Every so often the Forage Systems Research Center, located near Linneus, Mo., has a beef animal it can’t bring to the sale barn. There are a variety of reasons for this, including a limp leg or unwanted coat defect. While there is nothing actually wrong with the beef animal, its value at the sale barn is dramatically reduced.
“With some of those cows, I hate just giving them away,” said David Davis, superintendent of FSRC. “For years I’ve thought about what else we could do with those cows that have a slight defect.” Those thoughts led Davis to focus on ways he could use those cows and give back to the local Linn County communities. After a few years of discussing the best way to do that, FSRC is donating 465 pounds of ground beef to the Brookfield Ministries Food Pantry, part of The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri.
“There were several steps in the process, and we’re excited to be able to help out local families in the Linn County area,” Davis said. “This has been something we have wanted to do for years, and it’s nice to be able to finally donate.” The meat had to meet certain rules and regulations to be accepted as a donation, such as coming from an inspected facility. FSRC met all of those requirements.
The Brookfield Ministries Food Pantry is located in Brookfield, Mo., about 13 miles southeast of Linneus.
The group distributes a variety of food throughout the Linn County area. “As we enter the holiday season, we really just wanted to give back,” Davis said. “We also wanted to do something a little bit different. We thought meat would be a good addition to various donations that the pantry receives.”
FSRC worked with Rob King at King Processing and Catering out of Marceline to process and prepare the meat. The Center worked with Director Debbie Scott at the Brookfield Ministries Food Pantry on the actual donation. The meat was packaged in one-pound packages with FSRC donating approximately 450 packages to the pantry.
“We thought that one-pound packages of ground beef would be easier to handle and distribute than other cuts of meat,” Davis said.
The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri, of which the Brookfield Ministries Food Pantry is a part, serves 32 counties in the state and distributes millions of pounds of food each year. There are a variety of ways to give back, either through giving, donating or volunteering.
