While milk producers across Mzansi continue to commit 1% of their daily production to the vulnerable, two Western Cape agricultural research farms have now also donated thousands of litres of milk to support non-governmental organisations.
On behalf of the farms, Dr Ivan Meyer, the province’s minister of agriculture, donated the milk to the Milk Producers Organisation (MPO) for distribution to Life Community Services, who largely works with orphaned children in George, and Shiloh Community in Action, who feed thousands of people every day.
Shiloh’s managing director, Estelle Veldman, says without this donation they would’ve not been able to provide a nutritious meal to those who cannot fend for themselves. She describes Shiloh as a partnership of 32 community organisations who are “the link between the hearts of those who give, and the most vulnerable who receive.”
Speaking at the handover, Meyer highlighted the impact that SARS-CoV-2 continues to have on the poor. “Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on the most vulnerable in our society. No person or family should ever go hungry. We need to work together to ensure that everyone in the Western Cape has access to safe and healthy food.”
The Western Cape chairperson of the MPO, Philip Blanckenberg, says, “There is much goodwill amongst milk producers. The donation sets the example of how government and the private sector can work together. The common goal is to provide the vulnerable with access to nutritious milk that strengthens one’s immunity and gives access to greater food security.”
The donated milk will be processed and packaged with the support of milk processors Nestlé and Lactalis, formerly known as Parmalat.
