There’s no shortage of beef in southern Alberta, but food banks around Lethbridge are looking for help covering the costs of turning donated cattle into meat they can dish out to clients.

Counties across the province this week endorsed a call for the Alberta government to restart a short-lived pilot program from 2014 that covered the associated costs of butchering, inspecting and packaging thousands of packs of hamburger given to food bank clients.

During the provincial pilot, meant to develop a business case for the model, Lethbridge-area ranchers delivered 130 animals, resulting in nearly 17,700 kilograms of ground beef for four food banks in southwest Alberta.

After the funding dried up, the Interfaith Food Bank Society of Lethbridge continued to accept cattle from ranchers through l

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