WYOMING — The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) announced on Monday, Sept. 23 that hunters can donate part or all of their harvested big game animal to help fight hunger in Wyoming.
Wyoming Hunger Initiative’s Food from the Field program streamlines game meat donations from hunters to food pantries throughout the state. Started by Wyoming’s First Lady Jennie Gordon in 2020, the program is part of Governor Mark Gordon’s larger Wyoming Hunger Initiative to combat food insecurity.
“Wyoming’s majestic landscapes offer hunters some of the best opportunities in the world, and Food from the Field enables them to share that bounty by donating all or part of their meat to participating local processors who in turn prepare it for anti-hunger organizations that can distribute to our neighbors in need,” Gordon said in the announcement. “Sources of high-quality protein are notoriously expensive and difficult to procure for the food bank system, making Food from the Field a Wyoming solution to a Wyoming challenge.”
According to the WGFD, since the inception of the program, hunters have donated over 50,000 pounds of game meat. All deer and elk undergo appropriate chronic wasting disease testing to ensure safety prior to entering the food bank system.
Processed livestock is distributed within the local community where it was harvested. Donors can also recommend a specific organization within the community to receive the donation, according to the Wyoming Hunger Initiative.
All domestic livestock donated to the Wyoming Hunger Initiative must be processed by a USDA or state-inspected processing plant. Bovine and Swine and Lockhart Meat Company, two meat processing facilities in Teton County, are both on the approved list of USDA and state-inspected processors for Wyoming Hunger Initiative donations. The Wyoming Hunger Initiative has offered to cover the cost of processing or hunters can choose to pay for the processing before donating.
More information on donating a game harvest is available on the Food from the Field website.
