Washington DC: Hunger in America Day 3

Day Three: Monday May 20. On Monday we got dressed in our second most-professional attire and took the metro to the Smithsonian stop, where we talked about the USDA and the day for a bit, before heading over to the USDA building to get our snazzy visitor badges! There we met first with Max Finberg, USDA StrikeForce Coordinator and Director of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, who spoke to us about what the USDA does, the seven areas in which the USDA works (rural development, foreign agriculture service, food safety, etc), and the importance of collaborations and taking full advantage of existing organizations. Next we went to lunch at the USDA cafeteria (amazing) where we ate with Undersecretary Kevin Concannon, whose only bosses are President Obama and Secretary Vilsack, before meeting with him back in his offices. He filled us in on some recent statistics about the various federal meal programs, and we were able to ask him some questions. Lastly we met with Dr. Robert Post, Associate Executive Director of USDA's CNPP. He spoke to us about the USDA's new MyPlate initiative, which has been introduced to replace the food pyramid, serving as a simple visual cue to remind us what our plates should look like (see image below). One quote I wrote down from him is that "the food industry is not the problem, but they have to be a part of the solution," and he also said that it is possible to eat healthy on a budget, which I don't think is necessarily true, or is at least much more complicated than a simple budgeting issue.

We then walked across the mall to the Museum of American History Smithsonian, to see their Food exhibit, which was pretty cool, even seeing how food marketing has changed over the years, all the many forms of coffee cup lids, and the evolution of the shopping cart. After that we had free time until we met up at Ben's Chili Bowl for dinner (I went with some folks to the Museum of African Art- amazing!). Ben's is a famous little hole in the wall spot (Obama famously visited) which I had somehow not been to in my two years in DC. Not the place to go if you're looking for healthy eating, but definitely the place to go if you're looking for a place with character, history, and chili dogs. After that we took the metro to Dupont Circle (kick off of Embassy Row; I once went to an event at the Indonesian embassy), wandered around, and got ice cream!

On to Ben's!

Catch up on Days 1 & 2!

Up Next, Day 4: Bread for the World and Dinner at Founding Farmers!

The Farm

(the following is from an assignment I wrote for the class I'm taking this summer to accompany the DC trip)

World Hunger Relief, Inc. is a Christian faith-based organization, working to end hunger in our community and around the world. Their organization philosophy is "to live simply, helping those who struggle to meet their basic needs by sharing and investing in others what God has given to us," and they work to train and educate members of the community so that they can become active participants in the fight for food security. Through a system of internships and volunteers, WHRI trains hundreds of people work in communities, developing geographically appropriate, sustainable farming methods and learning how to effectively advocate for those in need, while establishing and solidifying partnerships essential to success. WHRI began in 1976, as a non-profit started by Bob and Jan Salley. The Farm has a strong international focus, with interns who have trained and worked in 20 different countries, but the organization also has a great presence in the local community.      

This past week I went out to The Farm along with three classmates, to meet up with one of the staff to get a tour, learn more about the organization, and have an opportunity to ask questions we might have. At WHRI we met up with Erin, who was very helpful in showing us around. From her we learned about the many partnerships that WHRI has with other organizations in the community, for example how they provide some food for Caritas, and the work that they do in educating children at schools in McLennan County about gardening and healthy eating. During the tour we saw the variety of services and educational experiences they offer. Aside from providing produce and items for sale and donation to the Waco Downtown Farmers Market, schools and other organizations, they provide individuals and groups with opportunities to learn for themselves (and their communities) how to grow their own produce and become informed citizens to the issue of food insecurity in America and around the world. Their service learning opportunity, LOTOS, or Living on the Other Side, gives participants an opportunity to, in a safe and educational setting, live an impoverished lifestyle,  and Erin spoke about the progress livestock interns have made working with and caring for the goats on the farm.  WHRI is funded through grants, donations, and selling produce grown at the Farm, and while they are not directly engaged in research, they collaborate with Texas A&M for the rice gardens project in Haiti, by providing the agricultural expertise.

Like all of the organizations and groups we visited and spoke to in Washington, D.C., collaboration is a key part of how World Hunger Relief, Inc. makes an impact on the issue of hunger. In fact, when asked about if and how WHRI measures their impact or determines their success, Erin mentioned that it is difficult to determine the exact impact WHRI alone would have on the community, as they take more of a big picture approach and look at what everyone, collectively does to help. Outside the front of the main building at WHRI, there are wooden plaques with names of their community partners, and Erin gave us a list of some coalitions WHRI is a part of, including the Urban Gardening Coalition, McLennan County Hunger Coalition, the Food Planning Taskforce, and the Food Policy Roundtable.

This collaborative approach of World Hunger Relief, Inc. reflects a very important part of their intervention strategy and an important point about how the issue of hunger can be solved. That is, that it takes more than providing the hungry with food, more than attempts to make food more available where they previously were not, more than food banks, more than this or that, one thing or the other.  Through their own efforts and partnerships, WHRI works at every aspect of the food issue, from growing healthy food to selling it, educating youth, engaging in discussion, and creating an informed community to hopefully become active in food policy. "Food is the ultimate social justice issue," said Rabbi Noah Zvi Farkas in A Place at the Table (p. 148), and as such it is important that we explore and understand all aspects of the issue, and for me personally, learning about the work that is done at WHRI has helped to ground the issue for me, literally and figuratively. The issues of social justice that I am passionate about all come back to the fact that we are all human, and that is reason enough for me to decide which side of things I stand on. With hunger it also has to do with our home, the Earth and its bounty, and how we chose to be in control of it, from the dirt in the ground to the positions we take when voting on bills and laws. 

and now, the photos! 

Cooking for One

Hi all! I haven't been posting very much on here, and I don't have a specific plan to change that, but I thought I'd start a new little series, posting recipes and ideas for meals to make if you're just cooking for yourself. With Kyle recently deployed, I have to find motivation to prepare actual meals for myself, or I will just eat a bowl of cucumber and call it dinner. I am usually pleased when I spend a little time preparing something, and I try to cook things that are easy and healthy (or at least easy!). So, I will be sharing some of my creations, meals and snacks, as good ones come along! Some examples include a delicious egg and veggie breakfast/brunch, baked garbanzo beans, baked cauliflower, and baked foil-wrapped fish. I find a lot of recipes and ideas on Pinterest, and make changes as I see fit. Oh, and I have discovered that the combination of chili powder, cumin, and curry (plus salt and pepper) is really the best, so my first suggestion would be that you make sure you have all those in your cupboard. :)

- From the desk of Mrs. M