The shipment included turkey, as well as 49 cases of veal loins. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

Healthy Food

Unsold turkey and veal from restaurant closures arrives in La Ronge

Oct 2, 2020 | 5:00 PM

Families in the tri-communities will benefit from a delivery consisting of hundreds of pounds of frozen turkey breasts and veal loins at the Kikinahk Friendship Centre.

The shipment was made possible after Executive Director Ron Woytowich made a successful application to Food Rescue, an organization that has representatives across Canada.

“They are one of those companies who have the funds from the federal government to purchase and distribute the food they are buying up that is not being used by restaurants and hotels,” Woytowich said. “It’s all in bulk and there were some restrictions on the application. For instance … we had to have a walk-in cooler and freezer available.”

Woytowich applied for the food in June and found out last month Kikinahk was approved. They were then given 24-hours notice before a shipment would arrive and the first of such came in Thursday. It consisted of 50 cases of turkey breasts and 49 cases of veal.

Kikinahk staff have been spending much of the last two days distributing the food to families. Woytowich noted those who will receive food include children in the Headstart program, pre-natal women, Scattered Site clients and Elders living in La Ronge Regional Housing Authority units.

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“The problem we found out today is we didn’t realize we’d have to separate that much of it, because it comes in massive cases the way a big hotel would be getting it,” he said. “It’s not the way you get it in a grocery store in nice little packages.”

Woytowich believes the wholesale cost of the delivery is between $30,000 to $40,000 and he expects more food is on the way. Other products Kikinahk could receive soon include chicken, eggs and shrimp. He added on top of providing the products, Food Rescue also pays to have it sent to La Ronge.

Food Rescue has been an organization since 1985 and works to match food donations from businesses to those who are in need. According to its website, Food Rescue redistributed 15 million pounds of food in 2019.

“In all honesty, it is fantastic,” Woytowich said. “Maybe because we live in La Ronge, but every time we hear the government is giving out something, we always know Toronto is going to get it or Vancouver or Montreal. It was a lot of work and a lot of trying to explain where we are in order to get this food, but it sure is nice.”

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno