Food Revolution Petition Update

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Hello Food Revolutionary! We have some exciting news to share with you. As a signatory of Jamie Oliver's first Food Revolution petition, we wanted to reach out and update you on this petition and Food Revolution Day 2015. AN INCREDIBLE 812,000 of you signed the 2010/11 petition to stand up for our united belief that kids need better food at school and better health prospects - THANK YOU! We're so grateful for your support, and delighted you all agree action needs to be taken. YOU HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE. With your support, this uprising led to a truly global movement, with the launch of Food Revolution Day in 2012. The same year the Ambassador Programme was also launched -  a growing group of thousands of passionate volunteers in over 100 countries. It has also grown an active, empowered and noisy community online and put pressure on leaders who can help us create positive change and begin to reverse the obesity epidemic through improved food education, food quality and security. While the Food Revolution has continued to grow, we've still got work to do. With 42 million children across the world under the age of five either overweight or obese, the next generation will live shorter lives than their parents if nothing is done to rectify these alarming statistics. That's why for this Food Revolution Day Jamie has launched a global petition calling on leaders and governments of the G20 to make practical food education compulsory at school. It's essential that we arm future generations with the life skills they urgently need in order to lead healthier, happier, more productive lives and we passionately believe that it is every child's human right. Food education will make a difference to the lives of the next generation. So please continue your support by signing this petition and sharing change.org/jamieoliver on facebook and twitter to help spread the word, we can't do it without you. SIGN JAMIE'S FOOD REVOLUTION DAY PETITION We've already gathered an amazing 600,000 signatures from over 160 countries, but to create a movement powerful enough to force all G20 governments to take action, we need to get to millions! Thank you very much for your support. @FoodRev | Facebook Food Revolution Community     Share your images and stories with us! #FoodRevolutionDay

Resources available for those providing elderly care

The MA Gov blog shares lots of good info. A recent post covers caring for elders.

According to the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC), more than 65 million Americans act as unpaid caregivers for a family member, and the average age of an adult who receives assistance is 69 years old. TheExecutive Office of Elder Affairs (ELD), primarily through the Massachusetts Family Caregiver Support Program, provides resources to enhance the quality of life for both caregivers and their elderly loved ones.

The posting goes on to provide a list of tips and resources. You can find them here  http://blog.mass.gov/blog/living-in-massachusetts/caring-for-elders-resources/

DId you know that the Franklin Senior Center offers an in-home respite program for companion caregivers? The program was introduced early in 2014 and modified in the Fall to provide better coverage.

You can find out about the program with this PDF file from the Senior Center
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Senior/ccbrochure14.pdf

You can find more about the program by contacting the Senior Center directly.

Don't be overwhelmed by the support requirements. Ask for help!

Franklin Senior Center is full of resources!

Inequality for all

Robert Reich and Jon Stewart discuss "Inequality for all" in this video clip (7 mins)

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook

For the opening dates of the Inequality for All movie visit their webpage
http://inequalityforall.com/theaters-opening-dates/

For additional facts and figures behind the issue we all face, visit this link
http://inequalityforall.com/#get-the-facts

"I'm a college graduate who had to go on food stamps"

The past year since I left graduate school has pretty much been: job application, job application, job application, interview, rejection, another job application, temp work, job application, another temp job, more job applications. For nearly eight months, I was unable to secure opportunities that weren't sporadic or temporary, making it difficult to pay rent and buy food. I remember the night I decided to apply for food stamps: I put my hand into my change jar – the one I used to casually toss coins into so I wouldn't have to carry them around in my pockets – and I felt the bottom of the jar. I was taking my final quarters, dimes and nickels to a fast food restaurant, hoping I had enough for a burger and fries. 

With Congress now back in session, House Republicans – with Eric Cantor leading the charge – are pushing hard for more than $40bn in cuts to food stamps (officially dubbed Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or "Snap"). If they get what they want, 4-6 million Americans could lose benefits.

Read the full article in The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/15/food-stamp-republican-cuts-stigma

"a good way to do it"

The Franklin Food Pantry is not the only one to benefit from local gardens. The Milford Daily News reports on a garden that Raytheon employees care for that serves the Marlborough Food Pantry.

While making their thrice-weekly trip to the Marlborough Food Pantry to deliver lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers, Raytheon employees Gretel Anspach and Don Jordan encountered a young girl who beamed with excitement about the new produce. 

"She said ‘Gee, mom, we get to have salad tonight,’" said Jordan, an electrical engineer from Franklin. "You hear something like that and it makes it all worthwhile." 

Each week for upwards of 10 hours, Anspach and Jordan leave their air-conditioned offices at Raytheon during their lunch break or at the end of the day to head to the company’s garden to plant and harvest vegetables, which are donated to the Marlborough Food Pantry.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x369949553/Raytheon-garden-grows-veggies-for-food-pantry#ixzz2cJzTKmhw

Food recycling as a climate issue (audio)

Why is food recycling a climate issue?

Recently the U.S. joined the U.N. in launching programs to combat food waste. Fortunately, right here in Arlington we already have a great model for doing just that. Our guest on this edition of the Climate Hawk Companion is DeAnne Dupont, has been walking the talk, and was instrumental in establishing the Minuteman Food Recovery Project as a collaboration between the Minuteman High School Parent’s Association and Sustainable Arlington. 

The project collects from Panera Breads, Trader Joe’s and other local businesses in the Arlington, Massachusetts area and distributes it to people who need this food. This makes for a better community and fewer greenhouse gases. Listen to the podcast to catch up on how it all works.

Other organizations mentioned during this podcast are:
Loving Spoonfuls Boston  http://www.lovinspoonfulsinc.org/

You can find the full posting on the Mass Climate Action Network blog here
http://massclimateaction.wordpress.com/2013/07/09/a-climate-hawks-companion-food-waste-diversion-as-a-climate-action/


What is happening here in Franklin?
The Franklin Food Pantry coordinates pickups from many local businesses to support the clients the Food Pantry serves. Periodic pickups from Panera Bread, BJ Warehouse, Trader Joe's, Stop and Shop, The Cake Bar, etc. are coordinated and conducted by Food Pantry volunteers. If the pickup is of a quantity that the Food Pantry can't use within the window for the item, the Food Pantry does share with the Senior Center and other places where the items can be used.


The anaerobic digestion process was proposed for the former sewer facility in Franklin based upon the new state regulations. If you haven't heard about the regulations, you can find out more here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/07/a-solution-that-meets-multiple-economic.html

For more about the anaerobic digestion proposal discussed at the Town Council meeting
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/06/anaerobic-digestion-tabled-in-franklin.html

For more about the anaerobic digestion proposal discussed at the Planning Board meeting
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/06/anaerobic-digestion-is-not-recommended.html

What is the client experience? (video)

Thanks to Eagle Scout Zach Zollo, the Franklin Food Pantry has a couple of videos to share. This one answers the question on "What is the client experience like at the Food Pantry?"

How can I volunteer? (video)

Thanks to Eagle Scout Zach Zollo, the Franklin Food Pantry has a couple of videos to share. This one answers the question on what you could do to volunteer for the Food Pantry.

Where is the Franklin Food Pantry? (video)

Thanks to Eagle Scout Zach Zollo, the Food Pantry now has a couple of videos to share. This one answers the question: Where is the Franklin Food Pantry?

"It’s a big building because it’s a big problem"

The Greater Boston Food Bank is a key supplier for the Franklin Food Pantry. The Sunday Boston Globe Magazine has an article on the Food Bank's operation that reads in part:

She’s a trendsetter. The very next shopper, an older woman in a dark red velour jacket, takes a Hubbard, followed a little while later by a middle-aged woman who grabs one, too. After two hours, the doors close. Twenty-seven people have come through the Canton Food Pantry. Three of four Hubbard squash are gone. 

Less than two weeks before, those Hubbards were still on the vine at a nearby farm. Over the course of 10 days, they were picked, sold to the Greater Boston Food Bank, and then distributed to food pantries like this one, and to other hunger-relief agencies in the area. The life of these Hubbard squash, from the field to the tables of the needy, helps tell the story of a bigger journey: the evolution and expansion of the food bank, which has matured into a state-of-the-art food distribution giant that now feeds more than 90,000 people a week. 

The food bank made a splash a few years ago by building a new headquarters alongside Interstate 93 south of downtown. You’ve seen it — the one with 565 accent panels on the facade that, viewed from a certain angle, depict a red ear of wheat. If you’re like me, you’ve driven by and wondered, what goes on in that cavernous place, anyway? The answer is this: a lot more than I thought.

Read more about the Greater Boston Food Bank in the Globe Magazine article here (registration maybe required) http://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2012/11/03/how-greater-boston-food-bank-growing-meet-growing-need/8BWiUXroYzxBR5DR02sgEL/story.html

Or go to the Greater Boston Food Bank web page http://gbfb.org/

Fall Winter 2012 Newsletter

The Fall/Winter News letter as published to the neighbors we serve

D’Amato: The changing face of hunger

Catherine D'Amato is the President and CEO of the Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB). She writes this column succinctly addressing the problem of hunger in MA. The Franklin Food Pantry sources a lot of the food we distribute from the GBFB.

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

D’Amato: The changing face of hunger

via Wicked Local Franklin Opinions RSS by Catherine D'Amato/Guest columnist on 9/12/12

Could you survive on $4 a day? For many, that barely covers their morning cup of coffee.  But living on $4 a day is the reality for millions of low income Americans who receive support through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the federal program formerly known as Food Stamps.

Things you can do from here:

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“Lose For Good Open House” to help the Food Pantry

Weight Watchers will be hosting a “Lose For Good Open House” event on Saturday, September 15th, at their location in Franklin. Join us for this very special one-day-only offer, prizes, refreshments, recipes and more! The Open House will host a “Lose For Good” food drive to benefit The Franklin Food Pantry. So remember to bring a non-perishable item to donate. If you have ever wanted to find out more about Weight Watchers there has never been a better time to come in.

Saturday, September 15th from 7am to 3pm

Franklin Weight Watchers

Horace Mann Plaza, 255 East Central Street

Franklin, MA 02038

The faces of food stamps

Who uses food stamps? Some of your neighbors here in Franklin. Their stories are probably similar to these.

The Food Pantry provides a layer of support to your neighbors. You can help us help them with a donation of food or non-food items, your time or a financial contribution.


Originally posted here and found here

Three terrific books about feeding kids

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

Three terrific books about feeding kids

via Food Politics by Marion on 4/9/12

Karen Le Billon, French Kids Eat Everything: How our family moved to France, cured picky eating, banned snacking, and discovered 10 simple rules for raising happy, healthy eaters, HarperCollins, 2012.
I blurbed this one: It takes a brave couple to move two picky-eater kids to a small French town and convert them to foodie omnivores.  North Americans have much to learn from European food traditions, and the contrast between French and North American school lunches is a striking example.  A must-read for teachers as well as parents.


Jeannie Marshall, Outside the Box: Why Our Children Need Real Food, Not Food Products, Random House, 2012.
I blurbed this one too: Outside the box is about teaching kids how to appreciate real food but also about how globalization is changing the way the world eats.  In this beautifully writeen book about what needs to be done to preserve food culture in Italy and elsewhere, Marshall makes the political personal as she explains how she is teaching her son to enjoy the pleasures of eating food prepared, cooked, and lovingly shared by friends and family.


Bill and Claire Wurtzel, Funny Food: 365 Fun, Healthy, Silly, Creative Breakfasts, Welcome Books, 2012.
I wasn't asked to blurb this one, but like it anyway:  Your kid doesn't want to eat real food for breakfast?  No excuses.  This book illustrates 365 breakfasts made of eggs, toast, cereal, pancakes, fruit, cheese, yogurt, and other good things.  These are presented as faces, animals, and toys so easy to do that even a time-challenged parent can whip them up in a second.  I can't imagine any kid resisting eating foods like these.    Silly, absolutely.  Worth it?  Give it a try.

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Ensuring Food Stamp Integrity

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

Ensuring Food Stamp Integrity

via USDA Blog by Kevin Concannon, Undersecretary of Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, USDA on 3/8/12

Cross posted from Politico:
As agriculture undersecretary and a former director of state Health and Human Services departments in Maine, Oregon and Iowa, I know the importance of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps. In today's difficult economic times, this vital program helps families across the nation put food on the table.

Despite a rash of recent stories about food stamp fraud, the facts are that the Agriculture Department has a zero tolerance policy on this. We aggressively pursue those trying to take advantage of America's compassion for people in need.

First-quarter results of our anti-fraud efforts demonstrate this commitment. From Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2011, we penalized — with fines or temporary disqualifications — more than 225 stores that violated program rules and permanently disqualified more than 350 stores caught trafficking food stamp benefits.

We're now stepping up our efforts. I announced in December new anti-fraud initiatives. We awarded a 10-year contract to SRA International to develop the next generation of fraud-detection systems.

We plan even stronger penalties for retailers that misuse the program. We recently updated our policies to clarify that advertising the sale of benefits through social media is a violation and can result in disqualification from the food stamp program.

In addition, we're finalizing rules to deter the practice of buying and discarding food to get money-back deposits; or reselling and exchanging products bought with food stamp benefits to obtain cash or other noneligible items.

The Agriculture Department's efforts to combat SNAP trafficking have been particularly successful. Trafficking — the sale or purchase of benefits for cash — is an illegal activity punishable by criminal prosecution. Over the past 15 years, department and state agencies administering the program have sharply reduced such trafficking — from 4 percent to 1 percent.

But we cannot be content with that success — the people taking unfair advantage constantly change their tactics. We remain vigilant, working to stay ahead of these new forms of program abuse. We have stepped up documentation requirements and background checks on retailers who participate, or seek to participate, in food stamps. Stores that falsify information will be denied or disqualified and may face a $10,000 fine or imprisonment for as long as five years, or both.

The Agriculture Department recently launched a website (www.fns.usda.gov/fightingsnapfraud) to get the word out about our efforts to deter fraudulent food stamp activity and enlist the public's help in fighting it. We will continue to use all tools available, including the latest technology, to combat fraud.

Some perspective on this is crucial. There are 46 million eligible Americans who depend on food stamps, largely because of income, age, disability or job circumstances. Nearly half are children, 8 percent are elderly and 20 percent of food stamp households include a person who is disabled. The great majority abide by program rules.

The fact is fraud is a limited problem in SNAP — though no amount is acceptable. Stores violating the program represent less than one-half of 1 percent of the more than 230,000 food stores authorized to redeem benefits. And the recent fraud stories indicate enforcement efforts are working — as those who would abuse the program are being caught and prosecuted.

This is good news for all U.S. taxpayers and good news for those who use the program — including millions of children and older Americans — who depend on food stamps. Which, in turn, is why the Agriculture Department is committed to assuring the integrity of this vital program.

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Great list of food books

Earlier this week, TakePart asked its Food, Inc community to share some of its favorite books about the food industry. With more than 850 replies, the response was overwhelming—and exciting. 

We've compiled the whole list and broken it into four sections: the most mentioned books, the runner-ups, books related to diet, and cook books. 

Michael Pollan placed three books in the 10 most-mentioned. But plenty of other great voices are in the mix, speaking on industrial agriculture, the obesity crisis, migrant farmworkers, pesticides, urban farming, and more.

Read the full listing of food books here