Donations exceeded 2011 and 2012 for Missouri’s food banks and food pantries as a summer-long food drive and Canstruction project yielded 32,800 pounds of food, announced Missouri Farmers Care.

The food pantry of Sedalia will receive the 8,555 pounds of food that were part of the 12-ft. x 10-in. tall FFA Emblem Canstruction project and the cans collected from the Missouri Farmers Care Food Drive Tuesday promotion that took place on the fairgrounds.  Bing's Grocery Stores of Sedalia donated the cans for the FFA Emblem Canstruction project that also had the support of Midwest Ford Dealers, St. Louis Ford Dealers, Missouri Farmers Care, Canstruction, Mid-Missouri of Columbia-Jefferson City and the State Fair.  Engineers from Trabue, Hansen & Hinshaw, Inc. and architects from Peckham & Wright Architects, Inc. designed and oversaw the construction of the canned-food sculpture.

The FFA Emblem was comprised of more than 3,000 individual cans.

Missouri Area FFA chapters also spent the summer raising money and food as part of the State Fair and Missouri Farmers Care's food drive efforts to benefit local food banks and the Missouri Foodbank Association. The combined efforts of the area chapters raised 11,000 pounds of food and generous fairgoers have contributed cash donations that made up the remainder of the pound total.

“Missouri Farmers Care is glad to announce that we have surpassed our food drive efforts, making our 2013 food drive the biggest yet. In fact, we nearly tripled our 2012 total of 11,500 pounds,” Missouri Farmers Care Chairman Don Nikodim says. “Missouri farmers are feeding the world and that starts right here at home where our farmers help feed their neighbors every day.”

Read more about the efforts of Missouri Farmers Care and Missouri agriculture at www.MoFarmersCare.com