Recreational hunters and members of the Central North Island Sika Foundation are supporting the Taupo and Tūrangi food banks with a new initiative, providing free-range venison mince to local families that are struggling to make ends meet.

The aim is to provide up to 100kg of meat per week, which according to Maggie Stewart, chairwoman of Tūrangi Foodbank, will cut their weekly food budget in half.

The first batch of donated meat was delivered at the Tūrangi Foodbank last Thursday. The packaging has been supplied at no cost by Stephan Pederson from Caspak, and Jaki Carson at Copy Solutions in Taupo has provided the first 200 labels free of charge.

The donated venison has been processed according to MPI regulations by Farm & Game Meats Ltd in Taupo.

"Like other food banks across New Zealand, we are experiencing high demand for emergency food parcels. Covid-19 is still having a huge impact on our community. There is less work available, rents have increased, and more people have moved to Tūrangi to live with families, increasing the pressure on those families," explains Maggie.

Food banks are not government funded and rely on grants and donations to operate. Meat is not always included in the emergency food parcels. They usually consist of canned vegetables and fruit, cereal, milk powder, basic toiletries, and some treats for the children. When funds allow it, Maggie and her team buy chicken legs or sausages to add to the mix.

"Last year, Tūrangi Foodbank was the grateful recipient of venison mince made available by the culling of Wapiti deer in Southland. It made a huge difference, which is why we reached out to the Sika Foundation to see if they could help again. The support has been fantastic."

Tūrangi Foodbank has also contacted the Department of Conservation requesting if they, in conjunction with central government, would process the deer and have the meat distributed to food banks across the country. While awaiting that decision, Sika Foundation members have sprung into action.

"Many Sika Foundation members have shot a lot of meat in the past eight weeks and the food banks are stretched. It's great to see that many hunters are willing to pass this on to those who are most in need. This is about maximising the value of our incredible game animal resource," says Sika Foundation president John Cook.

The organisations have been in touch with the Ministry for Primary Industries to check on the regulations for donating recreational catch, and have received guidance for meat donations. The packages are labelled according to MPI instructions, and hunters are asked to contact the Sika Foundation via email if they would like to participate.

"We've had a great initial response after sending out a newsletter to our members and posting about the initiative on social media, but we'd like to ask people not to contact their local food bank directly or drop off meat there. They won't be able to accept it due to the regulations.

"Please contact us if you have meat to share by emailing info@sikafoundation.co.nz and we'll give you all the details," John says.

Maggie explains that the food bank's distribution of emergency food parcels has a flow-on effect within the local community.

"By feeding families we believe we contribute to the wellbeing of the community. By taking the pressure off families under stress financially and mentally, we help to reduce family harm, depression, and many other issues."

Credit: NzHerald.co.nz