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The migration from rural environments to urban municipalities has disconnected people from their food. Our grocery stores are filled with exotic foreign fruits and vegetables, highly-processed carbohydrates and meat from “super farms”. Recently, there has been a shift in thinking towards responsible eating and organic food. People are becoming increasingly concerned about the number of miles between soil and plate, the pesticides on their produce and hormones in their meat. Movies like Food Inc. and books like Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and the 100 Mile Diet by Alisa Smith and J.B. McKinnon have helped reinforce the fact that it is important to be connected your food and its origin.

Wild meat is natural, organic and has no steroids, artificial colours, hormones or other chemicals. Wild meat it is also lower in fat and higher in protein than commercial domestic meats. Wildlife growing in their natural habitats, feeding on wild forage and drinking the cleanest water results in healthier animals and healthier food. You are what you eat!

Responsible hunters have a profound love for wildlife and their habitat, and diligently adhere to the tenets of fair chase. They practice their art to ensure their harvest is as humane as possible. Hunting in British Columbia is closely monitored by the government to ensure sustainability.

BC’s 100,000 hunters contribute generously to habitat enhancement and wildlife conservation projects. Since 1981 license surcharge dollars from guides, hunters, trappers and anglers have raised over $120 million in BC. These funds are administered through the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (HCTF) and have resulted in more than 2,000 wildlife management and habitat enhancement projects. Hunters have a vested interest in the conservation and sustainability of wildlife populations.

• The Case for Responsible Meat Eating, Oprah Magazine – Steven Rinella
• The Urban Deerslayer, New York Times – Sean Patrick Farrell
• Girls Just Want to Have Guns, Globe and Mail – Hayley Mick

The Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia (GOABC) started a meat donation program in 1993. Few guided hunters choose to leave their meat behind, but those that do have been pleased to support this initiative. We estimate that it has delivered more than 425,000 pounds of organic, free-range wild game meat to families in need and local charities in British Columbia.

• Press Release from December 2010 Meat Donation in Kelowna
• Thank You Letter from Salvation Army, January 2011
• Press Release from December 2011 Fair Chase Food Meat Donation in Kelowna
• Press Release from Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, December 2011 – “How to Make a Difference”

Scott Ellis provides Stephanie Cadieux, Member of Legislative Assembly for Surrey-Panorama, with a sample of moose sausage at the Sources’ South Surrey Food Bank.

2011 Kelowna – GOABC’s Executive Director Scott Ellis, Cyril Chalk of the Kelowna Salvation Army, The Honourable Steve Thomson (Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations), and GOABC President Mark Werner drop of wild game meat with the Salvation Army Food Bank in Kelowna.