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Meat Donations From Arkansas Hunters Pressed By Fees
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12/20/2011
An organization that provides donated wild game to food banks says the program is hurting because the state no longer covers processing fees.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An organization that provides donated wild game to food banks says the program is hurting because the state no longer covers processing fees.
A program by the nonprofit group Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry sends deer, duck and hog meet to food banks across the state. The group says that over the past 11 years, it's provided more than 1 million meals.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports the last time the state appropriated money to pay for processing the donated meat was in 2009, when it provided $200,000.
Program director Ronnie Ritter says the biggest expense is the cost of processing. Ritter says many processors can't afford to butcher and grind the meat without charging for it. Ritter has tried to get grants and other funding to keep the program going.
