RWNZ chief executive to step down
Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) chief executive Gabrielle O’Brien will step down at the end of June.
Silver Fern Farms says it is helping sponsor new charity – Meat the Need – so its farmer suppliers can donate meat to those New Zealanders who need it most.
Following a pilot scheme in Christchurch, the initiative will extend to rural communities and other main centres, just as foodbanks are reporting record demand.
Created by Wayne Langford and Siobhan O’Malley, Meat the Need enables farmers to help feed New Zealand families, who are struggling to make ends meet, by providing a way for farmers to donate livestock that is then processed and delivered to foodbanks.
The scheme had been in the planning for over a year, but the initiative was accelerated in response to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Langford, says Meat the Need welcomes Silver Fern Farms’ partnership, which connects key participants in the supply chain – including the processing and distribution of the end-product.
The first delivery of 5,000 packs of meat, processed and donated by Silver Fern Farms, was delivered to the Christchurch City Mission on April 23. It is expected that supply of product will extend to other regions as more farmers donate stock.
Silver Fern Farms’ head of communications and sustainability, Justin Courtney says the company’s involvement in Meat the Need is a direct response to calls from its farmers for a way to give back to their community.
“Silver Fern Farmers are proud of the role they play in producing food for our nation and the world and want to contribute to ensuring Kiwis don’t go hungry. They want to know that all New Zealanders benefit from the fact that we produce large amounts of the best red meat in the world right here,” he says.
Courtney says a simple booking process has been put in place for farmers who supply livestock to SFF for processing to donate the value for an agreed number of livestock into the Meat the Need charity fund. SFF them processes and provides beef mince to foodbanks.
Farmers and the public can also get involved by donating funds to Meat the Need through its website”
A vet is calling for all animals to be vaccinated against a new strain of leptospirosis (lepto) discovered on New Zealand dairy farms in recent years.
Two major red meat sector projects are getting up to a combined $1.7 million in funding from the New Zealand Meat Board (NZMB).
Angus Barr and Tara Dwyer of The Wandle, Lone Star Farms in Strath Taieri have been named the Regional Supreme Winners at the Otago Ballance Farm Environment Awards in Dunedin.
OPINION: The distress that the politicians and bureaucrats are causing to the people of Wairoa and the wider Tairāwhiti is unforgivable.
Dairy
Rural banker Rabobank is partnering with Food Rescue Kitchen on a new TV series which airs this weekend that aims to shine a light on the real and growing issues of food waste, food poverty and social isolation in New Zealand.
OPINION: The new government has clearly signalled big cuts across the public service.
OPINION: Your canine crusader is not surprised by the recent news that New Zealand plant-based ‘fake meat’ business is in…