GREAT FALLS - A Montana non-profit organization is helping rural communities access fresh meat by delivering processed products directly to schools and organizations free of charge.
The Producer Partnership recently made stops in Malta, Saco, Glasgow, and other rural areas, delivering 2,895 pounds of meat at no cost to the communities.
Watch the video here:
The organization says it is the first and only federally-inspected nonprofit-operated meat processing facility in the United States.
Producer Partnership works with ranchers who provide animals, including goats, sheep, cattle and bison, while the non-profit handles the processing.
"I think it's huge to be able to help these smaller communities, especially in these rural communities where we have, you know, so many producers that are there," said Producer Partnership president and founder Matt Pierson.
"But, man, it's hard to find processing. It's hard to find the time to take them there, to pick them up, to pay for it. And for us, it's really nice to be able to sort of take care of all of those aspects from start to finish."
Since starting in 2020, The Producer Partnership has donated more than 200,000 pounds of Montana-raised protein to charities and nonprofits across the state.
Montana livestock producers can donate their animals to The Producer Partnership to be processed free of charge and then donated to schools, food banks, or other nonprofit organizations, keeping the meat in Montana.
