Hunger on the Rise

John Sayles, CEO of the Vermont Foodbank and I were on Vermont Edition today discussing the new hunger report released by the USDA last week. Vermont is now ranked as the 6th hungriest state in the nation. The Campaign's work in now more vital than ever. Hear today's discussion on how we will end hunger in our state.

Transformational Conversation

This week's World Cafe discussions were dynamic and engaging. Thank you to all of the community members, advocates, and board members who participated. We collected a significant amount of qualitative data that will inform our five-year strategic plan. Below are the graphic notes recorded by our guest artist, Kelvy Bird. We hope to have our strategic plan finalized by April 2010. I look forward to sharing our continued progress throughout the process. Please keep checking our website and blog for the latest news. Click on the images for a larger view.

The Process

Graphic Notes from the Rutland World Cafe
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Graphic Notes from the Waterbury World Cafe
Thursday, October 29th, 2009

World Cafes

The Campaign is in the midst of a strategic planning process to focus our work over the next five years, and we need your help! We will be hosting two World Cafe discussions in Waterbury and Rutland to collect your insights on ending hunger in our commuities. The World Cafe discussion model is a dynamic way to get the community talking. We will be hosting a graphic artist who will record our meetings with both words and pictures. This is an opportunity to participate in something unique and contribute to shaping our organization's future. Plus we'll have snacks!

Here are the details:

Wednesday, October 28th 1:30-4pm
at the Franklin Conference Center in Rutland 92 Strongs Avenue, Rutland, VT 05701

Thursday, October 29th 1:30-4pm
at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters in Waterbury33 Coffee Lane, Waterbury VT 05676

Please bring along a friend or two to add more voices to the conversation!

You can RSVP for either event by clicking here.

Hope to see you there! I've included a graphic recording sample below. I can't wait to see what the artist creates for our discussions!

Everything is Topnotch!

My apologies for not blogging sooner. There has been a flutter of activity at the Campaign this summer. On August 22nd we hosted a very successful event at the Topnotch Resort in Stowe. Thanks to Chef Mark Timms, over 250 people got to taste delectable dishes from chefs across Vermont and the U.S at the Rising Star Chef Food & Wine Show. All of the event proceeds were donated to the Campaign and we are tremendously grateful to Chef Mark and the staff at Topnotch for hosting this event on our behalf. It was beautiful weather and people all day long!

Next up we'll be hosting the ONE Woman Photography Project at our office as part of the South End Art Hop. Sarah Judd of Burlington College organized the project, and describes it as “a community photography project that documents the lives of women living, working, and learning in this unique and culturally diverse section of the city. We gave disposable cameras to 200 women of diverse economic and social backgrounds and asked them to take pictures of their daily lives in the Old North End. Our youngest participant was 10, and our oldest was 85." It is a powerful exhibit and we're proud to share it with the community. Please stop by on Friday or Saturday if you're in the neighborhood. There will be snacks from our Cooking for Life program and fun activities for kids.

My first Cooking for Life class

Last week I attended my first Cooking for Life class at the O'Brien Community Center in Winooski. Thirteen Bhutanese refugees participated in the class which was taught by students from New England Culinary Institute. Cooking for Life classes are designed to improve food security for families with limited budgets. The classes teach basic cooking skills using healthy, family-friendly recipes. Participants leave each class with groceries to practice making the recipes at home. Since arriving at the Campaign I've learned a lot from the Cooking for Life curriculum. My favorite recipe is the carrot bread! If you become our fan on Facebook you'll get a free Recipe Card of the Week. You can also get recipes on our website.

Below is a video of the class. For more information on how to host a class in your community contact Rebecca O'Reilly at roreilly@vtnohunger.org.

Senior Round Table

Last Thursday we organized over 30 partners from across the state to discuss seniors' access to 3SquaresVT (formerly known as food stamps). Currently, only 33% of eligible seniors are utilizing the program. Hunger among seniors is a critical issue and it is important for the state, our Congressional delegation, and all of our non-profit partners to be working on solutions. At the round table we shared some of the qualitative data we collected from senior focus groups we hosted around the state. We also heard presentations from Renee Richardson, State Nutrition Program Director; Dottie Rosenbaum, Senior Policy Analyst from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; Maria Cimini, SNAP Outrach Coordinator from University of Rhode Island Feinstein Center for a Hunger Free America; and our own Angela Smith-Dieng, 3SquaresVT Outreach & Policy Specialist at the Campaign. Our next steps will be to implement the group's recommendations which include an improved outreach plan and innovations to the 3SquaresVT program. Many thanks to our board member, Fran Stoddard who skillfully facilitated the meeting!

Understanding "Area Eligibility"

Currently, 29,000 kids in Vermont access free or reduced price meals during the school year and only 5,000 of those kids have access to meal programs in their communities during the summer. The 24,000 kids who don't have access to meals in the summer are at much higher risk of obesity and falling behind their peers when school is back in session.

There are two ways the Campaign is making a difference on this issue. First, we are working with communities to assure there are good quality summer programs for all kids that include nutrition programs. Second, Congress is preparing to take up child nutrition reauthorization this year. We are working with our Congressional delegation on improving the area eligibility threshold for open summer meal sites and free school meal programs from 50% to 40% of the federal poverty level, which would increase access to nutritious food for children. In Vermont, this change would affect over 60 school districts and 13,000 more kids would become eligible to access meals year round.

The map below gives a visual of what this change would mean for Vermont kids. The red areas on the map are currently eligible. If area eligibility was lowered to 40%, the blue areas could also become eligible.