Stories from the National Hunger Hotline: Summer Food Rocks!
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The National Hunger Hotline (NHH), a service of WhyHunger's National Hunger Clearinghouse, provides real-time referrals for people in need across the US to emergency food and assistance programs. 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.
Erika, a mother from central California, received a "Summer Food Rocks!" poster from her daughter's school and called the National Hunger Hotline.
"National Hunger Hotline, how can I help you?"
"Hi, I'm looking for a site in my area that's giving away the free meals for kids."
"Sure, if you give me your zip code I can search for the ones that are closest to you."
"Ok, it's 93220." The Hotline advocate thanked her and began to search the WhyHunger database for summer feeding sites. After a few moments, the Erika broke the silence, "This is horrifying, not being able to feed your own child."
The Hotline advocate assuaged Erika's concerns, telling her that this is why the Summer Food Service Program exists, to make sure that kids have healthy meals to eat during the summer. The Hotline advocate provided Erika with the location, meal times, and contact number for a feeding site in her neighborhood.
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 espaņol. The Hotline is funded in part by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.
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Join with other anti-hunger advocates, key allies, and food banks from across the country to engage in meaningful dialogue around our role in achieving resilient community food systems.
Food banks and hunger relief organizations are feeling the tangible strain on resources as they work harder to meet the growing demand, using the same day-by-day strategies that have been used for decades. And yet, food banks are uniquely positioned to be hubs of resilient community food systems that provide long-term access to healthy food for all people. Some food banks are already emerging as leaders in the national movement to address the root causes of hunger and malnutrition, and have expanded their scope to include activities like nutrition education, community organizing, policy advocacy, economic development, and supporting local food production. Momentum is building in the hunger relief sector to move towards these new strategies as part of a strategic shift in how food banks serve their communities. For these reasons, the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona is hosting a conference to bring together food banks and hunger relief organizations from around the country to engage in meaningful dialogue around our role in achieving resilient food systems, share practical strategies, build a collective vision, and move towards a unified agenda in closing the hunger gap in America.
This event takes place September 18-20, 2013
in Tucson, Arizona. To register, go here.
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High in the Sky: Rooftop Farming in Hell's Kitchen
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In the center of bustling midtown Manhattan lies an innovative example of how you can grow food anywhere. Actually, it is several flights above the streets of midtown on the rooftop of the Metro Baptist Church in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, also known as Clinton. The Hell's Kitchen Rooftop Farm Project is a collaborative initiative of the Metro Baptist Church, Clinton Housing Development Company and Rauschenbusch Metropolitan Ministries. The farm was started because these organizations recognized that it was difficult for people in the neighborhood to access healthy food, especially those who rely on emergency food. The farm's goal is to bring wholesome food to the Rauschenbusch Metro Ministries Food Pantry, which serves 600 participants per month. In its third year, it hopes to supply the food pantry with 300 pounds of fresh produce - doubling what it was able to produce last year.
To read more, visit the Connect blog.
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A Brief History of the Emergency Food System
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This timeline of the history of emergency food in the US is a helpful frame for understanding many of the intersecting issues that impact hunger and poverty. The timeline is now available online, and can be shared and used widely. Our friends at the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona and the Washington Food Coalition have used it as an educational tool.
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Summer Food Service Program
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 WhyHunger partners with the USDA and Share Our Strength to ensure that more children and their families have access to free, nutritious food during the summer months by registering and promoting the Summer Food Service Program through an online database and the National Hunger Hotline 1-866-3 HUNGRY ( 1-866-348-6479). Once a site is registered, it's accessible to thousands of Hotline callers, online visitors looking to find summer meals for their children, and by texting 'food' to 877-877. Nearly all of the 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands have participated this year, and tens of thousands of families received information about where to find a site in their area.
Thank you for the work that you do each summer to feed hungry children! Together we can increase participation in this vital program.
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USDA and EPA Launch US Food Waste Challenge
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The USDA, in collaboration with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the US Food Waste Challenge, calling on others across the food chain-including producer groups, processors, manufacturers, retailers, communities, and other government agencies − to join the effort to reduce, recover, and recycle food waste. Food waste in the United States is estimated at roughly between 30 to 40 percent of the food supply. In 2010, an estimated 133 billion pounds of food from US retail food stores, restaurants, and homes never made it into people's stomachs. The amount of uneaten food in homes and restaurants was valued at almost $390 per US consumer in 2008, more than an average month's worth of food expenditures. The goal of the US Food Waste Challenge is to lead a fundamental shift in how we think about and manage food and food waste in this country. The Challenge includes a goal to have 400 partner organizations by 2015 and 1,000 by 2020. As part of its contribution to the US Food Waste Challenge, USDA is initiating a wide range of activities including activities to reduce waste in the school meals program, educate consumers about food waste and food storage and develop new technologies to reduce food waste. USDA will also work with industry to increase donations from imported produce that does not meet quality standards, streamline procedures for donating wholesome misbranded meat and poultry products, update US food loss estimates at the retail level and pilot-test a meat-composting program to reduce the amount of meat being sent to landfills from food safety inspection labs. Through its Food Recovery Challenge, EPA will provide US Food Waste Challenge participants with the opportunity to access data management software and technical assistance to help them quantify and improve their sustainable food management practices. Click here to join the Challenge and learn more about USDA's activities and the activities of those who have already joined.
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Sesame Workshop's Food for Thought
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Stormboard: Technology for Sharing Ideas
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Effectively capturing, organizing and prioritizing ideas across disparate locations is a challenge every organization faces.
Stormboard is a realtime online brainstorming and collaboration tool using virtual sticky notes. The name comes from a combination of brainstorm and whiteboard.
With Stormboard, your team can quickly add, organize, discuss, vote and act on the best ideas. At any time in your brainstorm you can export all your ideas to a detailed report, PDF or a spreadsheet to integrate with other tools.
Stormboard takes one minute to learn and five minutes to master; you can invite your whole team and be productive using Stormboard instantly. Stormboard is free for up to 5 users, and affordable monthly subscriptions are available for 6 or more users.
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USDA Seeks Applications for Grants to Provide Technical Assistance to Help Rural Businesses Grow
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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is accepting applications for grants to provide access to education, training and healthcare resources in rural areas. Funding is authorized through the Department's Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Grant Program. The USDA remains focused on carrying out its mission, despite a time of significant budget uncertainty. The announcement is one part of the Department's efforts to strengthen the rural economy.
Funds can be used to buy equipment and provide technical assistance. To be eligible, applicants must serve a rural area, demonstrate economic need and provide at least 15 percent in matching funds. Awards range up to $500,000. For example, in 2011, USDA Rural Development awarded the Kennett School District in extreme southeast Missouri funds for a results-oriented distance learning project. Using the connectivity that interactive video affords, their distance learning initiative offers community college programs during after school hours.
Completed applications must be received by August 12, 2013. For further details about eligibility rules and application procedures, see the notice published on page 38915 of the June 28, 2013 Federal Register.
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CONNECT WITH US
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The Clearinghouse newsletter is meant, among other things, to encourage conversation and dialogue about transforming communities, community food security and the emergency food system. We see critical thinking, lively debate and reflective practice as a necessary part of systems change. We want to hear from you! Email us at nhc@whyhunger.org. Contributors: Suzanne Babb, Christine Binder, and Jessica Powers. |
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