Georgia Hunters Combat Rural Hunger with Venison

On the outskirts of Savannah, Georgia, Wise Brothers Processing operates as a hub for both commercial and charitable meat preparation. Large chest coolers line the exterior of the facility, filled with skinned deer packed in ice. Inside, the meat is cut into cubes, ground up, or made into sausage based on customer specifications. While much of this work is standard for hunters preserving meat for their families, a significant portion of the product here is destined for a different purpose.

The meat processed at this facility is often donated to the Old Savannah City Mission, a soup kitchen in the heart of Savannah. Debra Wise, who runs the business, noted the impact of these contributions. "The charity that we use, they feed 250-plus people, three times a day," Wise said. So far this year, the processing plant has sent 500 pounds of ground venison to the mission. The Wises participate in the Georgia Wildlife Federation’s Hunters for the Hungry program, which connects hunters with processors to facilitate donations.

Georgia law allows hunters to kill up to 12 deer annually. However, many hunters lack the freezer space to store such volume or simply do not need the meat to feed their own families. The Hunters for the Hungry program provides a solution by allowing these hunters to donate their extra harvest. "They reached out to us and asked us if we would be interested in accepting the deer for the hunter program, and of course we jumped right on it," Wise explained. "Anything to help someone out, we’re all about it."

The Hunters for the Hungry program has seen a significant boost in capabilities recently. The state of Georgia increased annual funding to $350,000, allowing the program to expand its network from just six processors to 56. This funding also facilitated the addition of freezer trailers to store surplus meat. The goal for the current year is to collect 140,000 pounds of donations. According to estimates by the state Department of Natural Resources, this amount of meat can feed approximately 560,000 people.

While the program is not exclusively designed to address rural hunger, its structure naturally benefits rural areas. Processors typically donate meat and distribute it within their local communities. Since most processors are located in the country where hunting takes place, a large volume of the donations remains in rural regions. This is crucial given the statistics on food insecurity in Georgia. According to Feeding America, nearly 15 percent of families in the state are food insecure, meaning they have limited or uncertain access to adequate food.

Rural areas are disproportionately affected. Hancock County, located between Atlanta and Augusta, has the highest rate in the country of children facing food insecurity, at 47 percent. Nationwide, 86 percent of counties with the highest food insecurity rates are rural. This creates a stark contrast in a state where agriculture is the biggest industry. Georgia leads the nation in broiler chickens, hatching eggs, and peanuts, and produces significant amounts of beef, dairy, corn, and blueberries.

Despite the abundance of agricultural production, rural Georgians often face food insecurity. Most food produced in the state is grown at a large scale to supply the wider U.S. food system. This food goes to processors and distributors before reaching grocery stores. Consequently, the people who grow food and farm animals often have to rely on grocery stores to buy their food, just like those in major cities. University of Georgia professor Vanessa Shonkwiler, who studies local food systems, explains that the current infrastructure is not designed for local equity.

"Not every county or not every region has all these different products, so we rely on a food system that is able, through processing and retail, to combine all these products for the benefit of consumers," Shonkwiler said. "But then back to our rural food insecurity — this food system is not necessarily able to reach everyone." Reliance on this complex system also makes food security vulnerable to external shocks. Impacts of climate change, even in other parts of the country or the world, can disrupt supply chains and cause prices to become more volatile.

Furthermore, typical solutions for hunger, such as food pantries, are often less effective in rural settings because people are so spread out. "One size doesn’t fit all," Shonkwiler noted. "And it’s really the collaboration between different entities that makes it work or doesn’t." Various groups are testing alternative models, including small neighborhood grocery stores, mobile grocery trucks, and self-service stores in shipping containers. Success in these areas depends heavily on local buy-in and community investment.

Rural food initiatives are currently facing severe threats due to federal funding cuts. A 43-day government shutdown halted funding that many food-aid organizations rely on. Shonkwiler warned that for many nonprofits, this is a matter of survival. "It’s directly the survival of the nonprofit here that is at stake," she said. To ensure long-term survival, some organizations have been forced to temporarily shut down stores or programs that serve rural Georgia.

Additional cuts have targeted specific federal programs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Childcare Access and Nutrition Systems grant program previously funded a food bank, a farmers market, a mobile kitchen, and other programs in rural southwest Georgia. According to Senator Jon Ossoff’s office, this program was canceled earlier this year. For residents living in food deserts—at least 10 miles from any supermarket—these losses mean resources they depend on may not be available, particularly during the holiday season.