New effort focused on rural hunger

The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) is partnering with Smithfield Foods to launch a program titled Rally Against Rural Hunger, which will be focused on increasing participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Summer Nutrition Programs, and other federal nutrition programs in the nation’s rural areas. 

“It’s our nation’s rural areas, which paradoxically grow most of the nation’s food, that face deeper struggles with hunger than metropolitan areas,” write Jim Weill, president of FRAC, and Dennis Pittman, senior director of Hunger Relief for Smithfield Foods, in this op-ed. North Carolina ranks 13th in the nation for food hardship and has the nation’s second-highest rural population. 

Source:  Smithfield Foods joins with anti-hunger group to feed rural NC – The News & Observer, June 14, 2017

New grant will help low-income people access local food

A new grant of $20,000 from the Allen Foundation arrived just at the right time for GardenShare.  These funds will be used over the next two years to subsidize low-income and working families to either purchase shares in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms, or to help those families purchase food at farmers markets.  In addition, the grant will support the distribution of farmers markets vouchers to children who receive backpacks of food from school.

We had 14 families on the waiting list for our CSA subsidy program for 2017.  While we have already served 30 other households with funds from other grants and individual donors, we had run out of funds to cover all who applied.  Happily, this grant means that we now have provided all 14 families on the waiting list with CSA assistance.

In addition, we had some funds to help families whose children receive backpacks of food from school during the summer, thanks to grants from the United Methodist Women and Stewart’s Shops.  But it was not enough to reach the three schools that we hoped to.  With this grant added to the mix, we distributed cards that can be redeemed at the farmers markets to students in the Canton Golden Bear Pack program, the Potsdam Snack Pack program, and the Massena Back the Pack program.  All three communities have farmers markets where families can use the cards to help purchase nutritious food while school is out for the summer.

GardenShare also has a new program in 2017 that will be funded by this grant.  In order to help lower-income and working families who do not receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called food stamps) benefits, GardenShare is implementing a subsidy for purchases at the farmers markets.  Families with annual incomes of approximately $50,000 or less can double their purchasing power at the farmers markets by buying cards that have a $10 value for just $5.   The cards are purchased from GardenShare and can be redeemed at the farmers markets in Canton, Gouverneur, Massena, and Potsdam.  Full details on eligibility and an application form are available at gardenshare.org  or by calling GardenShare at 315-261-8054.

The grant from the Allen Foundation is for two years and will support these same programs next growing season, though it does not cover the full cost of the programs.  GardenShare will seek other grants and donations to ensure the continuation this important work to help lower-income and working households obtain healthy food and to support local farmers.

Hunger 101 with the GardenShare team

Participants work on their budgets

Last evening, 20 people gathered for a Hunger 101 presentation, including GardenShare Board members, volunteers, and our staff.  Some of us had never taken part in a Hunger 101 simulation before and some were back for a second time and tried out a different role this time.

In looking through the participant comments from this session, it was striking to see the level of emotion reflected from this group of people who already know something about the issues around hunger.  Here's just a sample of the comments:

Applying for SNAP

• I felt like I had a lot of the same emotions and feelings that someone in that situation would have - hope, frustration, embarrassment, failure, etc. 

• The very uneasy feeling I got when interacting with the social services personnel - this is a powerful program to demonstrate that!

• I didn't like feeling helpless!

Read more about Hunger 101 here and contact us if you would like to schedule a Hunger 101 program for your group.

A line forms at the food pantry

Family Fun Day at the Farmers Market

This past Saturday at the Potsdam Farmers Market was a great example of what people working together can accomplish, not to mention the power of volunteer energy!

Our Family Day at the farmers market began with an inquiry from Canton Potsdam Hospital, which had a group of visiting medical students looking for a community service opportunity. We love volunteers at the farmers market, but a group of 5 was more than we needed to process debit, credit and EBT cards! So we decided this would be a great chance to shake off the cold and rain with games and fun activities for kids. After all, farmers markets are really about gathering as a community and celebrating local growth!

Our friends at Cornell Cooperative Extension promptly took the challenge and provided lots of fun props and materials, not to mention a fantastic cooking demo. CCE Intern Jason can make some killer salad dressing!

Farmers market manager Jen and Gardenshare staff filled in some crucial loose ends, and with veggie costumes on loan from Jefferson County, we were able to provide budget friendly fun to about 25 kids. We hope to replicate these efforts at other county farmers markets as the summer continues, so stay tuned!

A short story from last week's dinner

Just one more highlight from last week's dinner...

Jake's on the Water very generously donated a $100 gift card for GardenShare to raffle off.  We announced that we would be donating the proceeds of the drawing directly to help support low-income families with a subsidy to help them purchase a CSA share (at that point, we had 14 people on the waiting list).

People dug deep and the drawing netted $480 for GardenShare's work.

Typical story, right?

What made is special was that the winner of the gift card, Liliana Trevizan, was celebrating her birthday at the event.  Happy birthday, Liliana, and we hope you enjoy your return trip to Jake's!

Clarkson vegetable garden seeks volunteers

The Clarkson Vegetable Garden is intended to be a community effort with produced shared among workers and the Potsdam Neighborhood Center.  Please help us develop a community of gardeners. 

Please join us for weekly work parties throughout the summer. 

Tuesdays, from 12:00-1:00 

Wednesdays from about 5:00-7:00pm. 

The garden is located on the back side of Cheel near CAMP - everyone is welcome!

A creative thank you to teachers at school year end

School's out soon and many busy parents are looking for a way to acknowledge their children's teachers at the end of the year.

Instead of another coffee mug, consider a gift of healthy food! GardenShare's farmers market gift tokens come in $5 increments and can be used like cash at the farmers markets in Canton, Gouverneur, Massena, and Potsdam.

What a great way to say thank you and support local agriculture at the same time!