The San Juan County Farm Bureau and the Miracle of Agriculture Foundation (MAF), the charitable arm of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation, recently made a donation of 3,200 pounds of beef, and smaller amounts of lamb and pork, to food pantries in San Juan County, helping residents who have suffered damage from recent flooding. Rural food pantries throughout Utah are often underserved or completely out of protein sources for families in need. 

Donations were made to the Blanding and Montezuma Creek food pantries, as well as two smaller Tribal food pantries. Five total Tribal pantries, including a Senior Center and Veterans Center, were served by the food donation. It is estimated that three pounds will supply a family’s protein needs for one week.

UDAF Commissioner Kelly Pehrson (left) and Rebecca Benally load frozen meat into a freezer.

In addition to the donation of beef from MAF, two additional partners have stepped up to make this donation even more meaningful. Minky Couture donated nearly $15,000 dollars worth of blankets for the pantries to distribute, and the Terri H. and Dean Flanders Charitable Fund made a sizeable financial contribution to help make the donation happen.

San Juan County Farm Bureau President Bruce Lyman and his wife, Patty, were instrumental in organizing details on the local level to distribute the food.

"As farmers and ranchers, we deal with natural disasters frequently and understand how people feel when all that they have worked for is suddenly taken away," said Bruce Lyman, president of the San Juan County Farm Bureau. "We hope that by providing this protein we can ease some of the pain they are feeling.  We know that the road to rebuilding all they have lost is going to be a long one, but we are happy to do what we can to help."

"Having the opportunity to visit some of the areas affected, it was humbling to see the gratitude for this fresh meat," said Patty Lyman, San Juan County Women's Committee chair. "Everywhere we went, we were told that they never see donations of fresh protein. The leaders of the chapter houses were so excited to have this meat to distribute directly to those who had suffered so much damage."

The County Farm Bureau leaders worked with Farm Bureau's Foundation and Rebecca Benally, who serves as the Public Health Director and Local Health Officer for San Juan County Public Health, to get assistance to small pantries throughout the Navajo Nation. Benally has worked with the Utah Farm Bureau for several years to help distribute food to families, including during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when live sheep were provided to Navajo Nation residents.

Assisting the Farm Bureau and Foundation in distributing food were members of the leadership team for the Utah Department of Agriculture & Food, including Commissioner Kelly Pehrson - a former San Juan County resident - and Deputy Commissioner Troy Forest.

Members from the San Juan County Farm Bureau, Miracle of Agriculture Foundation, and local leaders at the Red Mesa Senior Center.