By Julie Murphree, Arizona Farm Bureau
During the recent Easter week festivities, Hickman Family Farms, Arizona’s only
Hickman Family Farms Donates Big!
commercial egg producer, gave away well over one million eggs to various food banks throughout the west including Hawaii.
Such a commitment to their local communities really tugs at the heart. Egg protein is one of the most affordable and healthy means of getting your protein. It’s also a critical source for many of our most important nutrients, especially for children. Last week, during the Easter celebration when sacrifice and giving is heavy on many Americans’ minds, giving away one million eggs was foremost on the Hickman family’s.
“We have decades of making egg deliveries to food banks near Easter, but the official standardized program with United Egg Producers began four years ago,” said Clint Hickman, vice president of sales and marketing for Hickman’s.
In fact, egg farmers nationwide donated nearly 12 million eggs this past week to help America’s food banks.
For the donations, Hickman’s works with the national food bank system, Feeding America and United Egg Producers, the nation’s leading trade association for U.S. egg farmers.
And only Big Ag can do this – at least on this scale. Today the Hickman’s oversee the care and feeding of 5.5 million laying hens — a big change from the early days of their farm back in the 1950s. But their transition to a large farming operation that’s still family owned, means that you and I get economically healthy eggs.
It also means that needy families get access to healthy, nutritious eggs too. And, the Hickman Family do not give away eggs only during Easter. Throughout the year, they’re supplying area food banks with free eggs.
We need all size farms. It’s all part of what Bas Aja calls the Food Continuum. But, if you want to feed a lot of us economically, nutritiously and efficiently, you need farms like Hickman Family Farms.
Your local food banks will tell you, any size donation counts. But when the big donations come in those who help the needy can rest a little easier when the million eggs the Hickman’s contributed are part of the overall food bank contribution. Food banks need the large donations to keep up with demand.
Just ask any family that received a food basket this last week filled with Hickman eggs.
Editor’s note: Eggs are running anywhere from 13 to 15 cents each. Do the math on Hickman’s donation and you realize theirs is a serious commitment to community and the needy.
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