4-27 Raise the Steaks

Team Up for

“Raise the Steaks Against Hunger”

Thursday, April 28th, is Raise the Steaks Against Hunger day at the Treasure Valley’s finest restaurants. Diners can join Idaho’s cattle ranching and farming families and support The Idaho Foodbank. Idaho’s beef industry created Raise the Steaks Against Hunger as another way to help the Foodbank provide free emergency food assistance to Idaho families through their statewide network of community-based church pantries, shelters, and community kitchens. Recently released USDA data indicates that 1 in 6 Idahoans is ‘food insecure’, meaning that there a lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members or limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods. This is unacceptable to Idaho’s beef ranching community, and they have pledged to make a difference.  Here is  Idaho beef Council spokesperson Katlin  Davis: “Part of the reason we decided to do beef Council is the Idaho food bank shortage of high protein and as part of the beef industry we decided to tackle that.”

Protein is extremely important to children because it affects their muscle growth, cognitive ability and overall health. The United States Department of Agriculture recommends 6 ounces of protein per person per day. Yet the Idaho Foodbank currently can only supply approximately 0.7 ounces of protein per person.

The Idaho Foodbank’s chronic shortage of high-quality protein was brought to the attention of Idaho’s beef industry in 2009.  In response, more than 9,700 ranching families created an innovative program called Beef Counts. Announced in April 2010, Beef Counts has raised more than $80,000 and provided almost 100,000 servings of high-quality protein to the Idaho Foodbank.This is made possible through Agri Beef Co.’s 50% match of all donations.