COLUMBUS — To help in the fight against hunger in Ohio, egg farmers across the state will be donating approximately 766,800 eggs to hunger relief organizations over the next couple weeks to celebrate National Egg Month in May.
The announcement was made recently during a breakfast reception hosted by the Ohio Poultry Association at the Ohio Statehouse.
Amount
Eight Ohio egg farmers have committed the eggs to be provided to local hunger charities through the Ohio Association of Foodbanks’ network of 12 regional Feeding America foodbanks. The contribution has an estimated retail value of $100,000.
In 2012, Ohio’s emergency food assistance network served more than one in five Ohioans (2.32 million), an increase of 46 percent in the last three years.
“Ohio’s egg farmers are committed to supporting our local communities and that means helping out when needed,” said Jim Chakeres, OPA executive vice president.
Chakeres said Ohio ranks second in the nation for egg production, and produces 7.6 billion eggs each year with a value of more than $490 million.
Participants
Ohio farms participating in this year’s donation include: Trillium Farms of Croton; Ft. Recovery Equity of Fort Recovery; Hemmelgarn & Sons, Inc. of Coldwater; Stoller Farms of Van Wert; Hertzfeld Poultry Farms of Grand Rapids; Weaver Brothers, Inc. of Versailles; Rindler Poultry of St. Henry; and Ross-Medford Farms of New Weston.
Additionally, Hamler-Fugitt said the Ohio Association of Foodbanks has partnered with OPA through the Ohio Agricultural Clearance Program for more than 15 years. This program is a statewide effort to direct Ohio’s surplus of agricultural products through the network of foodbanks in the state to ensure that Ohio families have a source of nutritious, Ohio-grown, raised and produced food products.
The program works with Ohio farmers and commodity groups to provide foodbanks with surplus and unmarketable agricultural products at production cost.
