August 29, 2017 Brandon, MB – For the seventh year in a row, the Provincial Exhibition has collaborated with six Manitoba Co-op’s and five local meat processors to provide close to 1500 lbs. of pork to several Westman food banks and soup kitchens.
Provincial Exhibition director, Stan Cochrane and his family at Cochrane Stock Farms of Alexander, volunteered to care for the pigs from the 2017 Royal Manitoba Winter Fair pig scrambles with the support of feed donated by Co-op Feeds and western Manitoba Co-op retails including Heritage Co-op, Neepawa Gladstone Co-op, Valleyview Co-op, Kenton
Consumers Co-op and Boundary Co-op.
Renard’s Meat Services in Virden, Prairie Rose Meats in Souris, Jarvis Meats in Gladstone, and DAL Meats in Killarney donated their processing costs and arranged for delivered to food banks and soup kitchens in their own areas. City of Brandon partner, Henry Meats, provided pork to Helping Hands Soup Kitchen. “The direct connection between the meat processors and the organizations receiving the pork is a special part of this program. “ Said Ron Kristjansson, General Manager at the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba. “All of the processors have their own relationships with the groups in their area providing a direct connection between the feed suppliers, meat processors and the organizations where the meat is donated.”
Kristjansson noted that it takes multiple partners to make this program complete. “Support from partners like the Co-ops, the Deerboine Colony which sold us the pigs at a very reasonable price and all the meat processors allow us to use the pigs during the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair for agricultural education and then give back to the entire region
that supports us and our events. Groups from Portage la Prairie up through Minnedosa, Souris, Brandon, Killarney, Boissevain, Virden and right out towards Moosomin, Saskatchewan have benefitted from this program.”
