NEWS

The National Hunger Hotline (NHH), a service of WhyHunger's National Hunger Clearinghouse, provides real-time referrals for people in need across the U.S. to emergency food and assistance programs. Receiving an average of 700 calls per month, the NHH is a portal to information, assistance, and resources, ultimately empowering families and individuals to meet their vital needs including fresh, healthy food. In Stories from the Hotline, we share some of the experiences of callers and our efforts to support them.

Daniel, a veteran with PTSD, called the Hotline after finding a pamphlet at a Veterans Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He and his wife had just moved to the area. Their first apartment was infested with toxic mold, so they were forced to move a second time, which had severely strained their finances. Daniel's disability compensation made them ineligible for SNAP, and his wife was unable to work due to health problems resulting from the mold exposure. Without money for gas, Daniel and his wife were not able to travel far to visit food pantries. They had already been to one pantry in the area, but were disappointed in the quality of the food there, having received some spoiled vegetables. The Hotline advocate provided Daniel with the phone numbers and addresses of several other food pantries near their apartment, and also gave him the number for his local food bank, which operates mobile pantries and also distributes locally-grown produce to member agencies.

The National Hunger Hotline 1-866-3 HUNGRY and 1-877-8 HAMBRE (1-866-348-6479 and 1-877-842-6273) refers people in need of emergency food assistance to food pantries, government programs, and model grassroots organizations that work to improve access to healthy, nutritious food, and build self-reliance. Help is available on Monday through Friday from 9am-6pm EST. Hablamos español. The Hotline is funded in part by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.    

The holiday season is a time of giving. More now than any other time of year, people feel compelled to donate their time and resources to organizations that feed the hungry. With hunger at the forefront of people's minds this season, we have a real opportunity to further the conversation and engage people in advocacy addressing the root causes of both hunger and poverty to create lasting change.

According to MIT professor Amy Glasmeier, "At the core, hunger is the result of employment instability and the lack of an adequate minimum wage. If an employer is allowed to pay a person a wage that essentially does not lift them out of poverty, then the real culprit is failed federal policy." The annual income (at 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year) of someone earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour is $15,080, which for a family of two, falls just below the federal poverty line. Nearly 16 percent of Americans fall at or below the poverty line. Many retail and food service employers systematically manipulate worker schedules in order to deny them the benefits of full term employment.

Last month, workers from the three largest employers of low-income workers in the U.S. (Walmart, Yum Brands and McDonald's) went on strike. On Black Friday, hundreds, if not thousands, of Walmart employees walked off the job and joined protests in 100 cities across 46 states to raise their voices against low pay, lack of benefits, and retribution against workers who attempt to organize. Six days later, fast food workers in New York City went on strike for union recognition and a raise in pay. Campaigns for paid sick days for restaurant workers are also gaining momentum.

Civic engagement is critical in building support for a living wage, which would allow workers to maintain a decent standard of living (adequate food, shelter, and other necessities) without having to resort to public assistance. On Election Day, the citizens of Albuquerque, NM and San Jose, CA voted to increase the minimum wage, and voters in Long Beach, CA instituted a living wage for hotel workers. Before Thanksgiving, anti-hunger advocates in New York pushed for minimum wage increases, as the State Senate may vote on the issue in the lame duck session. And on December 17th, the New Jersey Assembly passed a measure to increase the minimum wage by a dollar.

These recent wins are a promising sign. However, until a living wage is instituted nationwide for all workers, many of the working poor must continue to rely on SNAP. Food stamps do not "end hunger," yet they are essential in helping low-income workers make ends meet, and any cutbacks in the program would make it much harder for SNAP recipients to feed their families. As the fiscal cliff approaches, it is important that we advocate to protect SNAP and those who rely on it for food. And perhaps the most important thing we can advocate for in a time when the ranks of the working poor exceed 47 million is a national living wage that keeps up with inflation. If ending hunger is your mission, embracing higher wages for the working poor might just be your game.

Rotary First Harvest recently launched an updated version of their Produce Recovery Resource Guide. By describing model programs in Washington State, anyone interested in developing programs to increase the quality and quantity of produce available through hunger-relief programs will glean useful information on topics such as farmers market produce rescue, creating partnerships, and plant start distribution. Learn more at rfhresourceguide.org.

What We're Reading Now: Toxic Charity 

"Giving to those in need what they could be gaining from their own initiative may well be the kindest way to destroy people."

Drawing from four decades of experience as a Christian community developer in Atlanta, Robert Lupton delivers a sharp critique of the "compassion industry:" charitable organizations, congregations, and individuals that engage in top-down, one-way giving. He argues that even though charity is "almost universally accepted as a virtuous and constructive enterprise," the economic, cultural, and emotional outcomes on the receiving end of charity go largely unexamined. In Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (And How to Reverse It), his anecdotes bring to light the ways in which one-way giving can inadvertently promote toxic results, such as dependency, deception, and disempowerment.

Much as the medical community has adopted the Hippocratic Oath, Lupton proposes that charities adopt an "Oath for Compassionate Service," which consists of the six following guidelines:

1. Never do for the poor what they can do for themselves
2. Limit one-way giving to emergencies
3. Empower the poor through employment, lending, and investing, using grants sparingly to reinforce achievements
4. Subordinate self-interest to the needs of those being served
5. Listen closely to those you seek to help
6. Above all, do no harm

A proponent of asset-based community development, Lupton also highlights examples of charity that strengthen communities and promote self-reliance. His description of the food cooperative model as an alternative to the traditional food pantry is particularly powerful. You can find a video about the Georgia Avenue Food Cooperative here.

Toxic Charity is only 208 pages long, but provocative and challenging, making it required reading for anyone who is involved with emergency feeding or other charity work.

First Nations Development Institute: Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative 

The First Nations Development Institute invests in innovative institutions and models that strengthen asset control and support economic development for American Indian people and their communities. In 2013, First Nation's Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative will provide up to ten grants, averaging $37,500, to support projects working to address food issues in Native communities. Priority will be given to projects aimed at increasing the availability of healthy, locally-produced foods in Native communities; projects that work to reduce food insecurity; and entrepreneurship programs that create systemic change by increasing community control of local food systems. Native American-controlled nonprofit tribal organizations and community-based groups such as community garden projects, and/or food pantries that serve Native communities are eligible to apply. Learn more at http://www.firstnations.org/NAFSI. Online proposals must be submitted by December 21, 2012.

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