Lending a hand after thrill of the hunt

HELENA – When Frank Moran shot a mule deer during a hunting trip in Montana, there was no question what he would do with the venison.

Moran took the deer to a meat processor, paid $70 for butchering and then returned home to Sacramento, Calif. When the venison had been ground and wrapped, it went into a freezer at the Gallatin Valley Food Bank in Bozeman.

Over the coming months, the Montana food bank and other charities nationwide will distribute thousands of pounds of game meat provided by hunters. For years, sportsmen have donated their harvests. This hunting season the meat comes at a time of rising need, with food banks across the country reporting increases in people asking for help.

“Believe me, (game) is a valuable product,” said Ross Fraser of America’s Second Harvest-The Nation’s Food Bank Network, the Chicago relief organization with more than 200 food-bank affiliates nationwide. “High-protein foods are the hardest foods for our food banks to come by.”

Moran, a retired school facilities planner, shot his deer last week during a professionally guided hunt that was a gift from his son.

“Based upon the time I was going to be in Montana, if I’d wanted to have it butchered and packaged and ready for me to take home, I didn’t have that kind of time,” Moran said recently.

Even without the time crunch, he said he wanted to give it to charity.

“People get meat who might not otherwise have meat,” he said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported this month that some 35.5 million people in the United States said they lacked resources to get food during at least some point in 2006. The figure, which does not include homeless people, is up from 35.1 million in 2005.

The anti-hunger Food Research and Action Center said economic conditions could boost numbers in 2007. Operators of food banks say there’s no question increases are occurring.

The Food Bank of Southwest Georgia has estimated an increase of between 10 and 20 percent in requests for assistance. At the Butte Emergency Food Bank in Montana, manager Joanne Cortese said last month’s client list was the largest October number in at least three years: 1,238. Cortese attributes the increase to the price of gasoline and home heating.

Some food banks in Ohio and New York are concerned about reductions in their supplies of food, as is the New Hampshire Food Bank, which has reported a reduction of 40,000 pounds compared to last year.

The Montana Food Bank Network recently tried to step up donations of game by launching Montana Hunters Against Hunger, encouraging sportsmen to donate wild meat and cover the tax-deductible costs of processing. Some processors also give discounts when preparing game that will be donated, and sometimes the charities can help cover the bill. The hunting group Safari Club International also provides assistance.

At the Butte food bank, a qualifying household with one or two people can get 50 pounds of free food – about a week’s supply – every 30 days. Of that, 1 pound will be meat, likely game.