‘Neighbours feeding neighbours:’ Sask. farmer donates 26 tonnes of peas to Regina Food Bank

In a time of high food insecurity, a Saskatchewan farmer decided to do what he could to lend a helping hand.

Ken Tatarliov of Surprise Valley Farms donated roughly 26 tonnes of split peas to the Regina Food Bank.

“I grow more food than I’ll ever need,” Tatarliov said. “And I knew that … in some small way, I wanted to help.”

The donation was about 30 per cent of his crop.

The peas are to be split and cleaned by AGT Foods Canada, and will then distributed throughout the province by Food Banks Canada and Food Banks Saskatchewan.

Tatarliov, who runs a cattle and grain farm with his daughter roughly 145 kilometres south of Regina, got in touch with the food banks through Farm Credit Canada (FCC).

For David Froh, vice president of the Regina Food Bank, the donation couldn’t have come at a better time, as the food bank is seeing a record amount of demand recently.

“The generosity of Saskatchewan people has just been profound and humbling and it’s the only way we’ve been able to sort of feed as many people as we are,” Froh said.

The Regina Food Bank serves more than 12,000 people a month.

Since the food bank operates without government support, Froh said the donation shows “that we truly are neighbours feeding neighbours.”

“The reality is we have an affordability crisis and record food bank demand,” he said. “We need everybody, government included, to help us address that.”

Tatarliov was spurred into action after witnessing just how much people are struggling to get by amid inflation and the increased cost of living.

“Recently now the price of basic groceries has went up so high that I’ve seen stories where people were trading food money just to maintain their rent,” Tatarliov said.

“We can’t fight life’s fight hungry. I don’t care who you are; you need to have fuel.”

For Tatarliov, he’s not satisfied with a one-time donation. He wants to create a network of farmers that can make consistent donations to the food banks and sustain them throughout all parts of the year.

“Not every farmer can help and donate to the food bank and I completely (and) totally understand that,” Tatarliov said.

“But there are probably thousands of farmers out here that are willing and able to contribute in some way.”

Tatartliov said he would look to organizations like the FCC for tax and financial support for this initiative.

“It sounds simple I know, mostly because it can be if we follow our hearts,” Tatarliov said.