Tega Cay has a deer problem: There are around 1,000 of the four-legged critters in this small city. City officials have contracted out the culling and sterilization of these deer for the past two years — and one city’s deer problem has become another community’s food solution.
In December, sharpshooters working for Lowcountry Wildlife Specialist hunted 80 deer and sent the meat to a processor in coastal South Carolina.
The city then donated the resulting venison to the Catawba Nation. On Saturday, the line for the meat counter wrapped around the inside of the Catawba Nation food distribution center in Rock Hill. Michelle Payne stepped up to the freezer to fill her basket with venison. Her granddaughter had sent her on a mission:
“She’s the one who told me, ‘Mimi, can you pick up Bambi while we’re there?’” Payne said.
Amanda Parker, the tribe’s wellness project coordinator, opened the freezer and loaded Payne’s basket. She grabbed ground and cubed venison. Cuts of loin, backstrap and rump sat stacked in a long chest freezer, all individually wrapped.
Most folks elected to take one of each. It was free, after all. The tribe’s food sovereignty coordinator Hayley Brezeale said the market operates on a point system. Every household in Catawba Nation gets a monthly allotment:
“You do get free additional meat options, like the venison meat that we’re providing today isn’t going to go toward any individual’s points,” Brezeale said.
Catawba citizens can buy more than just meat with their monthly 60 points. Brezeale said they distribute about $60,000 worth of free goods each month. Brezeale walked down an aisle and pulled a vacuum-sealed bag of pecans off the shelf. She said these pecans came from a local forager.
The grant that funds the market ensures that all the food is local or minimally processed. The center must purchase goods from within 400 miles of Catawba Reservation. In a world where food can account for nearly a third of a household’s annual carbon footprint, that can be good for local farms and the environment.
Catawba Nation farmers supply a lot of that food, according to Courtney Knight, food stewardship program manager.
“We’ve had people — Catawba citizens — start their own gardens at home in order to sell to us and to teach their children about growing,” Knight said.
The program has done a lot for food security in the area as well as the local economy. Knight said most of the food comes from marginalized farmers. The food distribution center partnered with The Country Carrot, a local food hub and market, to deliver food to homebound seniors.
“They were actually on the verge of closing their doors down before we came along with this program, and now, they have actually moved into a bigger building,” Knight said.
Jordan Tashquinth came to the distribution center with his family. He moved to Catawba Nation from the Midwest.
“It’s a pretty cool program that lets native people get a little bit of food supplements,” Tashquinth said.
He usually got his venison from hunters, so the extra meat at the market was a pleasant surprise.
“A lot of native recipes are pretty simple,” Tashquinth said. “Really, I just like to slow roast it. But whenever it’s ground, I like to make deer burgers.”
