Connecticut Food Bank 2011 Hunger Action Heroes Honored

Connecticut Food Bank recently honored our Hunger Action Heroes at an awards ceremony attended by more than 100 at our East Haven warehouse. The heroes are individuals, businesses and organizations that go above and beyond to support Connecticut Food Bank in its mission to alleviate hunger in Connecticut. The ceremony is held annually in September, designated as Hunger Action Month.

“You are our heroes in many ways, but more importantly you are our inspiration, making a difference in the lives of the men, women and children who depend on us for food,” Connecticut Food Bank President & CEO Nancy L. Carrington told the honorees. “We thank you for your extraordinary service on behalf of our mission to alleviate hunger in Connecticut.”

Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro was presented with The Bill Liddell Award – the highest tribute paid by Connecticut Food Bank to an individual, organization or corporation in recognition of exemplary service, ongoing dedication and significant support of the Food Bank and its mission. The award was named after Bill Liddell who supported the Food Bank by donating a total of 104 tons of fresh produce, as well as time and funds. He spent six years on Connecticut Food Bank’s Board of Directors.

“Since her election to Congress in 1990, Rosa DeLauro is one of the strongest voices in for local, national and global hunger relief efforts,” said Carrington. ”We are grateful for her tireless work to help those who face the struggles of food insecurity.”

Other 2011 Connecticut Food Bank Hunger Action Heroes are:
• Carl Asikainen: Advocacy Hero
• A-1 Toyota: Business Hero
• Junior League of Greater New Haven: Civic Hero
• Walmart: Corporate Hero
• Anthony DiBenedetto, Hallock Orchard (Washington Depot): Farm Hero
• ShopRites of Hamden, Milford, Stratford and West Haven: Fundraising Hero
• Ocean State Job Lot: Food Industry Hero
• Michael Maze: Media Hero
• Waterbury’s Evangelical Christian Church: Member Program Hero
• Sam Greco: Student Hero
• Jeremy Titus: Volunteer Hero

In addition, Connecticut Food Bank recognized top individual and team fundraisers who participated in the annual Walk Against Hunger, held in New Haven, Bridgeport and Waterbury. Those events raised more than $240,000 to support hunger-relief efforts in Connecticut.

A-1 Toyota received Connecticut Food Bank’s Business Hunger Action Hero Award.

Michael Maze receives the Media Hunger Action Hero Award from Connecticut Food Bank’s Events & Promotions Coordinator Stefanie Stevens.

A-1 Toyota received Connecticut Food Bank's Business Hunger Action Hero Award.

Michael Maze receives the Media Hunger Action Hero Award from Connecticut Food Bank's Events & Promotions Coordinator Stefanie Stevens.

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SNAP Challenge – Day 5: A Challenge By Any Other Name…

Editor’s Note: Deb Heinrich, Gov. Dannel Malloy’s liaison to the state’s nonprofit community, agreed to take the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge this month and live on $4 a day for food for a week. We are posting her experience in this blog over the next few days.

After a fifth morning in a row eating delicious and nutritious oatmeal with brown sugar, we’ve decided that this should actually be called the “SNAP at you challenge.” Yes, I was a bit grumpy this morning. My mother, however, loved the oatmeal. I brought the one left over tortilla with refried beans and rice with me for lunch for us to share along with, yup, you guessed it, black beans and rice. I also decided to eat my second apple. Can you believe it? I forgot the salsa. Lunch. Bland but filling. I was so thankful that my mom didn’t complain. I might have gotten grumpy again.

I was pretty hungry this afternoon. We’re going to finish up the lentil soup tonight. I’m really getting down to the nitty gritty. Carrots…gone. Apples…gone. One more serving of black beans and rice that we’ll share for lunch tomorrow. I think I have enough oatmeal for the two of us through Saturday. I now have celery, some dried lentils, a few cups of uncooked rice, a few tortillas and peanut butter to work with. Oh yes, I have an onion and some garlic too. I’m not really going to count the brown sugar, salt, salsa and oil. The peanut butter is hard to count too because it is made with so much oil (ingredients: peanuts, peanut oil, corn syrup, rapeseed and cottonseed oils) I feel sick after I eat it. I don’t have much left anyway.

A month ago, I promised to make a large pan of baked ziti for a gathering on Friday (tomorrow). It seemed so strange to be making this dish that I will not be eating. It was even stranger to realize that it cost $12.46 to make. It smells SOOO good. I miss cheese. Even more than cheese, I miss salad.

A typical salad for me: romaine lettuce, a chopped tomato, a chopped carrot, goat cheese, glazed walnuts, and a handful of sprouted lentils, all topped with balsamic vinaigrette. Conservatively adding up the ingredients, that would come to about $6. Even a pared down salad without the nuts and goat cheese would run me about $3. If all I had was $4 to eat all day, that would never fly. I have the added benefit of having all of these ingredients available to me in my local store. As I understand it, there are many inner city neighborhoods that lack fresh fruits and vegetables in their little bodega grocery stores. Even if they are there, if you add up how much it costs to have a simple salad, I can see why some people would reach for other options. The only green I’ve had was a jalapeno and some celery.

I’ve had some folks question why I am sharing my food with my mother who came to visit me unexpectedly this week. I did so because that is part of life. People who live on the SNAP benefits have mothers who come to visit unexpectedly too and they have to make due. Though I’m not sure my mother will be running over here again anytime soon after the meals I’ve been serving her. I am quite certain she can’t wait to get home and have a banana.

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SNAP Challenge – Day 3: Hunger

Editor’s Note: Deb Heinrich, Gov. Dannel Malloy’s liaison to the state’s nonprofit community, agreed to take the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge this month and live on $4 a day for food for a week. We are posting her experience in this blog over the next few days.

Today is the first day that I have really felt very, very hungry.

I started the day with my obligatory bowl of oatmeal with a tablespoon of brown sugar. At about 11a.m., I started longing for lunch and feeling a bit tired. For lunch, I had an apple dipped in about three tablespoons of peanut butter. I chose a red delicious apple because I recently read an article that said the skin in a red delicious apple has more vitamins in it than any other apple variety. It filled me up at the time, but at about 3:00 pm, I got really, really hungry.

I felt quite sleepy in a meeting this afternoon and my stomach hurt.

My kids called to ask me if they could have friends over this evening and I felt so tired that I just had to say no.

I had to break down and have a bowl of beans and rice with salsa at 3:30 p.m. I am glad that I cooked it in advance so that all I had to do was heat it up. I’m not sure I could have waited much longer to actually get home and cook something from scratch.

I felt a lot better afterward, more focused, not as grumpy. I’ll have to see how eating this extra meal will fit into the weekly plan. I know I’ll need to eat again this evening. I have to give a keynote address tonight at 6:30 p.m. After that, I’ll have a bowl of leftover lentil soup.

I think I need to analyze the nutrients that I’m taking in. Perhaps there is something specific that I am missing. Once I figure out what it is, I hope I can meet that need for under $2.58. That is all I had left after my grocery trip at the beginning of the week.

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SNAP Challenge: Preparation Day

Editor’s Note: Deb Heinrich, Gov. Dannel Malloy’s liaison to the state’s nonprofit community, agreed to take the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge this month and live on $4 a day for food for a week. We are posting her experience in this blog over the next few days.

September is Hunger Awareness Month and to help increase awareness of the thousands of people in this state who are food insecure and those that live their lives hungry, I am going to take the SNAP Challenge.

What is the SNAP Challenge?

Well SNAP used to be called Food Stamps. SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. People who qualify for SNAP receive $4 per day to spend on food.

The challenge is to try to live on those $4 per day for food. I’m going to take the challenge for one week. Therefore, I have $28 to spend on food for the week. I plan on keeping a little journal along the way. If you are interested in more information about the SNAP Challenge or if you want to join me in the Challenge, you can click here to see how.

Prep Day

I made up a grocery list of things I’d like to eat in the next week with an eye toward frugality. I went to an online grocery store site in order to get a rough estimate of food prices as I was making up the list so that I could stay under $28.

The first thing that struck me was seasonings. I love spicy, spiced flavorful food. Spices are expensive! The next thing that struck me was the up-front costs of stock items in the kitchen like salt, sugar and oil. Since the rules of the SNAP Challenge demand that no food can pass your lips unless you purchase it on the $4 per day budget, I had to incorporate things like salt, sugar and oil which will last much longer than the week, but are pretty critical for the cooking I was planning on doing.

I took the list to my local grocery store, which is not the least expensive place to buy groceries, but I wanted to be cognizant that many people who do not have enough to eat also cannot travel long distances to buy food. I felt I should stay in my community to keep in the spirit of the Challenge.

Here is the list of what I bought:

Vegetable Oil (store brand): $ 1.75
Peanut Butter (store brand): $ 1.99
Diced Tomatoes (store brand): $ 1.00
Vegetarian Refried Beans: $ 1.00
Salsa (store brand): $ 1.34
Soft Tacos (12 count): $ 1.89
Dried Black Beans (store brand): $ 0.89
Dried Lentils (store brand): $ 0.69
Long Grain Rice (store brand): $ 1.50
Old Fashioned Oats (store brand): $ 1.00
Brown Sugar (store brand): $ 1.59
Salt (store brand): $ 0.59
Onions (3): $ 3.82
Carrots (one bunch): $ 1.29
Celery (one bunch): $ 2.50
Jalapeno pepper: $ 0.31
One head garlic: $ 0.50
Red Delicious Apples (2): $ 1.77
Total $25.42

I left a little leeway in case I forgot something important. I will be able to go back to the store and get it (if it costs less than $2.58!).
My list includes mostly items that are the store brand. It is heartening for me to note that the labels on the store brand items I bought we not loaded with preservatives and chemicals and fillers like I expected. I know this can sometimes be the case, but for these items, it was minimal. As someone who normally eats organic, that was important to me.

I am vegetarian so you won’t see meat products on my list, but I was sad not to be able to include dairy either. I really love cheese, which was not in the cards for me on this budget!

Well, I’m stocked up as much as I can be. I’m soaking the black beans overnight so that I can cook them tomorrow for dinner. I’ll let you know how the day goes tomorrow.

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Can you live on $4 a day for food? Take the SNAP Challenge

Can you live on $4.00 a day for food? Be honest with your answer.

That’s how much some of us spend on coffee or latte during the day. For more than 380,000 people right here in Connecticut, it’s not a question. It’s a reality.

In September, designated as Hunger Action Month, we’re asking our supporters to experience that reality for one week. Called the SNAP Challenge, participants are asked to live as if they are on food stamps, now known as the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Details of the challenge are included below.

Nearly 11 percent of people living in Connecticut depend on SNAP/food stamps to put food on their tables, according to the latest report from the Food Research and Action Center.

The SNAP program helps people and families buy food. Eligible people receive a monthly benefit that they can use to buy food, non-alcoholic beverages and food-producing seeds and plants.

For one week during Hunger Action Month, take the SNAP Challenge and see how you would do. Here’s what you need to know about the SNAP Challenge Each person may spend $4.00 per day, a typical daily allotment.

- You may not consume food and beverages that you had in your refrigerator or pantry (or garden) before your SNAP week begins.

- Your daily allowance is for any food and beverage you consume. That soda from the vending machine counts. Dinner at a restaurant counts. Fast food counts.

- No free food may be accepted during this time (that means no cookies from co-workers, nothing to eat at that breakfast meeting, etc.).

- With the exception of salt and pepper, you must purchase any condiments you need or want with your monetary allotment.

- Keep track of receipts on food spending and take note of your experiences throughout the week.

- You may visit local community soup kitchens or food pantries, but if you do, please make a financial contribution in an amount that at least covers the cost of the meal or food you receive so they can continue to serve people who are really in need. Your financial contribution to that program will not be subtracted from your SNAP allocation.

If you fail to make it through the whole week (which is possible), we’d like to hear what happened. Please submit your comments (and even your menus or recipes) for possible inclusion in this blog. Send e-mail to cfb@ctfoodbank.org.

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Childhood Hunger on the Rise

New Study Details Child Food Insecurity at Local Level
Nearly 19 percent of Connecticut’s Children at Risk of Hunger

We’ve been saying one out of every six children in Connecticut is food insecure. But today’s release of data shows a much more disturbing number. It’s nearly one out of every five children in this state – which sharply contrasts with our reputation as the state with the highest per capita income. How can a state with so much wealth allow this many children to struggle with hunger?

Today, Connecticut Food Bank and the nation’s largest hunger relief organization, Feeding America, released a new study which reveals that children are struggling with hunger in every county and congressional district in Connecticut at an overall rate of 18.9 percent.

The Map the Meal Gap: Child Food Insecurity 2011 study shows the child food insecurity rate in Connecticut ranges from 16.4 percent in Middlesex County to 22.8 percent in Windham County. In Connecticut Food Bank’s service area which includes Fairfield, Litchfield, New Haven, New London, Middlesex and Windham Counties, the child food insecurity rate is 18.7 percent, or nearly one in five children.

“The study also confirms our assessment that half of the children living in food insecure households in Connecticut are not eligible for federal child nutrition programs because they live in a households with incomes over the threshold to qualify,” said Nancy L. Carrington, Connecticut Food Bank’s President and CEO. “They often rely on Connecticut Food Bank and its member programs for food assistance.” These federal programs include SNAP (food stamps), reduced-price school meals and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).

The child food insecurity rates in the counties served by Connecticut Food Bank are:

Fairfield County: 38,980 children or 17.3% of all children
Litchfield County: 7,710 children or 18.2%
New Haven County: 40,100 children or 20.5%
New London County: 10,880 children or 18.2%
Middlesex County: 5,860 children or 16.4%
Windham County 6,080 children or 22.8%
Total for Connecticut Food Bank’s service area: 109,610 children or 18.7 % of all children

“The prevalence and consequences of our nation’s child food insecurity problem are well documented, but our efforts to adequately address the problem have been hindered by a lack of data at the local level,” said Vicki Escarra, President and CEO of Feeding America. “This new information addresses this need by providing first-ever data about the prevalence of child food insecurity at the county and congressional district level.”

The research is a follow up to the Map the Meal Gap 2011: Food Insecurity Estimates at the County Level, supported by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and Nielsen. This data provided the first detailed look at the food budget needed by families struggling with hunger, which in Connecticut is an estimated $199 million.

The ConAgra Foundation funded the child food insecurity research with the goal of advancing the collective understanding of child hunger in America, so that resources at the local and national level could be better leveraged to help children and families in need.

Connecticut Food Bank serves approximately 600 community-based feeding programs in six of Connecticut’s eight counties: Fairfield, Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven, New London and Windham. Connecticut Food Bank distributes more than 31 tons of food every business day. For more information about Connecticut Food Bank, visit www.ctfoodbank.org. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CTFoodBank or follow our news on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CTFoodBank. To donate and help in our fight against hunger, click here.

Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, our network members supply food to more than 37 million Americans each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks support 61,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms. For more information on how you can fight hunger in your community and across the country, visit www.feedingamerica.org. Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/FeedingAmerica or follow our news on Twitter at twitter.com/FeedingAmerica.

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Paper Plates To End Hunger

Master’s Manna Food Pantry and Soup Kitchen of Wallingford will be heading to Washington, D.C. on Nov. 8 to deliver Paper Plates to End Hunger to the White House. The delivery is part of the Empty Plates Empty Pockets Campaign that Master’s Manna has been conducting.

Since August, Master’s Manna has been asking the community to write anti-hunger messages on paper plates that will be delivered to the President.

If enough people can get together and write a message to the President regarding what people need to just keep food on the table maybe he would listen, said Cheryl Bedore, founder and director of Master’s Manna.

Master’s Manna operates a food pantry, clothes closet, soup kitchen and resource center, including a computer lab and dental/medical clinic. In 2009, 1,636 families came through the doors of Master’s Manna seeking help. Master’s Manna is a member program of Connecticut Food Bank.

In a time when people are losing jobs, facing cuts in hours where they work and losing benefits, it’s now time for our government to step up to the plate, according to Master’s Manna.

There’s still time to support the Empty Plates Empty Pockets Campaign. If you’re interested, please contact Master’s Manna as soon as possible.

You can make a big difference by stopping in at Master’s Manna and jotting down your anti-hunger message to the President on a paper plate. Or you can get your friends, family members, classmates and congregation to write messages to the White House and drop the paper plates at Master’s Manna, 46 North Plains Industrial Road, Wallingford, before Nov. 8.

Posted by Gladys Alcedo, Communications Coordinator of Connecticut Food Bank

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