About 250 Ontario chicken farmers are likely to donate
enough birds for one million meals this year, says the marketing board.
Last year they donated enough for about 850,000 meals.
“CFO Cares is designed to enable farmers to donate
premium Ontario chicken – from our farms, to communities across the province,”
said Ed Benjamins, chairman of the Chicken Farmers of Ontario marketing board.
“It is the goodwill of our farmers and partnerships
with the Ontario Association of Food Banks, Ontario processors and
organizations like the Toronto Daily Bread Food Bank that really make this
program possible,” he said.
The CFO Cares program was launched in 2015.
“We know that there is not enough fresh protein
circulating throughout Ontario’s food banks,” said Rob Dougans, president and
chief executive officer of CFO.
“The CFO Cares Food Bank Donation Program ensures that
a steady supply of healthy, high quality, locally-grown chicken gets to those
in need – at times when they need it the most. It is the fundamentals of supply
management that enable the CFO Board to administer such a value-creating
program,” Dougans said.