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Cargill invests in USDA clean room to increase donations

Cargill is investing in a new USDA food processing space for the Houston Food Bank, a member of the Feeding America Network in an effort to help close the protein gap.

Pete Stoddart, Cargill’s corporate responsibility lead, tells Brownfield it will help increase protein donations that foodbanks sorely need it.

“To help make protein donations easier to donate and to increase the number of protein donations, not only from Cargill but from others in the industry.”

The so-called “Clean Room” operates inside the food bank with all the equipment and food safety facilities that allow them to take in large, bulk donations, “A package of 100 frozen hamburger patties cannot be handed out to one individual but it can be broken down into multiple consumer-sized packages.”

He says Cargill’s goal is to support more of these Clean Rooms in strategic locations across the country, “Where are large number of beef production or turkey production facilities are and, therefore, the distance from the source of the donation to the food bank is going to be as short as possible.”

Stoddart says Feeding America’s “Meal Connect” tool helps food producers connect with food banks that need donations.

Cargill recently donated nearly 50-thousand pounds of beef to food banks in California.