It's always good news when you find deer hunters donating their venison to the state’s Share the Harvest program, and this year the donations topped out at 238,920 pounds. This total included 4,787 whole deer.

Share the Harvest is coordinated by Missouri Department of Conservation and Conservation Federation of Missouri . Since the program was started in 1992, it has provided more than 4.5 million pounds of lean, healthy venison to help feed hungry Missourians, including this past season’s donations.

Since the program was started in 1992, it has provided more than 4.5 million pounds of lean, healthy venison to help feed hungry Missourians, including this past season’s donations.

In 2019, hunters donated 282,935 pounds of venison to Share the Harvest. During the past season, some meat processors were unable to take donated venison due to an increase in the processing of domestic beef and pork.

The donated deer meat goes to local food banks and food pantries to help feed hungry Missourians all around the state. To get Share the Harvest venison, contact local food banks or food pantries.

One of the great thing about the program, it helps not only kids across the state of Missouri but also adults. The National Institutes of Health state that children need protein in their diets for proper growth and development, and adults need it to maintain good health. Yet many Missourians can't afford or can't get to good sources of protein. Through Share the Harvest, Missouri hunters can help provide those in need with high-quality protein in the form of naturally lean, locally harvested deer meat.

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