The 2022 Pennsylvania Fair Season is rapidly approaching and, for many, that means the opportunity to compete for prize money, showcase their livestock and locally grown produce, and enjoy delicious food grown by PA farmers.
However, not far away from this bounty, there are millions of Pennsylvanians who don’t have enough nutritious food to eat. That’s where a partnership kicks in between the Feeding Pennsylvania and the PA Fairs community.
Feeding Pennsylvania works diligently to establish relationships in the agriculture community through programs like the Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System (PASS) to provide our food banks the opportunity to offer a diverse range of food to our clients while supporting local farmers, processors, and distributors.
Through the PASS program, Feeding PA offers programs such as, “Bid. Buy. Donate.” for youth livestock auctions at Pennsylvania fairs to support Pennsylvanians facing hunger.
“Bid. Buy. Donate.” How It Works:
There are multiple winners with the Bid-Buy-Donate program. The youth contestants sell their animal and receive the funds. Those who win the bid and donate are eligible for a tax benefit. We aim to use local USDA-certified processors and local food banks receive meat products (which are not frequently donated) to share with our neighbors in need. Winning bidders can donate their animals to their local food bank and PASS Program funds are used to cover processing, packaging, and transportation costs for the meat products. Animals typically include finished cattle, hogs, goat, and lamb.
We welcome partnering with all interested fairs and youth livestock auctions, and establishing connections with fair administrators, livestock superintendents, local agricultural educators (including FFA and 4-H), and local meat processors.
For more information, contact Tom Mainzer at 717-257-9850 or tmainzer@feedingpa.org.