OP 10.33 MIGHT JUST BE PUTTING MEAT ON THE TABLE

By Juan Montoya
Remember us bellyaching about the fact that the state and federal governments have coordinated hunts for nilgai and feral hogs in Cameron County and then donated the meat to the hungry in San Antonio and even in Mexico as if there were no hungry people here?


This last time around, instead of contracting a private harvester such as the Broken Arrow Ranch to perform the butchering process for them, the Texas Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife hooked up with the Trinity Oaks non-profit to distribute the processed meat to the hungry.

The animals were culled, ostensibly, to fight the spread of fever tick spread
on cattle at the Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge and contiguous ranches.

Unfortunately, most of the meat – 24,000 pounds of choice Texas Antelope (nilgai) – and an unknown number of pounds of feral hog meat was handed out to diverse soup kitchens in the state, and, according to Trinity Oaks spokesmen, the hungry in Mexico.
Amounts of the pork was said to have been distributed to soup kitchens like Loves and Fishes in Harlingen across the border in Reynosa and Matamoros.

Well, our bellyaching apparently reached the ear of Mike Hernandez and his OP 10.33 outfit and – using well-paid consultant (and state rep) Eddie Lucio III – he set about to look into the situation.
We have now learned through third parties that some influential state people reached out and touched the Trinity Oaks outfit and that moves are under way for the non-profit to begin providing the fruits of the harvest to places like the Good Neighbor Settlement House and the Ozanam Center in Brownsville.

That only makes sense. After all, the animals are harvested in Cameron County – continuously ranked among the poorest regions in the country – and now those needy here have a place at the table as well.

It's no secret that we've had our differences with OP 10.33's ham-fisted political strategies and thin skin as it relates to social media, but if true, their interceedeing for the hungry in Brownsville is worth noting.

The nilgai culls this year are not the first for Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, refuge manager Boyd Blihovde told the Valley Morning Star.

But what is different now is how the meat is used.

“Previously the meat was going to a private enterprise, and they were getting between $22 and $28 per pound,” Blihovde said as he tossed frozen nilgai packages into a Yeti cooler. “This meat is going to the needy for free.”

We are awaiting further confirmation from E3 and Hernandez's OP 10.33 outfit to find out just how much of the annual harvests will stay to feed the hungry here. If, in fact, Hernandez and his bunch's efforts results in some needy person in Brownsville getting a meal, that's not necessarily a bad deal.

Among charities receiving nilgai meat are:
Loaves and Fishes
Harlingen Food Pantry
Con mi Manos, a Deaf Education Center and ministry located in Matamoros
Casa Amparo orphanage in Reynosa
Isaiah 55, serving deaf and marginalized people Mexico
Iglesia del Dios
Good neighbor Settlement House of Brownsville
Order of Naucratious

To read a related article, click on link:

http://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/local_news/article_87141e12-8c3d-11e6-99c1-bb2f6a5cf55b.html