Kellogg is Feeding America

Kellogg donates day's worth of production
Elizabeth Willis • The Enquirer • June 18, 2009

Kellogg Co. is making good on a promise to donate a day's worth of cereal — more than 55 million servings — that could have been sold to consumers for an estimated $10 million.

Food producers often give their surplus products, such as incorrectly packaged or soon-to-expire items, to food banks for redistribution. This is the first time in recent history that Kellogg has specifically produced sellable cereal for donation.

"We felt it would be a good way for us to step up and support folks who are struggling in this economy," said Tim Knowlton, Kellogg's vice president of corporate social responsibility.

Kellogg President and Chief Executive Officer David Mackay first announced on April 24 at the company's annual shareholder meeting that it would give 3.5 million pounds of cereal to the Chicago-based Feeding America, a charity it helped create.

A trailer full of Rice Krispies arrived at the Battle Creek-based Food Bank of South Central Michigan about two weeks ago, and most of the 12,000 boxes already have been distributed to area food pantries, said Executive Director Bob Randels. The 20,000 pounds of food is in addition to the 200,000 pounds of food Kellogg already has donated to the food bank for local distribution this year.

The nationwide donation is in addition to the about 20 million pounds of surplus foods Kellogg already donates to Feeding America each year, Knowlton said. Read More

It seems as though the cool thing to as of late is to constantly complain about the people that grow and process our food. Many times these people lump everything they don’t like into the term ‘big ag’. But if you are going to criticize them for things you don’t like, you better be prepared to praise when the time comes. I’ve never been able to get a good answer of who ‘big ag’ is, but Kellogg is a major food processor and they have just done a really great thing. To give away an entire day’s production is pretty impressive. So congratulations to Kellogg for this tremendous act of kindness. The people that rely on food banks during rough stretches in their life will appreciate it. I highly doubt any of them will be too concerned about the production methods being used to grow their food.