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Recession causes more families to go without food, survey finds

The number of U.S. households that are struggling to feed their members jumped by 4 million to 17 million last year, as recession-driven job losses and increased poverty and unemployment fueled a surge in hunger, a government survey reported Monday.

These "food-insecure" households represent about 49 million people and make up 14.6 percent, or more than one in seven, of all U.S. households. That's the highest rate since the U.S. Department of Agriculture began monitoring the issue in 1995.

Additionally, more than one-third of these struggling families - some 6.7 million households, or 17.2 million people last year - had "very low food security," in which food intake was reduced and eating patterns were disrupted for some family members because of a lack of food.

In phone interviews, more than two-thirds of people with very low food security said they went hungry from time to time, and 27 percent of these adults said they didn't eat at all some days.

These families make up 5.7 percent of U.S. households, again the highest rate since 1995, up from 4.1 percent and 4.7 million households in 2007.

In a statement, President Barack Obama called the report unsettling and said it was particularly troubling that there were more than 500,000 families in which children experienced hunger multiple times last year.

Obama said his administration was "committed to reversing the trend of rising hunger" and that restoring job growth would "help relieve the economic pressures that make it difficult for parents to put a square meal on the table each day."

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the situation would be far worse for many more Americans were it not for food pantries and federal food assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.

Vilsack said the findings were consistent with the nation's dire economic climate and that next year's report probably would show a worsening situation due to continued job losses and rising unemployment.

Vilsack said the findings from the annual USDA survey of 44,000 households were a "wake-up call for America."

Food Insecurity in West Oakland

Local Heroes: Creating Alternative Food Systems

Various organizations in West Oakland use advocacy, education, and farming programs and markets to fill the void created by the lack of supermarkets while improving the health of the community. While Mo’ Better Foods is selling food at the West Oakland BART station, City Slicker Farms provides farmers markets at the community’s Center Street Farm.

Leslie Pilcher, a fourth-year community studies major, interned with City Slicker Farms for her field study during fall quarter and worked at the farmers market.

“City Slickers is accessible for people who have been left out of the ‘green’ movement,” Pilcher said.

The food is grown in urban gardens maintained by City Slicker Farms’ employees, volunteers, and local community participants. The organization attempts to make organic and healthy food accessible and affordable to West Oakland residents by offering produce on a sliding donation scale, so people can pay what they can afford.

Since 2005, City Slicker Farms has helped 85 residents grow their own produce through their Backyard Gardens Program. They provide residents with all the tools, seeds, and fertilizer they need.

“It’s tapping into reclaiming this space and turning it into a thriving system,” Pilcher said. “Not only in our gardens, but in their backyard.”

John Watkins Sr., a construction worker who uses seeds and fertilizer from City Slicker Farms, grows a variety of vegetables in a 100-by-30-foot backyard lot that he proudly gardens all by himself.

“City Slickers is number one,” Watkins said. “I love them because they can get more organic gardens and that’s what it’s about.”

A 60-year-old man with excited eyes and a curly beard, Watkins has been growing food in his backyard since 1961, when he moved from Cleveland, Ohio to the temperate climates of West Oakland. He hasn’t left since, except for the occasional trip home and to protest alongside Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights movement.

For Watkins, gardening satisfies him in a multitude of ways. He talked enthusiastically about growing organically, working in the dirt, and giving away his produce to neighbors. He says that urban gardens could work as a solution to food access issues.

“It’s nothing for a person to scratch some dirt out. It’s amazing what you can squeeze out in a little area,” Watkins said. “It’s a solution if you get enough people involved in it.”

***

Developing an Organic and Just Economy

Julie Guthman, a UCSC community studies professor, teaches a course titled Agriculture, Food and Social Justice and has written many articles analyzing the success of community agriculture projects. While she applauds programs such as City Slicker Farms for redefining food systems, she’s critical of those who hail it as the only accessible solution to food security issues in West Oakland and areas like it.

“There’s been a lot of focus on providing access. [Community agriculture] doesn’t get the major problem of food security,” Guthman said. “It’s a little Band-Aidy.”

The problem, Guthman said, is not only about food accessibility but also poverty and economic development.

Food justice activists often attribute the existence of food deserts in communities like East Palo Alto and West Oakland to supermarket “redlining,” or large-scale supermarkets migrating to the more profitable suburbs while closing up shop in lower-income communities.

Keeping money in the community is a concern for locals and food activists alike. Experts estimate that 25 million retail dollars are spent outside of West Oakland — money that, if spent within the community’s boundaries, could help foster local development.

“A lot of reasons why there are food deserts is because of the historical practice of redlining, denying capital to neighborhoods. You can’t create markets,” Guthman said. “We need neighborhoods to have access to capital, to build stores, so that they’re not devalued.”

Hunger crisis hits local counties, survey shows
Effect of national economic downturn 'impacts families across the board'

by Martin Sanchez
Palo Alto Online Staff

One in four people are at risk for hunger in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, according to a report to be released by the nationwide hunger-relief charity "Feeding America" in mid-March.

Half of the at-risk people reported that they have had to choose between buying food and paying rent or for medical care, according to an advance press release. Agency officials said they are still going over the numbers for the final report.

At-risk people range from families having trouble keeping their kitchens stocked for more than a week to people who "don't know where their next meal is coming from," said Lynn Crocker, a representative of the local Second Harvest Food Bank, which conducted the local Feeding America surveys.

The surveys show a connection between the 25 percent "at-risk" finding and the recent national economic downturn, Crocker said in the release. The food bank's client base increased by 17 percent in the second half of 2009, she said.

"You hear that the economy is turning around, but so many families are still struggling," Crocker said in an interview with the Weekly.

The mid-March report will include data from 650 interviews conducted in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties by Second Harvest staff from February to June 2009, Crocker said.

There is a strong emotional reaction to worrying about being hungry Crocker said.

"A lot of first-time clients always had a job, had never been unemployed, but now they've been unemployed for one or two years. They're a little embarrassed to have to ask for food," she said.

Some clients are "desperate," she said.

Half of the households surveyed "have had to choose between buying food and paying for housing, (and) nearly one third had to choose between buying food and paying for medicine or medical care," the release said.

Entire families are a major at-risk group as well. Crocker said in the release that 44 percent of Second Harvest's clients come from families with members younger than 18, nearly a third of which have children under 5, she said.

The hunger crisis is "definitely impacting families across the board," Crocker said.

Comments

Posted by Judith, a resident of the Leland Manor/Garland Drive neighborhood, on Feb 8, 2010 at 11:43 am What can we do to help? Report Objectionable Content

Posted by Misha, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 8, 2010 at 11:59 am Yes, what can we do to help? Please list places to donate food, money, and time. Report Objectionable Content

Posted by Sarah, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 8, 2010 at 1:17 pm I give to Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties: Web Link Report Objectionable Content

Posted by Jim, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Feb 8, 2010 at 1:53 pm If you want to help locally, you can donate food, money, clothing, household essentials and time to the Ecumenical Hunger Program (EHP) in East Palo Alto. EHP is one of the oldest non-profits in East Palo Alto and it is located at 2411 Pulgas Avenue in East Palo Alto (phone number is 650-323-7781 and website is Web Link). EHP works with the Second Harvest Food Bank and is one of the organizations that distributes the food to the families in need. Report Objectionable Content

Posted by DD, a resident of Mountain View, on Feb 9, 2010 at 9:04 pm Community Services Agency in Mtn. View is a very effective organization. Report Objectionable Content

Posted by Norm, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 10, 2010 at 2:15 pm All Saints Church on Waverley at Hamilton has had the Downtown Food Closet for decades to help feed those at risk of not having enough - be they housed, unhoused, young, or chronolgically excelled. They are open 10AM-3:30PM Monday thru Friday. It is on the Hamilton side of the church and would love bags - with or without groceries - checks or time. Report Objectionable Content

Posted by random thoughts, a resident of the Greendell/Walnut Grove neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2010 at 5:23 am How can there be a simultaneous "at risk" factor of 25% of our population for hunger..with a bursting obesity problem? And why are the kids who are most obese also in the most "at risk" category? Something doesn't add up right. As an immigrant coming to America from India said on TV a few years ago "I want to go to where the poor people are fat". Not trying to be unsympathetic or mean, and of course this comment has nothing to do with the great urge we Americans always have to help..just trying to sort it all out. What the heck does "at risk" for hunger mean? With so many food stamps left unclaimed every year, why is this? Anyway, just random thoughts connecting the dots.

News - Friday, January 2, 2009

Stopping hunger by losing weight
Programs encourage 'altruistic weight loss'

by Karla Kane

Shedding weight is a common New Year's resolution, and countless diet plans focus on watching calories. But Pounds for Poverty, a new Palo Alto-based weight-loss program, is taking a different approach — the idea that generosity, compassion and mindfulness can lead to weight-loss success.

The plan is based on three goals: developing a personalized, long-term healthy eating and exercise plan, learning tools for training the mind to make better choices and making a commitment to support hunger-relief charities, program founder Elad Levinson said.

The concept of altruistic weight loss is simple — when the urge to overeat strikes, instead of grabbing an unhealthy snack, take a moment and instead make the choice to donate the cost of that junk food to an organization fighting hunger. When such a choice is made, everyone benefits, Levinson said.

Giving to others boosts self esteem, which makes it easier to keep on a healthier and more positive path. Pausing to think about consequences of an action, then deciding on a better choice, is a basic yet critical step in transforming attitudes and habits, said Levinson, a licensed clinical social worker and corporate consultant.

"Most people know what's good for them, but it often takes more than just information to make someone change their behavior," Levinson said. He said contributing to the needy can be a powerful motivator to make better eating choices because it benefits the greater good rather than selfish desires or self-harming practices.

Giving to those truly in need can satisfy an emotional hunger, which he said often leads to overeating and unhealthy choices.

Pounds for Poverty is not the only program to incorporate charity with weight loss. Weight Watchers embarked on a national six-week "Lose For Good" campaign last fall, with a goal of donating a million dollars to the organizations Share our Strength and Action Against Hunger. Weight Watchers donated the equivalent of a pound of food for every pound lost by its members, nearly 4 million pounds in total.

Levinson, who himself lost 100 pounds 38 years ago, said his long-term success has come from developing a sense of objectivity about his eating habits, which allows him to channel impulses that could be destructive in more positive ways. Pounds for Poverty is rooted in his own experience, as well as in his nearly 40-year counseling career, including as a life coach and a staff member at an alcoholism treatment center. He has also worked as a consultant in social responsibility for corporations.

He's previously offered similarly themed workshops, including one called, "What is the hunger food cannot satisfy?" He said his workshop methods are based in "mindfulness-based stress management."

His program co-founder, wife Maryann Marks, who recently earned a counseling degree, is the program's original success story. "Maryann has struggled with her weight since she was a teenager. When I had the idea for Pounds for Poverty, she began to experiment with it and her habits changed. She no longer has compulsive thoughts about food, which is really remarkable," Levinson said.

Pounds for Poverty will be offered as an eight-week workshop. The first session begins Jan. 20. Participants will learn techniques and exercises each week to help them better recognize their behavior patterns. As they work with these mental-health tools, they will also be encouraged to donate money to one of Pounds for Poverty's four partner charities — Heifer International, Second Harvest, Whole Planet Foundation or Amma.org, all of which support hunger relief in some form.

"We have a formal partnership with Second Harvest and Whole Planet Foundation and are in talks with Whole Foods about sponsoring the program," Levinson said. "But if participants have another favorite organization they'd prefer, that's fine too. It's about making a difference and being engaged."

Levinson and Marks will encourage participants to develop healthy lifestyle plans (including charitable donations) that fit the individuals' needs, and see their workshop as a unique way for people to meet their weight-loss goals as part of an overall transformation to better emotional and physical health.

"The program is a social venture," Levinson said. "We think of it as a business with a higher purpose."

The charitable donations are strictly voluntary, and participants are not obliged to share details at the workshop meetings. However, Levinson said talking about the experience of being charitable fosters pride and self-confidence. Exchanging overeating for altruism, according to the program's website (www.poundsforpoverty.com), "empowers us to impact in a positive way two epidemics — obesity and hunger."

Editorial Assistant Karla Kane can be reached at kkane@paweekly.com.

Find this article at:
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/story.php?story_id=10192

Baking at Schools

~Monica's Addition~
My mom, who is a kindergarten teacher, came up with the idea to bake with her kindergartners. This class project has the potential to help areas that have a high amount of hunger even more than it helps my mom's class.

This project helps the children in three ways: it teaches them math and science in a fun, creative way; it teaches the kids, and by extension their parents, cheap, easy ways to make food; and on the day of the project, it sends kids home from school with their own snack.

One important thing that my mom told me is that this is similar to the motto "give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for his life" in that by teaching kids how to bake food at an early age, you get them thinking about cooking and baking rather than depending on alternative methods/snacks that may not be as healthy. You are giving the children a set of skills. Also, if you think of this in terms of food banks, some families who receive food from food banks do not know how to cook this food or use it for their families...

East Palo Alto Farmer's Market

Check it out!

Using the Food Stamp program to find healthy food...
http://www.epafarmersmarket.org/node/174