"National Hunger Hotline, how can I help you?"

 

"Are they going to cut my food stamps again?! I'm mentally and physically disabled and they already cut them back in November!"

 

I quickly realized that the man on the other end of the line had heard about SNAP cuts in the farm bill on the news, and that he wanted to know if he would be affected. I explained that Congress had voted to change the "Heat and Eat" provision, which allows people to qualify for additional SNAP dollars if they receive LIHEAP benefits, a state subsidy for home heating. He told me that he lives in New York and receives LIHEAP, but that his only income comes from his Social Security Disability check, and that he only gets the minimum amount. "I really depend on the food stamps; it's all I have to feed myself," he said.

 

Based on this info, I told him that it was unlikely that he would lose his benefits entirely, but that I couldn't say for sure whether he'd be facing another cut. It is estimated that 300,000 households in New York State will see an average cut of $200 per month. Nationally, 850,000 families will lose an average of $90 per month in benefits.

 

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.

A model community kitchen at the Mobile Loaves and Fishes Community First! Village

In January, NHC staff traveled to Austin, Texas to attend the One World Everybody Eats Summit and to visit with some new and old partners. Although each event or partner carries out different activities, they all demonstrate how community building can be a powerful tool for change.

 

Our first stop was  The Sustainable Food Center (SFC). This community food security organization uses a systems approach to their work centered around their motto: grow, share, prepare. The Grow Local program (grow) teaches adults and children how to grow food in various parts of the community, such as schools, community gardens or in their own backyards. Their Farm Direct program (share) connects farmers to consumers at schools, businesses and several SFC-run weekly farmers markets that accept SNAP and WIC and offer a double coupon value program. The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre program (prepare) trains peer facilitators from the community to teach free nutrition and cooking classes in low-income communities. With a new building equipped with a state of the art kitchen, SFC hopes to expand their work and offer a wide variety of cooking and nutrition classes open to the entire Austin community.

 

Click here to continue reading on WhyHunger's Connect blog.

 

 

• Learn more about the program and how to apply on the USDA's SFSP website.
• Use FRAC's Summer Food Target Mapper to determine whether your area is eligible for open summer feeding sites. (If not, consider being a closed-enrolled site.)
• Read about summer meals best practices at nokidhungry.org.

 

The Oregon Food Bank presented "Fighting the Root Causes of Hunger: Community Food Systems Work" at the Washington Food Coalition Winter Food Summit earlier this month. This Powerpoint highlights a decade of work engaging the community to address the root causes of hunger. Take a look to learn more about why the Food Bank pursues this work, model programs that are working for them and conceptual frameworks such as collective impact and creative tension between short-term activities to feed people and long-term solutions to end hunger.

 

 

Let's Cook Healthy School Meals is a first-of-its-kind tool to help school administrators and kitchen staff plan and prepare healthy meals that encourage students to eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains while reducing salt and dairy fat.

 

 

It meets the new 2012 USDA school meal requirements, and offers 100 recipes that have been kid-tested in cafeteria kitchens. The cookbook also includes tips to help food service workers maximize ordering, use herbs and spices to increase flavor and other tricks the contributing chefs have learned along the way. Each recipe also takes into account challenges school kitchen workers face every day: budgets, equipment, training, inventory and time.

To download a copy of Let's Cook Healthy School Meals, visit projectbread.org.

 

 

 

 

The National Diaper Bank Network (NDBN) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that every baby in the United States can be clean, dry and healthy. Their mission is to raise awareness of the diaper gap in America and to build the capacity of community-based diaper banks to serve families throughout the country by creating a national network of community partners. NDBN works to accomplish this goal by raising awareness, providing technical assistance and distributing diapers and funding. To find a diaper bank near you, or learn how to become a diaper bank, visit diaperbanknetwork.org.