Fri Feb 10 2012
By Matt Fredmonsky | staff writer
A whole lot of margarine will be distributed to, and used in hot meals prepared for, area families and others in need.
The Kent Land O' Lakes facility donated 39,600 pounds of margarine to the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank Tuesday.
Michelle Hinton, director of marketing and communications for the foodbank, said the massive donation of margarine will be made available to the more than 430 service organizations that operate food pantries or hot meal programs for the needy in Portage, Summit, Carroll, Holmes, Medina, Stark, Tuscarawas and Wayne counties.
"We actually put it up on our menu already," Hinton said. "So it's available .... to our member agencies."
The donation breaks down to 160,000 sticks of the butter substitute.
Tuesday's delivery is the eighth donation in Land O' Lakes "First Run" program, in which the company has committed to donating a truckload of fresh product to a food bank each month in 2010 to alleviate hunger.
"As a national, farmer-owned cooperative, Land O' Lakes is committed to helping the growing number of people struggling to put food on their table," Land O' Lakes Foundation Executive Director Lydia Botham said.
Most margarines, made from vegetable oils, contain almost no cholesterol. And, as such, most margarines are also higher in "good" fats -- polyunsaturated and monounsaturated -- than butter is, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The Akron-Canton foodbank provides food to more than 40,000 people each week.
Hinton said the foodbank receives a variety of similar donations each year from large food manufacturers.
"And we certainly depend on them," she said. " It's great to have a donation like this from a food manufacturer who's local and the food go out to the local community."
"Our donations are remaining pretty stable this year," she said. "But our need, and the amount of food we're distributing, continues to rise."
Comments
By Posting to this site, you agree to our Terms of Service Be polite.
Inappropriate posts may be removed.
Recordpub.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post.
Login above or Register to comment.
0 Total Comments Home | Back
Copyright Record Publishing Co, LLC. 1995-2011. All Rights Reserved.
Content may not be republished without the expressed written consent of the publisher.
Content may not be republished without the expressed written consent of the publisher.
Dix Communications