The MNRF and the Regional Food Distribution Association (RFDA) in Thunder Bay handed out more than 2,000 pounds of confiscated moose and deer meat in December 2017.
Conservation Officer Davis Viehbeck said food safety is the utmost concern. “We don’t take any chances with human health in terms of food safety,” MNRF Conservation Officer Rick LeBlanc said traditionally moose were donated directly to appreciative families by the officer involved. “This is the community evolution of that tradition. All meat is professionally butchered.”
The MNRF and community partners through the years have covered expenses. In 2017, they paid 65 cents a pound. “The same rates that hunters pay for butchering wild game,” said LeBlanc.
The RFDA serves, on average, 100 families on a first-come, first-serve basis. The amount of meat donated is limited by the number of animals seized through the fall hunt. In 2017, the area’s MNRF enforcement staff seized six moose and two deer. The distribution takes place just prior to Christmas each year, if meat is available.
“We appreciate putting this sustainable and organic wild-game meat into the hands of people who need and appreciate it, at this time of the year,” said LeBlanc.
RFDA Executive Director, Volker Kromm, wrote in an email that LeBlanc, “deserves all the accolades. I am just one person that gets to see the happy recipients of the meat, and gets to interact with them annually.” He also noted that this program is a fabulous way for individuals to obtain extremely rich, Indigenous-sourced protein.
“More importantly, for many it is a brief return to their cultural heritage. They get a chance to enjoy traditional food that is out of reach because of resource barriers: financial, mobility, health, transportation. Rick’s team makes the event special.”
MNRF Senior Media Relations Officer, Jolanta Kowalski, said that conservation officers distribute seized game throughout the province, year-round.
“Often the distribution is to local food banks or local First Nations.”
Originally published in the Ontario OUT of DOORS 2018 Fishing Annual
