The Chicken Farmers of Ontario marketing board has won
the Paul Mistele Memorial Award for this year for its program to organize
donations to the Ontario Association of Food Banks.
The association thanks chicken farmers for providing
more than 175,000 kilos of chicken to Ontarians in need since March 2015.
The late Paul Mistele began Ontario Pork’s
Donate-A-Hog program in the midst of a disastrous plunge in hog prices in 1998.
The Paul Mistele Memorial Award recognizes
agricultural partners who have shown a significant and enduring commitment to
ending hunger in Ontario.
“There are no words to express our gratitude for
the Chicken Farmers of Ontario and its creation of the CFO Cares Food Bank
Donation Program,” says Carolyn Stewart, executive director of the OAFB.
“This program has dramatically increased the amount of
fresh food available to the people we serve, and has made a direct and positive
impact in over 85 communities province-wide.”
It also provides people with valuable protein, she
said.
The chicken board has had an amazing year of improving its image, starting with programs to open production to small-scale producers and processors who will not require quota and serving niche markets.
