Archive for November, 2009

Posted by Tara Flakker | November 29th, 2009

Each day I ask my son if he is willing to try the school lunch at his elementary school. He asks what they are serving. We carefully consider the menu. This usually ends with, “Oh mom, can’t you just pack me leftovers?”

Last year I began a journey that I see as a perfect blend of my past career as a clinical social worker and my current career as a stay-at-home mother. It was a journey of discovery: where does school food come from? How it can be more healthy and appealing? And what role I can play in that process?

In September of 2008 I started both packing my son’s lunches and searching for more creative ideas. That search led me to the National Farm to School Network – a national group of local organizations and individuals working to get healthy, locally-grown foods into cafeteria meals. There was nothing happening in the District at that time, but that was soon to change.

In January, I was invited to a meeting of people interested in starting a Farm to School Network started in Washington, DC. New to the District and its schools, I attended that first meeting a little intimidated and overwhelmed by a system I did not understand – with lots of confusing acronyms, regulations and agencies. But these feelings were superseded by my love for this concept: getting minimally-processed, seasonal, local foods on school cafeteria trays, and educating kids about them. So I got involved.

A year later, in September 2009, the DC Farm to School Network organized their first big event – Local Flavor Week. Over 75 schools in the District participated by serving local produce in school meals. Dozens of volunteers organized chef demonstrations, farm field trips, gardening lessons, and other educational activities. A fellow DCPS parent Laura Marks and I bought fresh watermelons from a local farmer for the students at my son’s elementary school. Laura and I chopped watermelon, showed pictures of the watermelon farmer, and talked to the students about the fruit’s life cycle.

But I want fresh, local watermelon on my son’s cafeteria tray, not just in his classroom.

Now comes the next step in this journey that began with the seemingly simple task of packing lunches for my son. What can parents bring to a movement that rests within a complicated school food hierarchy? Parents are ready to help out and do what it takes to get good food into schools. But the changes that need to be made are at the level of school administrators, food service directors, school food service vendors, produce distributors, and government agencies. How do we fit in?

Parents can buy fresh local food. We can involve our kids in the cooking and in the growing, and encourage our kids to explore dreams of growing up to be farmers (like my son!) We can organize events (like we did during Local Flavor Week) reconnecting kids with where their food comes from and their food choices impact the body, environment and community.

But there’s more – we can educate ourselves about Farm to School and the school food system here in Washington, DC, thus arming ourselves with the knowledge we need to pressure the decision makers. We can reach out to other parents that don’t have local foods and school food systems change on their radar. We can lobby for local and national policy efforts that support Farm to School programs.

Laura Marks and I are launching the DC Farm to School Network’s Parents Committee to begin organizing parents around these ideas and brainstorm others. So I’m encouraging you to get involved and do something for our children, for health, for out community and for local farmers. And please pass along the information to your PTA or other parents who might be interested!

Our next Parents Committee meeting info is here:

Wednesday, December 9 at 7:00 pm
Northeast Library, Second Floor Meeting Room
330 Seventh Street, NE at Maryland Avenue (Union Station/Eastern Market metros)

To learn more, contact Laura Marks or Tara Flakker, or visit www.dcfarmtoschool.org for more information.

Posted by Ed Bruske | November 26th, 2009

By Ed Bruske
Contributing Editor

You can title this ”Miracle On ‘S’ Street.”

For the past 11 years, while most people are feasting with family, neighbors of Rosemary’s Thyme Bistro, located on the corner of 18th and S streets NW near tony Dupont Circle, have been quietly pooling their efforts to throw a Thanksgiving dinner for the homeless and needy.

Beginning in the morning, residents fan out from their fashionable row houses and apartments to collect from streets and shelters those who don’t have a family to visit, then drive them back to the restaurant. There, a volunteer staff–owner Erdogan Dogu, the bistro’s manager, the assistant manager, a couple of other employees–set up the buffet: roast turkey, stuffing and soup made by the restaurant, mashed potatoes, string beans, cranberry sauce–all the traditional side dishes–plus pumpkin pies and cakes all donated by neighbors.

Through the lunch hour and into the afternoon, about 200 diners pass through the food line, seating themselves on the restaurant’s well-appointed patio. When they’ve had their fill, they then proceed to the other side of the restaurant to choose from a selection of clothing, also donated by the neighborhood.

Dogu said he doesn’t even know how this Thanksgiving tradition started. On any other day of the year, he’d be serving New York strip steaks, lamb kabobs, seafood ravioli. But when he bought the restaurant location from the previous owner–Lauriol Plaza, which moved up the street–neighbors came to him and explained that this is what they wanted to do. ”It’s mostly the people on Swan Street,” many of them restaurant patrons, Dogu said. Those same neighbors not only provide transportation, food and clothing, they also help with the food service.

On signs posted on lamp posts and doorways near Rosemary’s Thyme a notice announces that all are welcome to this Thanksgiving feast. But according to Dogu, it’s really the needy who eat, while others pitch in. “Some people, they actually buy clothes to give away,” he said. “They bring brand new clothes–winter clothing, shoes, jackets.”

They do it without fanfare, absent the glare of television lights or media scribes–a wonderful example of sharing and community that should be what Thanksgiving is all about. “We’ve been cooking turkeys for two days now,” said Dogu. “We’re a neighborhood restaurant. It’s nice to be able to help.”

Who knows. If you happen to be near the corner of 18th and S streets around lunchtime this Thanksgiving, maybe you’ll want to drop by and lend a hand as well.

Posted by Amy Johnson | November 25th, 2009

Today was the Feast of Sharing at the Washington Convention Center, and what a wild event it was. Thousands of people milled around, ate a delicious (and free) Thanksgiving meal, and visited the various tables that had a wide variety of employers, social service outreach efforts, medical screenings, and other services. It was difficult to navigate the various corridors of the center, and there was some confusion about what was happening, and where. However, amid the music and food and festivities, I saw a wide variety of people finding real assistance and opportunities.

At the DC Hunger Solutions/Bread For the City tables, we had two objectives. We provided information about SNAP (the new acronym for Food Stamps), and asked visitors to sign a postcard that we’ll send to President Obama stating that we support his decision to end childhood hunger by 2015. In return for a free pen, we asked people to provide a few ideas about how we can reach this goal. I was surprised at how many people were excited to sign the cards and provide their thoughts (or at least work a bit to get a free pen) and the responses had an impressively wide range. People’s ideas included increasing industry and jobs, expanding the pool of people eligible for food stamps, stimulating more grocery stores, emphasizing education and self-sufficiency, supporting family planning, reducing military spending, and many other interesting and often very innovative responses. Perhaps what we need is a little of all these ideas.

For especially enthusiastic people, we gave them an “End Hunger 2015” pin while they posed with a stunning life-size cut-out of President Obama. We hope that these personable shots will demonstrate (to the public, and to our leaders) the face of those signing cards in advocacy for change.

There’s another thing that struck me about the event: when the volunteers went upstairs to receive our own Thanksgiving meal, we were directed to a section in back, set far back from the general public. The separation was so clearly delineated (behind giant curtains!) that it struck me as an instance of the very patterns that segregate our community and perpetuate inequality. Our group attempted to break out of this barrier a little by sitting at one of the general tables — but to our demerit, we didn’t talk much with our neighbors. Mainly just gobbled our food and skedaddled. It struck me that the social structures that divide us are so pervasive, even when it simply comes to sharing a communal meal. I think it’s important for us to find ways to breach these barriers, in order to build more inclusive and supportive communities. A bit of food for thought on the eve of this Thanksgiving…

Posted by Ed Bruske | November 25th, 2009

By Ed Bruske
Contributing Editor

With the entire nation girding for a gustatory blowout, we would do well to remember that not everyone has the means to put on their own feast for Thanksgiving. One D.C. blogger has been doing exactly that, chronicling for the past month a challenge she set for herself: survive at least 30 days on a food stamp budget of $200.

Caryn Sweeney, a writer for an international non-profit agency, has been posting about her food stamp adventure under the title “A Mile in Another’s Shoes.” The short answer is, Yes, you can cook and live on a food stamp budget and even eat well. Caryn had $20 worth of food ingredients left over at the end of the month, enough for several more meals.

But it wasn’t always easy, she writes. And most notably she informs readers that most people on food stamps don’t live in a comfortable apartment near Dupont Circle, across the street from a Safeway grocery. Some don’t have apartments, and if they do, they may not have more than a hotplate to cook on, or more than the most rudimentary kitchen tools.

Living on a marginal food budget brought back memories of Caryn’s own childhood growing up poor, when meals frequently consisted of her mother’s version of macaroni and cheese, lots of chips, sodas and other convenience foods. She got tagged early as being “fat,” even though she wasn’t terribly overweight. She joined her college’s figure skating team, but never dared to wear those revealing skater outfits.

Caryn says she suffered from “body image” issues. After her parents died, she developed an eating disorder and ballooned to 200 pounds. She was spending $650 month on groceries and eating out. Finally she had her gallbladder removed as a result of gall stones, then discovered she was intolerant to wheat. She started reading authors such as Michael Pollan and Nina Planck and Gary Taubes, and changed her food habits from easy takeout and restaurant food to cooking with natural ingredients. She started buying fruits and vegetables at the farmers market and joined a club that shares grassfed meat from an Amish farmer.

Over the 30 days of her food stamp challenge, Caryn learned to plan her food purchases carefully. She would buy one pound of hamburger meat, make five burgers and freeze four. She learned to make her own French fries, and created multiple meals–and soup–out of one roast chicken. At times she missed takeout from Firehook bakery and ice cream for dessert. But she had bacon and eggs for breakfast, quiche, banana bread, French onion soup and chili she made herself.

“I might go wild and have a cup of hot choloate before bed,” she tells herself one day.

She also found herself enjoying her time with friends more, and not just joining them for meals because she wanted to eat. In a month’s time, she lost eight pounds. “Everything tastes better when you’re hungry,” she writes. She discovered she didn’t really like to cook that much, and really didn’t care for pork chops or sausage.

Living on a shoestring is a challenge that too many of us have to bear. But a month in Caryn’s shoes reminds us on this holiday occasion that you can eat simply and still eat well. “I don’t have to eat like it’s Thanksgiving every day,” she says.

Thanks for the reminder, Caryn.

A profile of Caryn Sweeney is scheduled to air today on National Public Radio’s Morning Addition show, 88.5 FM locally. It can also be heard from the show’s recorded archive.

Posted by Sharon Gruber | November 24th, 2009

Everywhere we turn, we’re reminded that Thanksgiving is here. Most conversations focus on setting a beautiful table, cooking a moist turkey, making side dishes that could stop conversation, and baking pies to match.

And these things do matter. It also matters that the holidays, like all days, are healthful.

So at a recent cooking workshop here at Bread for the City, I participated in a conversation with our clients about how to make Thanksgiving healthful, without compromising flavor or tradition.

To get started, we talked about our various Thanksgiving table traditions, and came up with a list of what the clients called “Thanksgiving must-haves.” It included: turkey, ham, brisket, and/or a roast; gravy; green beans; macaroni and cheese; stuffing; sweet potatoes; corn; mashed potatoes; rice; cooked greens (collards, kale, spinach, mustard greens, etc.); bread; cranberry sauce; and of course dessert.

Now, as part of our Nutrition Initiative, we are working with our clients to identify other ways to eat healthfully even with limited resources. For example, last year Bread for the City scrapped canned gravy from our holiday menu (as it not only has super-high sodium, but it’s also expensive!), and instead passed out recipes for how to make your own gravy from the turkey’s drippings.

This time around, we sorted many of the Thanksgiving must-haves into two categories: non-starchy vegetables (e.g., lettuce, tomatoes, cooked greens, garlic, asparagus) and starchy vegetables and grains (e.g., sweet potatoes, corn, rice, and bread). Having had quite a few cooking classes under their belts by now, the people in my class noted that, ideally, the non-starchy vegetables on one’s plate would take up more space than the starchy vegetables and grains. But when we looked at the list of Thanksgiving must-haves, the starches/grains appear to have overtaken the non-starchy vegetables.

Our solution to this problem? Add vegetables wherever possible. After I offered some suggestions, the class participants really ran with the exercise, and came up with the following suggestions themselves:

• For the green beans: Cook with onions, garlic, and/or broccoli.
• For the macaroni and cheese: Add spinach, cauliflower, and/or tomatoes.
• For the stuffing: Include plenty of celery, garlic, onions, pepper, and/or carrots
• For the mashed potatoes: Mash in garlic, celery root, rutabaga, and/or cauliflower.
• For the rice: Add plenty of fresh herbs, like parsley and mint.
• For the greens: Don’t forget the onions and garlic.
• And make a salad, as well!

Bread for the City client Gail prepares Thanksgiving dinner in her home.

We then made a healthier macaroni and cheese with low-fat cheese and milk, loads of chopped spinach, and whole wheat pasta. The clients couldn’t believe how good it was. Then they were wowed by our fresh cranberry relish, an addition or alternative to highly sweetened cranberry sauce.

And it’s easy to make. Here’s the recipe:

2 ½ cups of fresh cranberries
1 ½ cups of walnuts
1 apple
2 cans of pineapple rings in their own juice
3 stalks of celery

Directions:

Finely chop cranberries and walnuts.
Mix them together in a large bowl. Then pour in the pineapple juice from the cans.
Chop apples, celery, and pineapple rings and add to bowl.
Mix well.
Feel free to adjust the proportions to taste.  (I make mine a little different each time.) Enjoy!

Meanwhile, by the end of today, more than 5,000 DC families will have received Bread for the City’s Holiday Helpings feasts (including a turkey and all the trimmings; low-sodium stuffing; pasta; and fresh produce from our Glean for the City program). Few, if any, of these families could otherwise have afforded such a feast. For readers who would like to support our Holiday Helpings campaign — just $28 for a family of four — please visit www.breadforthecity.org/holidayhelpings

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Sharon Gruber is Bread for the City’s nutritionist, and founder of the Glean for the City program.

Posted by Amy Johnson | November 23rd, 2009

This Wednesday, DC residents will have an opportunity to get a head-start (and, in many cases, a much-needed lift) into the Thanksgiving holiday.

The annual “Feast of Sharing” will be held at the Convention Center from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm. Sponsored by Safeway and the Salvation Army, the event will include a free Thanksgiving meal, health screenings, flu vaccinations, give-a-ways, a job fair and training opportunities. Transportation is provided from three different locations within the city in order to expand access to as many different sectors of the city as possible. Attendance is estimated at 40,000 people.

As someone consulting with Bread for the City’s food pantry, I’ve learned that food itself can be a key incentive that attracts people to a centralized location at which they can then access a wide range of other critical services. Here, folks will be able to have themselves a hearty holiday meal — and then go directly on to find employment and health resources.

A number of organizations involved in the anti-hunger community plan to set up tables to provide services and information. The Common Good City Farm hopes to be represented and DC Hunger Solutions plans to disseminate information about food stamps and school meals. Their plan is to have a space for a listening session, through which community members can share their ideas on how to improve community food security. We hope they’ll report some of that feedback to the DC Food For All!

Event Info:
Feast of Sharing
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Washington Convention Center, Hall D
801 Mount Vernon Place, NW
9:30 am – 2:30 pm

For more information, please call or email Faith Williams at (202) 422-8968, feastofsharing@hotmail.com. See the flyer here.

Posted by Liz Whitehurst | November 20th, 2009

What is more important: feeding hungry people or growing food sustainably?

Permaculture is a design system for food production that emphasizes both earthcare and peoplecare. Even in an urban environment, permaculture has lessons to teach about growing food more sustainably.

I was among a group of gardeners and environmentalists who came together recently at Common Good City Farm to discuss the ethics of permaculture as well as learn some practical skills. Farm founder Liz Falk and Steve Gabriel, Educator and Program Coordinator for the Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute led the three-day course, which is part of the farm’s ongoing series of educational programs.

Permaculture teaches us to design agricultural systems and living arrangements that more closely resemble nature. Its principles can be applied to designing a garden, a neighborhood, even a city. In fact, we spent part of one of the course making plans for a re-design of the farm and an entire DC neighborhood.

But first, we spent Saturday caring for the earth by planting an edible forest garden. In a natural forest, tall trees protect shade-loving plants from the sun and mushrooms spring to life in the wet areas at their bases. A permaculturist looks at these relationships and decides to mimic them by planting in “guilds”—or close-knit groups–instead of rows.

We planted strawberries and blueberries near fruit trees and mushroom spores around their trunks, creating a guild of plants that will feed and protect each other. As we dug, it started to pour rain. Our outdoor classroom space became a small pond. As we scurried around picking up shovels and taking down tents, the rain turned us into a guild.

We turned the storm into a lesson. After observing how the rainwater dispersed in natural patterns, we discussed how we might design the space to work with the water’s flow instead of against it. When the flood ebbed, we dug a rain garden based on our observations.

In addition to the guild and the rain garden, we:

• Discussed projects in cities across the U.S. that represent different permaculture principles, including City Repair in Portland and the Neuestra Raices in Holyoke, MA.
• Talked compost, from how to make compost tea in hours to building a vermicomposting bin for an apartment kitchen.
• Built cold frames–small, mobile greenhouses from wood, PVC pipe and sheet plastic that help extend the growing season.
• Innoculated shitake mushroom spores—sometime next year, mushrooms should be growing out of the hickory log we placed them in.
• Remediated the soil using a technique called sheet mulching, which uses recycled cardboard boxes, compost, and wood chips to improve the quality of soil during winter months.
• Had World Café-style conversations about how to engage neighbors meaningfully and how we can identify and distribute the surpluses we produce.

[Photo by Rafamerchan on Flickr, of a different workshop at Common Good.]

By combining concrete skills and big ideas, conversation and labor, we learned to embrace lessons that the earth teaches to feed and protect each other.

Liz Whitehurst writes for the Bread for the City blog, Beyond Bread, and is currently cover cropping at Sligo Creek Farm.

Posted by Amanda Melara | November 19th, 2009

The USDA announced on Monday that 49.1 million Americans, “lived in food-insecure households.” This is an enormous jump from the 36.2 million people it reported in 2007, and is by far the highest level of food insecurity reported since it started being measured in 1995. The report also told us that from 2006-2008, 12.4% or about 1 in 8 households in DC alone had difficulty getting enough food on the table. (See here for our post about what “food insecurity” looks like.)

It was news in 2007 when we saw an increase from 2006 of under 1 million hungry people in the United States—so a report that says 13 million more were hungry in 2008 is just plain scary. And because the number is averaged over the last 3 years, we can assume that the economic impact of the recession is not fully realized in those figures.

So here’s what we can add to the picture: demand for emergency food is up at least 30% in our region. Phone calls to the Capital Area Food Bank’s Hunger Lifeline, an emergency food referral service, were up by 91% in June of this year, and in the last few weeks the number of calls has skyrocketed — our operator is on the phone for a full 8 hours each day these days. (We even have others helping out to field her calls.) Emergency food providers and government assistance workers alike can attest to the experience of serving more and more middle class families through their programs.

It’s also important to remember that this kind of hunger has physical, social, mental, and spiritual implications well beyond the physical sensation most of us get at lunch time.

President Obama has pledged to end childhood hunger in the United States by the year 2015. With these new numbers, it’s clear we have a very daunting task ahead of us, and we’ll need everyone’s help to get there.