Cultivate Food Rescue recently purchased 193 animals from local 4-H’ers, and those animals will translate into around 102,000 nutritious meals for food-insecure neighbors living in St. Joseph, Elkhart and Marshall counties.

In the last few years, Cultivate’s Meat Hunger program has purchased over 550 animals, supplying over 140,000 pounds of protein and over 281,000 meals for families and individuals.

The meat from this year’s fair purchases will be processed into two-pound packages of ground protein for food pantry partners and put into frozen backpack meals for children facing food insecurity.

With the help of Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry, which covers the processing fees, Cultivate is able to focus on allocating 100% of raised funds to feeding those in need.