Written by Steve Taylor, FoodBank Lakeside Volunteer

Tony Andalon, and his meat-cutting crew, have a bone to pick. Actually it is over 50 kg of bones every week that often fill up multiple clear plastic bags. Several, in fact. Maybe “50, 60 or more” kilograms of bones each week, filling “five, six, seven, sometimes 10” large, clear plastic bags. 

Several years ago, a woman came into Tony’s Plus Carniceria and saw all the beef bones that were being tossed into the garbage.  She helps in the Kids Kitchen program, which supplies free, weekday lunches to youngsters in and around San Pedro Itzicán, an impoverished community north of Chapala. Kids Kitchen gets its lunchtime food and more from FoodBank Lakeside, one of the charity’s major partners. 

She explained to Tony that the beef bones he was tossing into the garbage could be boiled to produce broth rich in protein for hungry, small children. “I didn’t know bone marrow was so good for them because we used to just throw the bones away,” said Tony, standing outside his store along the Carretera in San Antonio Tlayacapan. “But this lady came and said they could take the bones and make broth, so why not?” 

Protein “makes up the enzymes that power many chemical reactions (inside the body) and the hemoglobin that carries oxygen in your blood,” according to Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “At least 10,000 different proteins make you what you are and keep you that way,” the school’s website notes. Nine essential amino acids “must come from food.”

The protein for some Kids Kitchen lunches comes from bones boiled into broth by Kids Kitchen cooks in San Pedro. The bone broth provides protein to needy children whose families generally cannot afford meat.

Tony’s Carniceria, located between the Super Lake market and Tony’s Steaks and Wine (owned by one of his relatives), gets busy quickly after the doors open at 9 a.m. daily (except Sundays). A Kids Kitchen volunteer comes early every Friday morning to collect bones. “They come and get whatever we got, and we’re happy to do it,” Tony said.

Tony and his meat cutters, Brenda Reyes-Vazquez and Gabino Lopez, use their knives and then a table saw to cut the bones into pieces that will fit into a kitchen pot. The bones are put into clear, large plastic bags, which are tied shut and carried to a volunteer’s vehicle. The volunteer will deliver them to Kids Kitchen cooks in San Pedro later that morning. During a recent Friday morning, seven bags of bones were delivered.

Tony said December is when he has the most bones, as ex-pats arrive and mark Canadian and U.S. holidays.  He said he learned as a child to provide help when it’s needed. “My father always taught me that sharing is the best way to give. So I’m glad to do it.”

Tony’s Plus Carniceria is just one good example of how your donation dollars help us reach farther.  Your continued support has helped to build our recognition in the Lakeside community. That recognition opens doors to create wonderful partnerships.  We applaud Tony and his staff for their generous contribution to helping us lessen food poverty for our neighbors in need.