LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Area food banks have seen a 30+ percent increase in need since Governor Andy Besear began shutting down the economy. The crisis has raised concerns about whether meat processing plants can keep up too.
Tuesday, a Kentucky Proud company provided 10,000 lbs. of product to Dare to Care Food Bank in Louisville at a time when meat proteins are becoming harder to come by for food banks. The donation is a first-of-its-kind good deed during unusual times.
Three generations of this Kentucky family have been making sausage in Simpsonville and now the Purnell’s are helping thousands of families across the commonwealth impacted by the coronavirus crisis.
The company donated 10,000 lbs of sausage to Dare to Care Food Bank in 1 lb. packages.
Executive Director, Brian Riendeau, could not stress enough the importance of proteins in their deliveries. An interruption in the food supply chain is making animal proteins even harder to come by.
“So this donation today is not only timely it is very much appreciated," said Riendeau.
“Today, as we see many Kentuckians utilizing food banks that normally wouldn't, my heart goes out to our entire state but it also gives me perspective that Kentucky farmers, we take care of each other and today we're going to take care of Kentucky by keeping them fed”, said Kentucky Ag. Commissioner Ryan Quarles.
Quarles helped broker this deal that connected a farmer, who could have seen his hogs destroyed instead of being processed, with Dare to Care through a Farm Bureau grant and Purnell's.
“They weren't exactly like we normally buy but we wanted to work together," explained Purnell’s President, Todd Purnell.
Those hogs could have been destroyed because the farmer was having difficulty getting the animals to his usual processor due to backups in the food supply chain caused by COVID-19. Instead, thousands will get much-needed help. The humble pork pusher downplayed any praise.
“I feel like we were just trying to do the right thing," explained Purell. “We weren't trying to get a whole lot of attention out of it, we just were trying do the right thing.”
Purnell said that while they were happy to help, and would do so again if needed, they'd be a lot happier if this pandemic cleared up and things got back to normal.
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