Ontario dairy farmers support food banks during COVID-19 pandemic

By Jennifer Nevans EDITOR

For Ontario dairy farmers, the desire to help their community and those struggling amid the COVID-19 pandemic is the driving force behind some of their recent donations during crisis.

“The need has always been there— COVID-19 is just amplifying it,” says John Werry, co-owner of Loa-De-Mede Farms in Oshawa, Ont. “We, as individuals and businesses, need to do what we can to help.”

While the dairy industry has had to pivot because of the pandemic, dairy farmers have been fortunate to be able to keep their businesses running, he says.

“Many other families and businesses have not been so fortunate—that fact is not lost on our dairy producer committee (DPC),” Werry says.

During the onset of the pandemic, the Durham Region DPC reached out to Feed the Need Durham, a charitable organization fighting to end hunger in Durham Region, and asked what dairy farmers can do to help the community during the pandemic. The DPC was told lack of refrigeration space is an issue many food banks struggle with.

In response, the DPC loaned two of its own small fridges to the Simcoe Hall Settlement House for its after-school program—but the dairy producers wanted to do more. They wanted to help Feed the Need Durham’s two largest food banks.

“We knew we didn’t have enough funds to cover two new, large fridges for the food banks ourselves, so that’s when we approached the local district egg farmers to see if they would be willing to help,” Werry says.

Together, the groups pooled their resources and purchased two industrial-sized fridges, fully stocked with $2,500 worth of food, donated by Kawartha Dairy.

“Kawartha Dairy was thrilled to work with local dairy farmer partners to support those in need in our community,” says Brian Kerr, chief executive officer of Kawartha Dairy. “We are honoured to support the mission with nutritious milk, cream and butter to help put food on people’s tables during these difficult times.”

The fridges were donated to the Back Door Mission for the Relief of Poverty in Oshawa, Ont., a group that provides meals to those in need, and the St. Andrews Community Food Bank and Support Centre in Whitby, Ont.

Lianne McDonald, program supervisor at Back Door Mission, says there has been an increase in visitors to the food bank since the pandemic started.

“This increase in demand has given rise to a need for a capacity upgrade of our food storage facilities,” she says. “Back Door Mission thanks (Ontario dairy and egg farmers) for their donation. We are grateful for this thoughtful gift that will help us serve more than 200 patrons every day.”

Werry hopes others who learn about this story will be inspired to give back to their own communities.

“Hopefully, our project and future initiatives will encourage other groups and businesses to share in the goodwill,” he says.