Foodbanks in Southland are having kilos of venison delivered for free, along with recipes suggesting how to cook it, thanks to a new charity.
The We Hunt Food Trust allows hunters to gift the venison they harvest to foodbanks through a Fiordland Wapiti Foundation initiative.
Spokesman Roy Sloan said many deer were killed as they destroyed vegetation, and now plenty of that meat will be butchered and given to struggling families.
"You have deer booming all over the place. You look at Southland, there are vast pockets of bush and lots of farmland. Some of those areas have deer running all over them.
"I know of something like 50 deer getting shot and left to rot due to the numbers. They're getting into crops. It's happening all the time."
Often regulations stopped hunters from selling venison - but it could be donated.
Sloan, general manager of the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation, said it had a history of trying to support foodbanks - especially during times like Covid-19 when it supplied meat to families who needed it.
The We Hunt Food Initiative had a desire to supply venison to foodbanks at a fraction of the cost of other red meats, while also helping conservation by reducing deer numbers.
Its website said foodbanks had told it that red meat was the most difficult product to source.
It ran a trial in Invercargill supplying around 500kg of mince at under $4 per kg. It planned to look at other products like sausages and patties.
Its website also said it had venison going to some foodbanks in Auckland.
Sloan said it was an obvious decision to join the dots in the middle of shooting the deer and getting it delivered to foodbanks, especially when people were suffering from economic hardships.
"Some of the stuff I hear is about the 'saveloy soup'. Mum and Dad are drinking the soup, while the kids are having the saveloys. That is not exaggerated. There are some heartbreaking stories out there."
Sloan anticipated the new charity We Hunt Food would be able to distribute up to five tonnes of venison in its first year.
