HATCH, which is providing a new way consumers, food stores and farmers can work together to make eggs available to undernourished people, will extend its program with The Kroger Co. and Rose Acre Farms through 2015. This announcement was made after successfully providing 100,039 eggs to more than 8,000 families in Indiana during a 10-week pilot program.
“HATCH is becoming a sustainable model for how people can work together locally to fight undernourishment and make a real, tangible difference in their communities,” said Bert Payne, operations leader for HATCH for Hunger at Elanco Animal Health, a division of Eli Lilly and Company. “The beauty of HATCH is that it is giving more people access to nutrient-rich eggs, even in the face of today’s higher prices due to reduced U.S. egg supplies.”
“HATCH is gratitude, and gratitude is the smiles and thanks of the people receiving the eggs,” said Cindy Hubert, president and CEO of Gleaners Food Bank. “One mother who received HATCH eggs told me, ‘the HATCH program gave us the opportunity to have healthy food for breakfast instead of just eating junk food … it makes a difference.’ This is what HATCH is all about.”
“Rose Acre Farms is proud to partner with Elanco and Kroger on a project as critical as hunger,” said Amanda Jackson, director of sales, Rose Acre Farms. “HATCH has been a tremendous success due to the support of our local communities and Kroger shoppers. We recognize that nutritious foods are often hard to obtain for food-insecure families and that America’s food banks find it incredibly difficult to acquire high-quality proteins. We are thrilled to meet this need by providing healthy, nutrient-dense eggs that will provide the protein and essential vitamins and minerals that are crucial for muscle, brain and eye development.”
“We are extremely proud of the generosity of Kroger customers and associates who rallied behind HATCH to help neighbors put nutritious food on their plates,” said John Elliott, manager of public affairs, The Kroger Co. “That’s why we are thrilled to announce the extension of HATCH in 65 Central Indiana stores through Dec. 31. Like our long-standing Perishable Donation Partnership® — which has donated more than 195 million meals to community food banks — HATCH is another way we can work together to combat undernourishment.”