Chicken Farmers of Ontario partners with Maple Leaf Foods to provide chicken to food banks

Who: Chicken Farmers of Ontario (CFO) and Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

What: The two organizations have partnered to provide Ontario’s food banks with a supply of locally-grown chicken.

The partnership includes Feed Ontario, the province's largest collective of hunger-relief organizations.

It will support the CFO Cares: Farmers to Food Banks Program, a program that enables Ontario chicken farmers to donate their chicken to food banks across Ontario.

The CFO Cares program was launched in 2015 in partnership with Feed Ontario. CFO's family-run farms are each eligible to donate up to 300 birds per year through the program, with at least 1 million meals donated annually since the inception of the program.

Feed Ontario provides logistical and administrative support and Maple Leaf Foods processes and tray-packs the Ontario-grown chicken. 

The tray-packed chicken is distributed throughout the Feed Ontario distribution network.

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CFO Cares: Farmers to Food Banks donors are eligible for a tax credit of 25% of the fair market value of their donated chicken through the Government of Ontario's Community food program donation tax credit.

"Through the CFO Cares: Farmers to Food Banks Program, Ontario's chicken farmers donate chicken contributing to over 1 million meals, each year. With Ontario food banks experiencing increased pressure, we are pleased to be formally announcing a partnership with Maple Leaf Foods Inc., ensuring that Ontario food banks are continually able to access a steady supply of healthy, high quality, locally-grown chicken,” said Murray Opsteen, chair, Chicken Farmers of Ontario, in a release.