Ontario Pork launches new program to provide meals to food banks

Jun 03, 2013

Ontario Pork launches new program to provide meals to food banks

Ontario Pork announced on Monday, its partnership with the Ontario Association of Food Banks, to rollout a new program this summer aimed at providing direct donations of ground pork to food banks. The program is expected to benefit more than 412,000 adults and children in need.

The announcement comes as Ontario food banks struggle heading into the summer months. Food bank use typically increases in the summer, because children are home from school and no longer have access to school-meal programs. Food bank use is high throughout June, July, and August.

Bill Laidlaw, Executive Director of the Ontario Association of Food Banks said that surprisingly, children are the largest group of food bank users in the province. Over 160,000 children access food banks every single month.

Ontario Pork Chair, Amy Cronin says that Ontario’s hog farmers are pleased to contrite to the cause, noting that farming is about providing food for people. The pilot program will be rolled out for the month of June into the fall. Ontario Pork, Elanco, Zoetis, Shur Gain, and Mabel Honor Farm – The Fraser Family, support the program.

Video: Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Regulations help markets and industry exist on level playing fields, keeping consumers safe and innovation from going too far. However, incredibly strict regulations can stunt innovation and cause entire industries to wither away. Dr. Peter James Facchini brings his perspective on how existing regulations have slowed the advancement of medical developments within Canada. Given the international concern of opium poppy’s illicit potential, Health Canada must abide by this global policy. But with modern technology pushing the development of many pharmaceuticals to being grown via fermentation, is it time to reconsider the rules?

Dr. Peter James Facchini leads research into the metabolic biochemistry in opium poppy at the University of Calgary. For more than 30 years, his work has contributed to the increased availability of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthetic genes to assist in the creation of morphine for pharmaceutical use. Dr. Facchini completed his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto before completing Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1992 & Université de Montréal in 1995.