Vital Farms to donate 1 million eggs by 2016
It is no secret that eggs are a nutritional source of protein.
However, sources of protein continue to remain on Ozarks Food Harvest’s list of most-needed items. For people with allergies, a jar of peanut butter is not an option and meat is not always available.
This is one of the reasons why The Food Bank’s new partnership with Vital Farms will make a large impact on the amount of nutritious protein network members will be able to provide to clients.
Vital Farms is an Austin, Texas based company that is the leading producer of pasture-raised eggs in the U.S. Pasture-raised eggs are produced from hens that have room to roam, rather than hens that just sit in an enclosed cage.
The company is building a new Springfield plant, and although the building is not complete, Vital Farms is already investing in the local community.
In fact, Vital Farms plans to donate more than 1 million eggs to Ozarks Food Harvest by the end of 2016 and is currently delivering eggs weekly to The Food Bank.
“The donations are just another way that Vital Farms is investing in Missouri on various levels,” read a company statement. “Next year Vital Farms will expand in the Springfield region by opening a new processing facility that will process the company’s pasture-raised eggs and create 50 new full-time jobs in the first year with growth plans to create up to 50 additional jobs in the future.”
Last month, Vital Farms began building the 82,140-square-foot egg-processing plant on 11 acres in Partnership Industrial Center West.
The plant will be a processing facility for the company’s supply chain of 100 farmers who provide eggs from pasture-raised hens.
At the plant, eggs will be evaluated for grading, quality inspection, sorting, packing and transportation of the eggs to over 6,000 U.S. grocery stores, including The Fresh Market, Whole Foods Market, Kroger stores and Target.
“Egg donations to Ozarks Food Harvest are rare and Vital Farms’ contribution will help provide healthy and nutritious meals to those struggling with hunger across southwest Missouri, which is especially important as one in six adults and one in four children in southwest Missouri are at risk of going hungry,” said Kayla Joyce, spokeswoman for Vital Farms.
Ozarks Food Harvest is excited to now be able to offer more eggs to network members thanks to Vital Farms.