Hunters provide venison to hungry in Tennessee

By Barry Simmons*

BOLIVAR, Tenn. (UMNS) - When Larry Ross spots a deer on his property, he can tell immediately how many meals it will provide for a hungry family.

"We think a pound of venison feeds four meals," he says, pointing to his latest kill in Bolivar, Tenn. "So if that's the case, that's 160 meals for this one deer. Not bad is it?"

Ross and a team of local United Methodists provide venison to area food banks and soup kitchens through a program called Hunters for the Hungry, operated by the Tennessee Wildlife Federation.

The program aims to alleviate the county's exploding deer population - now the highest in the state - by encouraging hunters to kill extra deer and donate them to families in need.

Chad Whittenburg, state coordinator for Hunters for the Hungry, says the overpopulation is beginning to cause problems in Hardeman County, such as ruined crops and high insurance rates from collisions with deer.

At the same time, local food programs are struggling to find enough donated meat. Whittenburg says a growing number of the area's poor are under-nourished because agencies are only able to provide non-perishable foods.

"(Hunters for the Hungry) is one of the only programs in the state where you can give meat," he says. "Everybody gives canned foods or dry foods, but hardly anyone gives meat."

According to the Tennessee Wildlife Federation, nearly 20 percent of the state's elderly and 11 percent of its children go to bed hungry. Those figures reflect national hunger statistics, which, according to a study by the Second Harvest Food Bank, are highest in Oklahoma and lowest in Delaware. In its 2006 report, "National Statistics on Hunger and Poverty," which ranked states from best to worst according to "food insecurity with hunger," Tennessee placed 25th among the 50 states.

Hunters for the Hungry has partnered with groups across the state that pay to process the deer. The processing fees in Hardeman County are covered by Bolivar's First United Methodist Church, which has raised $8,000- enough to provide 32,000 meals.

"All the hunter has to do is field dress the deer and take it to the processor," says Ross. "It does not cost him anything."

Most of the venison donated in Bolivar is sent to Loaves and Fishes, a local food bank that has received so much venison that Hunters for the Hungry installed an extra freezer.

"We've got about 700 pounds of deer meat in here," says Bill Kirk, an organizer for Loaves and Fishes. "This is super for us. We love it."

Since Ross and his team joined the program two years ago, they've contributed eight tons of venison, which is used to make everything from tacos to sausages.

Whittenburg says venison is a leaner, high-protein alternative to beef.

"Anything that calls for ground beef," says Whittenburg, "you can substitute with venison. You can't tell the difference."

Volunteers sometimes offer recipes to those who do not typically cook deer meat. Oshanda Harrison is one of 300 people in Hardeman County who signed up for the free venison. She received a venison roast.

"It keeps us from having to buy it," she says. "So yeah, it helps."

Venison donations to Hunters for the Hungry are up 37 percent this year. Whittenburg says the program collected more than 25 tons, which was enough to make 200,000 meals. His goal is to provide 500,000 meals next year.

One of the program's largest contributors is the Memphis Annual (regional) Conference of The United Methodist Church, which raised more than $50,000 last year. In March, it received the Tennessee Wildlife Federation's Presidential Award for outstanding volunteerism.

*Simmons is a freelance producer in Nashville, Tenn.