Foster Farms is stepping up its COVID-19 hunger relief efforts, increasing its number of donated Thanksgiving turkeys by close to 60 percent over last year to help meet the staggering need for food assistance. The 96,000 pounds of donated turkey will help feed more than 120,000 individuals struggling with food insecurity. The Thanksgiving turkey donations are an annual tradition that Foster Farms began in 2008. In the coming days, Foster Farms will deliver the turkeys to West Coast food banks from San Diego to Seattle. Earlier in the pandemic, the company donated more than three million servings of poultry to food banks in California, Oregon, Washington, Alabama and Louisiana.
Millions of people are newly at risk of experiencing food insecurity. Nationally, more than 54 million people, including 18 million children, are projected to experience food insecurity because of COVID-19. In California, nearly one in eight adults – and one in five children – do not know where their next meal is coming from. And many are now visiting food banks for the first time. Among Foster Farms’ longtime partners in the fight against hunger is Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, which will receive 12,000 pounds of turkey to support its annual holiday food drive, and has seen demand for food double.