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Egg Donation Helps Increase Healthy Food Access

Rose Acre Farms COO Tony Wesner (left) helps pass out eggs.
Jill Sheridan/IPB News
Rose Acre Farms COO Tony Wesner (left) helps pass out eggs.

An Indiana egg producer reaches the 1 million-family mark this week in its goal to help feed Hoosiers. The donation was part of a growing effort to provide food pantries with healthy food.

The Hatch program started three years ago to provide convenient, nutritious food to people living with food insecurity.

Rose Acre Farms in Seymour, Indiana, is one of the countries largest egg producers.

READ MORE: Purdue Project Connects Farmers, Food Pantries For Produce

Chief Operating Officer Tony Wesner passed out 3,600 dozen eggs to families at St. Vincent DePaul’s Food Pantry on Indianapolis’s northeast side. He says eggs are in high demand at food pantries because of their nutritional value.

“Six grams of protein, 60-70 calories, all the vitamins that are in an egg, they help with brain development and bone growth,” Wesner says.

Wesner says many Hoosiers live with food insecurity.

“One in seven in Indiana go hungry, so this is a big deal for us,” he says. “We think that we produce one of God’s perfect foods.”

This delivery marks 1 million egg donations to Indiana families through the program.

Jill Sheridan Poulos is the managing city editor at WFYI. She was previously a member of the IPB News teams covering health and science, and at WFYI as a reporter and anchor.
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