Dairy Farmers of Ontario Donate Milk to Ontario Food Banks This Holiday Season

Dec 10, 2012

DFO Increases Monthly Milk Donation to Ontario Food Banks Over the Christmas Holidays

When we think of people or organizations donating to the food banks, we don’t often hear about it being farmers and those in the agriculture industry. With the holiday season upon us, the Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) recognizes the importance of giving back to food banks across the province. DFO has announced that it plans to increase its donations of milk by 150 per cent to the Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB) through the months of December and January.

"We recognize the real need in the community to help those who struggle to provide their families with nutritious food, especially at this time of year," explains Bill Emmott, DFO Chair. "It's crucial for industry to step up. This is our way of giving back to Ontario and the people of our province during the holiday season."

The DFO has pledged to donate an additional 160,000 litres of milk for the months of December and January as well as continue with its monthly donation of 65,000 litres. It’s incredible to think that Ontario’s dairy farmers are the single largest donor to the OAFB – donating close to one million liters of milk every year.

“Hunger and access to fresh, nutritious food continues to be a problem in Canada," says Amanda King, Associate Manager, Fundraising, Membership, and Communications at the OAFB. "DFO has always been one of the biggest supporters of the food bank program, and with this additional donation we will be able to serve thousands more families in need during this busy season."

The annual Hunger Report released by OAFB indicates that 412, 998 families in Ontario access food banks every month.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.