It’s being celebrated as a major step to curb food insecurity in Newfoundland and Labrador. A new pilot project means hunters can now donate moose meat to local food banks.

‘Sharing the Harvest NL’ recently made its first donation as the result of a 12-year effort to open the doors for hunters to share their meat. Hundreds of bundles were processed to distribute to food banks in need.

Debbie Wiseman of the Social Justice Co-operative says it’s an incredible feeling to see movement on that front.

She says food banks have expressed a keen interest in accepting locally-harvested moose as meat can be difficult to acquire.

While it must be processed by a government-approved facility, Wiseman says any hunter interested in lending a hand can reach out to Sharing the Harvest or the Community Food Sharing Association to learn about their next steps.

When it comes to the initiative, Wiseman says hunters are no strangers to sharing, she says it’s common to hear of hunters wanting to share with family, friends, or those in need.

Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture, Elvis Loveless says it’s great to see this initiative move forward, especially one that helps those in need. He hopes to see the project expand.

Loveless says they will be monitoring the pilot project and may look at accepting donations of fish in the future.