It's been ten years since Washington's beef community began Beef Counts, the beef community’s effort to help fight hunger across the Pacific Northwest. Branden Spencer, a 4th-generation farmers in the Ritzville area said it's important that Washingtonians see that those who work in the beef supply chain want to help their neighbors in their time of need.

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"In small communities there's a lot of need and also in urban communities there's a lot of need. It helps not just getting the beef out there to the families but a little bit of outreach with some recipes and ideas on how to prepare beef to people that maybe aren't used to cooking it or consuming it on a weekly basis or a daily basis."

Since 2010, ranchers and producers have donated $1 million and more than 2.5 million services of beef to those facing food insecurity in Washington State through the Beef Counts program. It's estimated that 2.2 million Washingtonians are currently facing food insecurity. Spencer added Beef Counts also partnered with Northwest Harvest and 2nd Harvest in December to serve nearly 3,000 families.

"When it comes to beef I don't really feel insecure about beef. Our family has a freezer full of beef most of the year-round. It's important for us as ranchers and anybody in the beef supply chain to not take that for granted and realize the power that even just a few pounds of beef can have."

Spencer added that moving forward he'd like to see even more resources put into beef distribution events, allowing more families in need to receive beef.

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