Foodgrains Bank, Viterra partnership benefits the hungry
The Canadian Foodgrains Bank celebrated its ongoing partnership with Viterra with a special media event at the Lethbridge Viterra Terminal just south of the city on Tuesday.
Not only does Viterra support the mission of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank to end world hunger by making a $5 donation per tonne of grain harvested at CFB projects across Western Canada, local media representatives were told, it also donates land at its terminal sites in Balgonie, Stettler, Grenfell, Raymore and Trochu to grow even more crop for sale to support the CFB cause.
At the Lethbridge Terminal 160 acres of land this year were set aside for this purpose, which produced about 7,000 bushels of red spring wheat for a total of about $55,000 raised for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
National Canadian Foodgrains Bank board chair Kenneth Kim said Viterra’s contribution and ongoing partnership is valued by his members.
“It’s good to be with you celebrating this partnership with Viterra,” Kim said. “Farmers in our growing projects often tell us one of the biggest challenges is finding available land that can be used for their project. We are grateful to Viterra for envisioning a way their land can be used creatively to have an impact on the lives of people experiencing hunger.”
Viterra’s Market Centre manager for Lethbridge and area, Davin Lockwood, who co-ordinates Viterra’s local partnership efforts with the CFB, thanked Kim and said it was a relationship built on mutual respect and a common purpose to work hand-in-hand with Canadian farmers to help feed the hungry of the world.
“Viterra has proudly teamed up with this organization many times over the years to help them to assist people that don’t have enough to eat,” said Lockwood. “We see this partnership as a good fit, and one that is important in helping to tackle one of society’s most significant challenges.”
Kim and Lockwood also both thanked Mercer Seeds Ltd. for volunteering its time and equipment to manage and harvest this year’s CFB crop at the Viterra Lethbridge Terminal.
Leslie Bolstad of Mercer Seeds said it was his company’s absolute honour to be able to make its own contribution toward the fight to end world hunger in this way.
“It’s giving back, right?” said Bolstad. “We’re just so lucky we can be a part. We live in a country where we are free; where there are so many other countries around the world where they are struggling. Food is a tough thing to come by ... Doing these projects is just our way of giving back. It’s a small thing, but it means so much to the people that it affects.”
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