Two businesses are taking the bull by the horns in an effort to help Alberta’s struggling cattle ranchers by launching a “beef bank,” which will purchase meat from local producers and donate it to food banks around the province.
Calgary-based ATCO Group and Direct Energy have staked a total of $100,000 to get the Alberta Beef Producer’s Help Bank Campaign off the ground, an effort that will see 57,000 kilograms of beef moved from producer to plate, freeing up room for more cattle to be processed in the aftermath of discovery of a single case of mad cow disease (BSE).
“We’ve had a pretty momentous wreck happen to us in the cattle and beef industry, and processing and related industries,” said Calgary-area rancher and Alberta Beef Producers finance chairman Erik Butters. “We don’t know how much longer it’s going to go.”
Butters said while Alberta’s 35,000 primary cattle producers aren’t having trouble moving steaks and certain other cuts through the food production system, ground beef is plugging up the market. But with the fresh infusion of corporate dollars, the Alberta beef help bank will buy that beef, warehouse it and distribute it through the Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank’s provincial network of 80 food banks.
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| Photo courtesy Alberta Beef Producers |
| Direct Energy’s Lori Topp and rancher Erik Butters at conference. |
“They’ve taken a lead in formalizing this campaign, and have backed that up with a sizable donation to get this started,” Butters added.
Monica Brinck, community co-ordinator for the Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank, said the ground beef will feed hungry Albertans across the province.
The Calgary bank helped 135,000 clients last year, including 55,000 children under the age of 18, with 53,000 hampers.
