Grocery prices are on the rise, but a longtime Missouri Department of Conservation program wants to ease that burden with the help of hunters.
The department’s Share the Harvest program partners with deer hunters and meat processors across the state to distribute venison to food banks and pantries. Dan Zarlenga, the St. Louis regional media specialist for the department, said oftentimes deer hunters have more meat than they know what to do with.
“They’re able to donate that extra meat they won’t be using to help feed folks who are less fortunate,” Zarlenga said. “That is an especially helpful thing as the economic conditions we have now where groceries are extremely high.”
Deer hunters take their deer to a participating meat processor where it’s cleaned, ground, packaged and then sent to food banks and pantries. Typically, it costs $100 to get a deer processed. The Share the Harvest program has reduced that cost with the help of partners. The Conservation Federation of Missouri donated $75 to meat processors for each hunter to offset the cost.
“If they are donating their entire deer, they don’t have to pay the full amount to do that,” Zarlenga said. “In the St. Louis area we take it one step further. We have an excellent partnership with Operation Food Search. They work with several select processors in the area, and they donate an extra $30 to help offset the cost. So if hunters take their deer in to be donated to one of these select processors, they basically get their entire processing fee waived.”
Since the program launched in 1992, roughly 4.3 million pounds of venison have been donated. In the 2023-24 deer hunting season, 247,575 pounds of venison were donated to the Share the Harvest program.
Michael Kolisch, owner of John’s Butcher Shoppee in Overland and Festus, said his business has been in the program since it launched. He adds the program is a win for everyone.
“A hunter can go enjoy himself and enjoy his sport,” Kolisch said. “He can get a deer and bring it to us. It doesn’t cost him anything. And then on the other end, you got food banks that are loving to have the food for the needy people.”
The program has also been a major benefit for food banks and pantries that normally get large amounts of shelf-stable items.
“They don’t get a lot of fresh protein and meat,” Zarlenga said. “So, this provides sort of a boon of fresh protein and meat during this time of year for these places. And then they’re able to provide that to their patrons.”
The Department of Conservation has a full list of participating meat processors in the state.
