email to the Post.
“It seems totally ridiculous that Ontario’s food banks would rather see people go hungry than allow them to eat properly processed wild game.”
Katharine Schmidt, executive director of Food Banks Canada, said the recommendation to reject game is based on a 2001 provincial law. “We look to government regulation to help us identify what sort of safe-quality products can be shared in this country,” she said.
Under Ontario’s meat regulations, meat cannot be sold or distributed unless the animal was slaughtered in a government-licensed facility and inspected prior to slaughter. Currently, “there are no provisions in the Ontario Meat Regulation, the Ontario Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act or the Ontario Food Premise Regulation for wild game to be distributed to the public for consumption unless they are the licensed owner of the meat,” reads the Food Banks Canada recommendations.
In previous years, Mr. Dickinson said that Ontario’s food banks have accepted wild game regardless. “Ontario’s legislation has not changed but the ideology of the Food Bank certainly has,” he said.
In much of Canada, food banks actively campaign for donations of wild game.
For two years running, the Saskatoon Wildlife Federation has held the “Hunt for Hunger” campaign encouraging hunters to hand over moose, elk and deer to charity. In the territories, some food distribution programs even deal exclusively in wild game. In March, the government of Nunavut launched the Country Food Distribution Program, a $1.7-million anti-poverty scheme to send caribou, seal and muskox to Arctic communities.
The Edmonton Food Bank accepts 2,000 to 3,500 kilograms of wild meat each year, according to executive director Marjorie Bencz. “We appreciate the support because it brings donors who normally wouldn’t be participating with us,” said Ms. Bencz.
Alberta’s meat regulations are similarly strict in ensuring that animals are inspected prior to slaughter — but food banks are given a pass as long as they maintain a hefty trail of paperwork. “It has to be documented from the time it’s harvested to the time it’s served or distributed,” said Ms. Bencz.
Other jurisdictions are more lax. In Cranbrook, B.C., this fall, to deal with growing herds of violent, urban deer, city officials have begun slaughtering them with bolt guns and handing them over to the local food bank. Every year, conservation officers in the Yukon distribute several thousand kilograms of road-killed meat to local communities.
Ms. Schmidt says she is working with Ontario regulators to see if there are “opportunities” to get wild game back into the province’s food banks. “Protein is one of the most needed types of food by food banks,” she said. “Any sort of meat or protein-type products, we’re in desperate need of.”
National Post
Unless they grew up on a farm or died in a slaughterhouse, donations of moose, deer and other wild game are not welcome in Ontario food banks.
Citing strict provincial health regulations, Food Banks Canada is maintaining a “strong recommendation” to Ontario food banks to reject meat that was not raised in captivity or killed in a licensed slaughterhouse.
This year for the first time the Safari Club International’s donation of deer steaks and ground venison was rejected by a food bank in Lanark, Ont. The meat was cut, wrapped and frozen at a provincially licensed butcher shop.
“Deer and moose are the most organic meat you can get, and is consumed by millions of hunters every year,” wrote Len Dickinson, president of the Ottawa Valley branch of Safari Club International, in an email to the Post.
“It seems totally ridiculous that Ontario’s food banks would rather see people go hungry than allow them to eat properly processed wild game.”
Katharine Schmidt, executive director of Food Banks Canada, said the recommendation to reject game is based on a 2001 provincial law. “We look to government regulation to help us identify what sort of safe-quality products can be shared in this country,” she said.
Under Ontario’s meat regulations, meat cannot be sold or distributed unless the animal was slaughtered in a government-licensed facility and inspected prior to slaughter. Currently, “there are no provisions in the Ontario Meat Regulation, the Ontario Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act or the Ontario Food Premise Regulation for wild game to be distributed to the public for consumption unless they are the licensed owner of the meat,” reads the Food Banks Canada recommendations.
In previous years, Mr. Dickinson said that Ontario’s food banks have accepted wild game regardless. “Ontario’s legislation has not changed but the ideology of the Food Bank certainly has,” he said.
In much of Canada, food banks actively campaign for donations of wild game.
For two years running, the Saskatoon Wildlife Federation has held the “Hunt for Hunger” campaign encouraging hunters to hand over moose, elk and deer to charity. In the territories, some food distribution programs even deal exclusively in wild game. In March, the government of Nunavut launched the Country Food Distribution Program, a $1.7-million anti-poverty scheme to send caribou, seal and muskox to Arctic communities.
The Edmonton Food Bank accepts 2,000 to 3,500 kilograms of wild meat each year, according to executive director Marjorie Bencz. “We appreciate the support because it brings donors who normally wouldn’t be participating with us,” said Ms. Bencz.
Alberta’s meat regulations are similarly strict in ensuring that animals are inspected prior to slaughter — but food banks are given a pass as long as they maintain a hefty trail of paperwork. “It has to be documented from the time it’s harvested to the time it’s served or distributed,” said Ms. Bencz.
Other jurisdictions are more lax. In Cranbrook, B.C., this fall, to deal with growing herds of violent, urban deer, city officials have begun slaughtering them with bolt guns and handing them over to the local food bank. Every year, conservation officers in the Yukon distribute several thousand kilograms of road-killed meat to local communities.
Ms. Schmidt says she is working with Ontario regulators to see if there are “opportunities” to get wild game back into the province’s food banks. “Protein is one of the most needed types of food by food banks,” she said. “Any sort of meat or protein-type products, we’re in desperate need of.”
National Post