Minister Byrne appeared on CBC's Newfoundland Morning on Friday. I would like to address, as he put it, the "gaps in the storytelling." as he does not seem to have a full grasp on what we are proposing.
Food banks do not want this program and do not want to take donations of frozen meat.
This is just not true. We have talked to individual food banks and they are more than willing to accept this donation.
Food banks do not ask for perishable items from the public.
No, they do not ask for perishables during food drives. However, they do accept frozen meat when they are expecting it, such as when a supermarket brings them donations of meat that they could not sell by a best-before date. They also donate many other perishable items to food banks. This is accepted and safe as long as the items are properly handled. Meaning they are frozen and delivered frozen to food banks.That is how this program would work, similar to how food banks accept donations from supermarkets. They do not only source meat for clients by purchasing it with monetary donations.
Food banks do not wish to refuse a donation.
This program, should it come into effect, would not be mandatory. I apologize if we somehow gave that impression. We are not looking to FORCE food banks to accept this donation. We are not going to just show up at a food bank with a huge donation that they do not have the room for. Food banks would opt in to the program and they would be contacted and asked if they had the need and the capacity for a donation. If they do not, then they would not receive a donation. Again, this is opt-in and not mandatory.
And as we have stated, we will work with any food bank who does not have the freezer space but wishes to participate to get them a freezer from a local business free of charge to them.
Also we are not looking for this program to replace people donating non-perishable food items and donating money. It is supplementing those avenues of support for food banks.
Food banks DO reject donations, all the time. They do not accept non-perishable items from the general public. They do not accept outdated food. They do not accept food that has been opened. Just a few examples of what they do, in fact, reject.
Minister Byrne suggested hunters contact food banks to get a list of clients that would want the meat and have them deliver it.
I do not know how Minister Byrne cannot see that as a privacy issue. There are not public lists of people who use food banks for a reason. There is a HUGE stigma attached to it. In my work, I have come across people who would rather go hungry than have friends and family know they use a food bank. And if there ARE enough people who want this meat, that a hunter could do that, why not let food banks just stock it and avoid getting a third party involved?
He also brought up charity licenses. Food banks are run by volunteers. It is not fair to expect volunteers to go and get a moose license and bring the meat to be processed then bring it to their own food banks, especially when we have hunters willing to donate excess meat.
Minister Byrne brought up conservation issues.
I am not sure what he means by that. I reached out to him for clarification but have not received a reply. There are no extra licenses being issued for this, the donations would come from existing licenses. Unless there is another issue, which I do not know about, and therefore cannot address.
He brought up liability.
There is an act called the Donation of Food act which states no one can be sued for donating food in good faith. So I would also like clarity on the vague idea of liability issues so we can address that head on.
He also brought up safety issues.
The meat would be processed by a GOVERNMENT certified butcher. Surely a government certified butcher has the highest of standards??
Again, this is a completely opt-in program, we have talked to people who want it. All government has to do is put this amendment through.
My contact info is in the petition. If Minister Byrne wishes to speak to me, I'm sure I could make him feel better about his concerns with the program.