Strollerderby : Hunger

Eat What You Like, Pay What You Can

Shannon LC Cate — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:50:00 GMT

Food drives, coupon donations, soup kitchens, food pantries...these are all great ways to get involved helping distribute food to those in your community who are hungry. But now there's a way to help that gives you an opportunity to sit down and enjoy a meal of your own. It's a new concept initiated by So All May Eat, or "SAME," an anti-hunger organization which has opened a cafe in Denver.

The way it works is that customers may come in and order a meal, be waited on and eat, then pay whatever they can. Some folks choose to "pay" by doing a little volunteer labor washing dishes or cleaning up the restaurant. Some choose to pay more than the food costs, covering those who pay less. The Same Cafe features simple foods like pizza, soups, salads and coffee and tends to break even, financially. All payments go into a discreet envelope so that even the restaurant workers don't know who pays what.

Another cafe operates on a similar principal in Salt lake City, but the concept hasn't wildly taken off. I think it ought to. Not only does it give everyone the pleasure of a comfortable if simple restaurant meal, it allows people who "give" and the people who "receive" to eat together and enjoy one another's company, humanizing them to each other and preserving everyone's dignity.

The Breakfast Club: In NYC Schools, It's a Hit

Kate Tuttle — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:30:00 GMT

New York has offered free breakfast to public school students, regardless of need, since 2003. But the program, which served hot meals in school cafeterias, wasn't used by anywhere close to the number of students who qualified for free or reduced lunches. It seemed that kids felt embarrassed to show up early and eat in the cafeteria, singled out. School officials needed to figure out how to reach poor kids, or even not-so-poor kids who skimp on breakfast, which nutritionists and pediatricians call (all together now) "the most important meal of the day."

According to a recent New York Times feel-good article, a new program seems to be doing just that. Now in nearly 50 schools serving largely poor student populations, the plan provides free breakfast in the classroom, removing the stigma many felt was keeping kids from taking advantage of earlier cafeteria-based meals. After initial objections by some teachers -- would it cut into planning time? distract the kids? -- everybody seems very satisfied. Some see the possibility to take the show on the road:

Joel Berg, executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, said that if the classroom breakfast program succeeded in New York it could blossom in other states, too. He said advocates for better nutrition are asking Congress to finance similar programs next year.

“Any program that feeds hungry children, improves education, reduces tardiness and absenteeism is clearly an overwhelming public good,” he said.

And as for the most exacting critics of all? “It makes me full and happy,” one student told the Times. “I’m ready to study and learn.” All together now: awwwww.

Photo: Robert Stolarik for The New York Times

Child Hunger in the U.S. Doubled in 2007

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Agriculture Department has reported that 700,000 American children went hungry in 2007, up from 430,000 in 2006. Since this sharp increase in the number of kids who are not getting enough to eat came before the economic crisis, it’s very likely that 2008 will be an even more difficult year for children in lower income families.

As if the president-elect didn’t have enough world crises to combat, these new figures make Obama’s promise to expand food aid and end childhood hunger by 2015 even more important—and more daunting.

Among those families suffering from “food insecurity” (i.e., the inability to afford or get assistance for enough food to maintain a healthy lifestyle), the hardest hit were—in descending order—those living below the poverty line, single mothers, African American households, and Latino households.

Overall, 12.2 percent of Americans didn't have enough to eat in 2007.

Photo: Total Broadcasting

They Say: Smokers' Families More Likely To Go Hungry

Amy Kuras — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:02:00 GMT

If you’ve ever smoked (hi!) you know that it’s a powerful addiction and tough to kick. Like, I think quitting smoking was harder than giving birth to either of my children and/or the recovery from c-sections. The only reason I have not started again is remembering how completely heinous quitting was and never, ever wanting to do that again. EV-ER.

Thank God I did that before my kids were born, because it turns out that kids in smoking households are almost twice more likely than kids in nonsmoking households to be underfed and undernourished.

My first response on seeing that was “hell yes, have you SEEN the cost of a pack of smokes these days?” but in all seriousness, yikes. This article said that low income smoking households spend between 2 percent and 20 percent of their income on tobacco.

I like to think I am a better person than that, that if it was food for the kids or another pack of smokes, I’d find a way to quit. But when I remember how nicotine cravings felt like rats nibbling at my skin, I don’t know. And according to the article, parents seem to be more likely to go without food themselves than to deprive their kids, which means while their kids may be undernourished the parents are literally smoking themselves into starvation.

What helped me quit was using every damn thing at my disposal – online support, phone support, drugs, and lots and lots of bitching. Lower income people may not have those things available to them. I’m not sure if I know what the solution is, but certainly boosting food aid and making sure everybody can get help to quit are two good starts.

Poor Kids Face Hungry Summers

Amy Kuras — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:30:00 GMT

For too many kids, school is the only place they can be guaranteed a good meal every day – a situation that is sure to get worse as more families get squeezed by skyrocketing prices on food and gas and rising unemployment.

In summer, though, those kids are not in school and so aren’t getting the nutrition they need. During the summer, fewer than one in five get the free or reduced price lunches they are entitled to year round.

School officials in many cities find ways to get kids to come to school during the summer just so they can be fed, and parks and recreation summer programs and church groups also help pick up the slack. Some schools even offer food during the summer to families who qualify, whether or not their kids are in summer school programs.

Some experts believe that lack of nutrition and idleness during the summer months account for the summer slide – the phenomenon by which children lose a great deal of their progress in school over the summer. Over time, low-income kids end up about two grade levels behind higher income children by the end of elementary school.

This Washington Post article details some of things being done in that city's suburbs. This is such a simple solution to one aspect of the cycle of poverty that I hope other cities do similar things. I hate thinking that some of the major victims of this economy are innocent kids.

Budget Baby: 5 Reasons to Feel Better About Your Family Finances

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:03:00 GMT

Feeling better about family finances in the face of high gas and food prices, layoffs, and falling real estate values is especially challenging these days. It doesn't help that cries of "the sky is falling!" appear everywhere.

Not to minimize the real struggle many families are facing, but compared to our grandparents and their parents, some of whom suffered through the Great Depression, our woes don't seem as insurmountable:

1. Life Expectancy - In 1930, the average woman lived to 61 the average man lived to 58. In 2004 the average life expectancy increased to 80 and 75 respectively. Yes many of us have no health insurance, but we live much longer than our forebearers. Most of us would agree that this is a good thing.

2. Unemployment Insurance - By 1932, approximately 25% of the workforce was unemployed. Today that rate is rising, but still significantly lower than during the Great Depression (5.5%), and since 1935 most of us have access to unemployment insurance.

3. Child Labor Laws - The Industrial Revolution in the United States meant 18 hour days for factory workers, many of them as young as 2 or 3. Child labor laws as well as laws ensuring a 5-day work week/8 hour work day weren't proposed until the mid-1930s as a way to stimulate employment opportunities for more Americans.

4. Family Size - In the 1920s and 1930s in some parts of the country the average family had 5 kids. Think it's hard managing your family (today's average family has 2 kids)? Try handling that many kids. Likely they'd be more helpful around the house (or farm) and would call you "ma'am" or "sir" but this would likely fail to offset the added strain.

5. Weekends - In addition to employing children, factories used to require 6 or 7 day work weeks and 18 hour days. Thanks in large part to the U.S. labor movement, many of us now enjoy 40 hour workweeks and weekends. Americans still work longer hours than workers in other industrialized countries, but at least we can do so in spaces like this.

Also of note, we're less likely to spend as many years in states of pregnancy and lactation, have easier access to more nutritious foods, and are less likely to die in childbirth. See? It's all about perspective.

[Photo Credit: Dorothea Lange]

Help Stamp Out Hunger this Saturday

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:31:00 GMT

Campbell Soup Company will join forces with the National Association of Letter Carriers to Stamp Out Hunger! Across America this Saturday, May 10th. This is the country's largest single-day food drive. Since 1993, the effort has collected more than 836 million pounds of food.

Here's how you can help:

1. Fill bags with nonperishable food items and place them next to your mailbox.

2. Your letter carrier will pick them up and deliver them to local food banks.

It is esimated that 35 million Americans are at risk of hunger and 7 million people require some kind of food assistance each week.

This is an easy way for you and your family to make a difference.

Playdate: Rice and Big Words

Amy Kuras — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:33:00 GMT

Sometimes it’s easy to find a playdate. And other times, you’re suffering from mom-of-a-newborn brain mush and you just need to play with yourself.

Minds out of the gutter, people. What I'm trying to tell you here is that I searched and searched for a recommendable playdate for y'alls, and just couldn't. I have blogs I love, oh yes I have blogs aplenty, but you probably already read them.

So here's what I intend to share with you: FreeRice.

This is a win-win. You get to feel smart, and you get to donate rice to the United Naitons World Food Program. Here's how it works: You play a vocabulary game, and for every word you get right, the site's advertisers donate money equibvalent to 20grians of rice to the World Food Program.

It starts you off with easy words and then ramps it up if you have mad vocab skills. Which I do, despite the use of the word "recommendable" up there. If, like me, youre suffering from major sleep deprivation and "mom brain" it serves as a nice reminder you have both an intellect and a social conscience you may actually someday access again, and if you just like to do charity or flex your smarts you can do that too.

And hey, there is a parenting angle. The guy who started it was apparently inspired by doing SAT drills with his kids.