HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1994-03-16, Page 77Helping in the fight against hunger
by Tim Cumming
The light against hunger is taking
place on Canadian farms and in
Canadian communities.
One concession east of Scaforth•
there is a 114 -acre farm which is
one of Ontario's largest projects for
the Canadian Foodgrains Bank,
which ships Canadian grain to the
hungry of the Third World. There is
also a SO -acre project in Monkton.
Canadian Foodgrains Bank orig-
inated in western Canada with an
eye towards better distributing the
world's food resources. 'Today it is
a joint project of 12 churches and
relief organizations. The cooperative
effort has been active in Ontario for
close to 1.0 years.
The organization tries .to ensure
that all shipments. of grain ,are sent
to those in need and aren't given to
the wrong pcoplc,
"The shipments are monitored
very closely to make sure it gets
there," fotid Don McKcrchcr,
•coordinator of the Perth -Huron
Foodgrains Committee, "You hear
a lot of horror stories about some of
the aid programs." •
The Foodgrains Bank doesn't'
make food donations through gov-
ernmtnts. It donates from church to
church and only when a request is
made:,
"It's a way of our local Ontario
pcoplc helping the unfortunate,"
said McKercher, of RR 1 Dublin.
In March of 1994 the Foodgrains
Bank was busy bagging 200 tonnes
of corn, in Hensall, which . was
headed for Nicaragua. 10.1993 there
were about 450 tonnes of corn
bagged in Hensall and shipped, to
Africa.In September of 1992 there
were 10,000 tonnes of grain loaded
in Goderich. Ontario wheat has
been shipped to Bosnia and India.
The Huron -Perth committee, just
one of the area committees involved
with the Foodgrains Bank, raises
about 530,000-$40,000 annually to
support the work of the organiz-
ation.
The support of Ontario farmers'
has been substantial even during the
disastrous corn crop of 1992.
The cost of shipping the grain is
supported by the Canadian Interna-
tional Development. Agency
(CIDA). The government body has
matched four dollars for every one
dollar raised by the Foodgrains
Bank.
Farmers are crucial to the
Foodgrains Bank because they help
bring in the crops and make dona-
tions of grain. Area churches are
also significant fundraisers for, the
project.
The volunteers with the Canadian
Foodgrains Bank are 1. ,ay
that only three per cent of the
organization's budget is committed
to administration of the programs.
The foodgrainsr bank project not
only grows corn but other grains.
For iri'stance, the Seaforth facility
will be growing soy beans in 1994.
In some cases yellow corn has to
be • traded for 'white corn' because
that is part of the diet in some
countries.
"You can't force your habits on
them," notes McKercher.
Since its inception the Canadian
Foodgrains Bank has shipped close
to a half million metric tonnes of
;food. to 22 of the neediest countries'
in the• world.
Anyone in the Huron -Perth area
who would like to help the work of
the Canadian Foodgrains Bank can
contact Don McKercher at 527-
1837. Videos describing the activ-
ities of the Foodgrains Bank are
available for loan from Milton
Dietz, RR 4 Seaforth, 522-0608.
• Cash donations to the Canadian
Foodgrains Bank can be sent to.
400-280 Smith Street, P.O. Box
767, "Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3C
2L4.
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Area farmers were busy on Nov. 6, 1993, harvesting 114 acres of corn for the Seaforth Area
Foodgrains Project, one of the largest projects In Ontario of the Canadian Foodgrains,Bank. (Tim
Cumming .photo)
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