Cooking
The first year I participated in the Hunger Challenge, one of my commenters basically said that anyone who was hungry in this country was lazy. I was also told by a blogger that she wouldn't participate in the Challenge because it was her personal goal to support organic farmers and the Hunger Challenge just encouraged support of an already broken food system. In subsequent years I have heard that hunger is a bigger issue in other parts of the world, and that childhood obesity is the real problem we should be focused on.
The goal of the Hunger Campaign is to raise awareness about hunger in the San Francisco Bay Area. Participants in the Challenge live on the same budget a food stamp recipient would receive, a paltry $4.72 a day. But somehow, I find many people I tell about the Challenge don't want to hear about that. They'd rather focus on something else. All those other issues - politics, sustainable food systems, organics, world hunger and even childhood obesity get way more attention in the media than local hunger. Yes. I said local hunger.
Here in San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Food Bank, 197,000 people struggle to feed themselves and their families. In Marin, just over 40,000 people - or 16% of the population - face the same problem. I find it shocking that in a community as rich as ours (San Francisco and Marin), 237,000 people live at or below 185% of the federal poverty line ($33,873 per year for a family of three). While children or families may be eligible for aid at that level, even with assistance it can be very challenging to provide enough food to consistently nourish themselves.
Won't you think about what you can do help alleviate hunger in your community?
GET INVOLVED!
♥ Take the Hunger Challenge yourself. Sign up here.
♥ Read blogs by people taking the Hunger Challenge. There's a blogroll here.
♥ Follow the Hunger Challengers on Twitter. There's a listing here, or search for the hashtag #HungerChallenge.
♥ Learn more about the San Francisco Food Bank - and make a donation. For every $1 donated the food bank can supply hungry people with $6 worth of food!
♥ Follow the San Francisco Food Bank on Twitter or visit their Facebook page to see how they're fighting hunger every day.
- How To Eat For $7 Or Less A Day
Welcome new readers! If you found my blog in the US News & World Report story about living on a budget on Yahoo! Finance and are looking for budget shopping and cooking ideas, please check out my Hunger Challenge posts. You'll find recipes, tips...
- Planning For The Hunger Challenge
Shopping on a tight budget isn't impossible, but it does take work. Yesterday I started planning for the Hunger Challenge, a campaign to help raise awareness about hunger in our community. For one week during Hunger Action Month participants live...
- Budget Grocery Shopping Tips
Just yesterday the San Francisco Chronicle reported that unemployment has reached 12.2% in California, that's the highest it's been since 1976. That means more and more people are struggling to make ends meet. More and more people are facing...
- The Hunger Challenge
In the 1970's my dad was out of work for a year. For as long as I can remember, my mother tended an organic garden and baked bread from scratch and during that year my dad fished for salmon and went clamming for geoduck. We ate lots of eggs from...
- National Hunger Awareness Day 2006
Team up with Sur La Table to end hunger! Two ways you can support America's Second Harvest® — The Nation's Food Bank Network™ Make a donation—and we'll match it. Stop by any Sur La Table throughout June to make your donation.* Buy...
Cooking
Is Hunger a Taboo Subject?
The first year I participated in the Hunger Challenge, one of my commenters basically said that anyone who was hungry in this country was lazy. I was also told by a blogger that she wouldn't participate in the Challenge because it was her personal goal to support organic farmers and the Hunger Challenge just encouraged support of an already broken food system. In subsequent years I have heard that hunger is a bigger issue in other parts of the world, and that childhood obesity is the real problem we should be focused on. The goal of the Hunger Campaign is to raise awareness about hunger in the San Francisco Bay Area. Participants in the Challenge live on the same budget a food stamp recipient would receive, a paltry $4.72 a day. But somehow, I find many people I tell about the Challenge don't want to hear about that. They'd rather focus on something else. All those other issues - politics, sustainable food systems, organics, world hunger and even childhood obesity get way more attention in the media than local hunger. Yes. I said local hunger.
Here in San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Food Bank, 197,000 people struggle to feed themselves and their families. In Marin, just over 40,000 people - or 16% of the population - face the same problem. I find it shocking that in a community as rich as ours (San Francisco and Marin), 237,000 people live at or below 185% of the federal poverty line ($33,873 per year for a family of three). While children or families may be eligible for aid at that level, even with assistance it can be very challenging to provide enough food to consistently nourish themselves.
Won't you think about what you can do help alleviate hunger in your community?
GET INVOLVED!
♥ Take the Hunger Challenge yourself. Sign up here.
♥ Read blogs by people taking the Hunger Challenge. There's a blogroll here.
♥ Follow the Hunger Challengers on Twitter. There's a listing here, or search for the hashtag #HungerChallenge.
♥ Learn more about the San Francisco Food Bank - and make a donation. For every $1 donated the food bank can supply hungry people with $6 worth of food!
♥ Follow the San Francisco Food Bank on Twitter or visit their Facebook page to see how they're fighting hunger every day.
- How To Eat For $7 Or Less A Day
Welcome new readers! If you found my blog in the US News & World Report story about living on a budget on Yahoo! Finance and are looking for budget shopping and cooking ideas, please check out my Hunger Challenge posts. You'll find recipes, tips...
- Planning For The Hunger Challenge
Shopping on a tight budget isn't impossible, but it does take work. Yesterday I started planning for the Hunger Challenge, a campaign to help raise awareness about hunger in our community. For one week during Hunger Action Month participants live...
- Budget Grocery Shopping Tips
Just yesterday the San Francisco Chronicle reported that unemployment has reached 12.2% in California, that's the highest it's been since 1976. That means more and more people are struggling to make ends meet. More and more people are facing...
- The Hunger Challenge
In the 1970's my dad was out of work for a year. For as long as I can remember, my mother tended an organic garden and baked bread from scratch and during that year my dad fished for salmon and went clamming for geoduck. We ate lots of eggs from...
- National Hunger Awareness Day 2006
Team up with Sur La Table to end hunger! Two ways you can support America's Second Harvest® — The Nation's Food Bank Network™ Make a donation—and we'll match it. Stop by any Sur La Table throughout June to make your donation.* Buy...