Montana Farmers Union makes second donation of pork ribs to the food bank network

From Montana Farmers Union

GREAT FALLS - Montana Farmers Union and Farmers Union Enterprises made another sizeable in-kind donation of 38,000 pounds of pork ribs to the Montana Food Bank Network.

The ribs are from Redwood Farms and will be distributed by the Montana Food Bank Network. Redwood Farms is one of the entities in the Farmers Union family of businesses owned by Farmers Union Enterprises.

MFU and FUE donated 30,000 pounds of pork ribs in May to the Montana Food Bank Network. Jan Tusick serves on the Board of Directors for Montana Farmers Union. Tusick was at the Montana Food Bank Network to represent the organization and present the donation.

"I joined Farmers Union years ago because I knew it was the organization that truly represented family farmers in Montana," Tusick said. "This is a really important outreach that Farmers Union is doing to really help our communities in Montana get better access to good meat products that they need for their families."

The Flathead Food Bank was a recipient of the May pork donation and hopes to be a recipient of the second pork donation. Flathead Food Bank Executive Director Jamie Quinn sayid the organization is very appreciative of the donation.

"Thank you, Montana Farmers Union, for supporting food banks across Montana with healthy Farmers Union-sourced pork," Quinn said. "Your care and hard work will bring smiles and full stomachs to your neighbors."

The Blackfeet Food Pantry was also a recipient of the May pork donation.

"Thanks for the ribs," pantry director Earl Heavy Runner said. "They help lessen the burden for the families here on the reservation."

Last May, FUE donated 150,000 pounds of pork to various food pantries in the five states it supports including North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Montana was the first stop on the December donation schedule. When it's all said and done, each of the five states will have made donations of pork ribs to their respective food banks.

"We are so excited to have this partnership with Montana Farmers Union," said Gayle Carlson, CEO of the Montana Food Bank Network. "We received 30,000 pounds of donation in May right when we were hitting some pretty tough times as far as resourcing foods and transportation so that was a huge boost for us right at the beginning of the pandemic. Now we have another 38,000 pounds. It is a tremendous gift for us. It is high-quality, it is a level of protein that is rare for us to get, so we are very grateful for that."

Farmers Union EnterprisesF is a partnership with Farmers Union organizations in North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, South Dakota and Wisconsin that own several value-added businesses like Redwood Farms. Redwood Farms supplies premium pork products to Founding Farmers restaurants in the D.C. area, as well as to other high-end restaurants in New York, Chicago and other cities across the U.S.

"We are pleased to make a second donation of pork ribs to the Montana Food Bank Network," Montana Farmers Union President Walter Schweitzer said. "Montana Farmers Union and Farmers Union Enterprise are all about supporting the family farm and helping to feed our friends and neighbors who are facing food insecurity."