Ohio’s rate of hunger is 16 percent according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s latest study. These are families and individuals that struggle to buy food. Their nutrition levels are reduced because they cannot purchase the best foods.
Read the article at Examiner.
Filed under Hunger in America
It was President Harry Truman who once said “No nation is any healthier than its children.” So where do things stand right now in America? Over twenty percent of children live with hunger or “food insecurity.”
Read the article at Examiner.
Filed under Hunger in America
Over 49 million Americans suffer from hunger. They turn to food banks for help. A TV show host wants to make sure there is enough food available for all those in need.
Read the full article at Examiner.
Filed under Hunger in America
Bread for the World today announced the 10 states in America with the highest rates of hunger or “food insecurity.”
Read more at Examiner.
Filed under Hunger in America
With school now underway across the country, here is a great social cause for students to get involved with. It’s called the Campus Kitchen Project. It’s about ending food waste, which can be the key to fighting hunger in America.
Linda Kurtz, the Online Community Engagement Manager, recently took time to talk to me about Campus Kitchens and how you can get involved.
What is a Campus Kitchen?
A Campus Kitchen is a campus-based, student-run organization where students transform unused food from dining halls, grocery stores, restaurants, and farmers’ markets into meals that are delivered to local agencies serving those in need. Campus Kitchens are part of the national organization The Campus Kitchens Project, which supports their development, growth and activities on high school and college campuses around the country.
How many schools are taking part?
As of last week, we are officially at 39 Campus Kitchens, with several more slated to launch this fall.
What are some examples of how colleges are able to recover food from a campus dining hall and bring it to those in need?
Most of our Campus Kitchens have wonderful partnerships with the dining service provider on their campuses, who allow them to recover food that would otherwise be thrown away (or maybe composted) and use that food to create healthy meals for those in need. We particularly have great relationships with Sodexo-run dining services, as they are very supportive of our students’ efforts to reduce waste and hunger. A great example of this is happening at the College of William and Mary, which has hosted the Campus Kitchen at William and Mary since 2007 (seven years this August!).
In the 2013-2014 academic year, the Campus Kitchen at William and Mary recovered 5,298 pounds of food and prepared 6,448 meals for clients in the Williamsburg, VA area. Just this week, they received a great donation of about 575 pounds of food from their Sodexo-run dining services. Sodexo employees actually helped transport the food to their kitchen, too!
The process tends to look like this: students arrange a pickup schedule at certain dining halls on whatever days they would like the Campus Kitchen volunteers to arrive. The students pick up the food (which is generally either prepared food that was never served or unprepared raw product) and bring it to the dining hall kitchen that they use for their cooking shifts. The students then process the food, store it and use it to create meals for their clients. Oftentimes the students will use the food they’ve recovered a day or two after it’s come in to the kitchen so they can plan a menu of balanced meals.
What are some of the ways a Campus Kitchen can partner with a local food pantry?
Several of our Campus Kitchens have developed relationships where their local food bank is a food donor and they are able to pick up food and incorporate that product into their meals. Also, many Campus Kitchens support (or are in the process of supporting) on-campus food pantries that serve hungry students at their schools. Oftentimes, this involves the Campus Kitchen stocking that pantry with non-perishable goods; other times, they prepare meals that students can pick up.
How would a student reading this go about joining Campus Kitchens?
We recently launched an online Campus Kitchen Planner that lays out the step by step process of bringing our program to any college campus. All a student needs to do is go to campuskitchens.org/start-a-kitchen and they can sign up to get access to a planner. And, if a student who indicates interest in starting a Campus Kitchen is from a school already in the planning process, we’re happy to connect that individual with the existing team.
Right now is an exciting time to consider joining our network, as we have three different $5,000 launch grant opportunities available to schools in the planning process (or interested in getting started!). Those grants are linked on the “start-a-kitchen” page.
Campus Kitchens is also up for a grant from the National Dairy Council. You can help them by joining the MOOvement campaign.
Read the interview at Examiner.
Filed under Hunger in America
Cincinnati, Ohio has been a trendsetter with “penny lunches” and school feeding to fight hunger. Now the city is home to another innovation: Hunger-fighting zombies!
The 6th annual Cincinnati Zombie Walk took place tonight. The zombies did more than take over the streets of the Queen City. They also donated canned goods to the Freestore Foodbank, the lead hunger relief agency in the area.
The Freestore Foodbank works in 20 counties across Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. Its headquarters is in Cincinnati. People struggling with hunger can turn to the Freestore and its network of pantries for help. The Freestore depends on donations from the public (zombies included) as well as federal government programs.
Hunger is a major crisis in counties where the Freestore operates. In Hamilton County, for example, over 18 percent of the population is “food insecure.” The rate of child hunger in Hamilton County is even higher at 22 percent.
Families struggling with hunger rely on safety nets like food stamps and food banks. However, last year cuts in the federal food stamp program meant people would turn more often to food banks for help. So there is an even greater need for donations to the Freestore and other members of the Feeding America network.
The zombies set a good, although somewhat scary, example. There is strength in numbers. The more people, or zombies, that get involved in the fight against hunger, the greater chance of ending this social injustice.
Read the article at Examiner.
Filed under Hunger in America
The next time you visit an Orange Leaf yogurt shop, look for a special collectible cup that’s on sale.
Read more at Examiner.
Filed under Hunger in America
In my Huff Post column last month I profiled two stores doing their part to fight hunger in America. One of them was Burwinkel Farms of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Read the article at Examiner.
Filed under Hunger in America
Feeding America’s report on the hunger crisis facing this country reveals where we can improve child nutrition programs. School breakfast is one of those areas.
Read more at Examiner.
Filed under Hunger in America
The Cincinnati Public Library just wrapped up its feeding program for children this summer. The Library distributed meals at fourteen of its branch locations. This was an expansion of feeding sites over the previous year.
Read the full article at Examiner.
Filed under Hunger in America, Uncategorized
Author William Lambers 