Local youth participates in Fair to Fork

Owen McCumber was selected as one of 14 youth around the state who participated in Wyoming Hunger Initiative’s Fair to Fork Program in its inaugural year.

First Lady Jennie Gordon’s Wyoming Hunger Initiative, in partnership with Wyoming 4-H and FFA, recently piloted a new program under the Food from the Farm + Ranch banner called Fair to Fork.

Thanks to a grant from the Hughes Charitable Foundation, Wyoming Hunger Initiative was able to purchase and process 14 hogs, then distribute them locally as yet another avenue of providing protein to local communities. The meat from McCumber’s hog was distributed locally to the HSC Senior Center.

The program utilizes a lottery system to select youth for participation. In its first year, 14 youth from 14 Wyoming counties participated this year which equates to 2,255 pounds of pork distributed into local communities—18 anti-hunger agencies in all received pork from the program, all while supporting youth development and participation in sustainable agricultural solutions to hunger.

Participants with an extra animal, not the one they are selling at their local 4-H/FFA livestock auction, can sign up to be part of the program.

“Fresh food and sources of high-quality protein are notoriously expensive and difficult to procure for the food bank system,” says First Lady Jennie Gordon. “Being a producer myself, my initial vision for Wyoming Hunger Initiative was to encompass a component of agriculture that would be part of the solution to food insecurity in our state. Fair to Fork is another way to execute that vision while encouraging Wyoming’s youth to get involved.”  

The ultimate goal of Food from the Farm + Ranch is to utilize Wyoming products to combat food insecurity. This collaboration exemplifies the partnership between related industries committed to utilizing Wyoming products to care for Wyoming people. This program is made possible due to a partnership between Wyoming Hunger Initiative, University of Wyoming Extension, the Wyoming FFA Association, and the Hughes Charitable Foundation.