FOOD RECOVERY FOCUS

Last week, the US EPA spent Earth Day (April 22) focused on food waste. In 2015, the EPA and USDA set a national food waste reduction goal of 50% by 2030. About 40% of the nation’s food supply is lost or wasted; food loss and waste is estimated to cost retailers and consumers about $161 billion each year.

EPA’s strategy focuses on first reducing the production of surplus food, and then using excess food to feed hungry people, feed animals, produce energy, and improve soil through composting. Landfills are a last resort. Many states have implemented innovative laws and policies to address food recovery. In 2014, Massachusetts banned institutions and businesses that generate more than one ton of food and organic waste products per week from disposing these products in combustion facilities or landfills. Three other New England states, including Connecticut, and California, also require certain retailers and businesses to recycle food waste. To encourage food donation, several states—including Iowa, Colorado, and California—created a tax credit for farmers who donate food they produce to food pantries and food banks.

Source:  Council of State Governments, 4/22/16, Food Waste

Webinar: Farm to Summer: Incorporating local foods in Summer Food Service Programs

MSU Center for Regional Food Systems

May 3, 2016 2:00-3:30 pm ET

Summer Food Service Programs can be an ideal time to start looking at local purchasing. At the height of the Michigan farming season, there is more local product available than at any other time in the year. Farmers are often willing to sell seconds or bulk surpluses at a discounted rate, and what better way to take advantage of those than in your Summer Food Service Program! Join the Michigan Department of Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture, and MSU Center for Regional Food Systems for an interactive and informative webinar covering all things Farm to Summer. Hear about farm to summer programs happening in Michigan, learn how to incorporate local purchasing into your site’s meal program, and see how Farm to Summer programs can increase nutritional quality of meals and boost participation rates. Register here. 

KIDS ARE EATING HEALTHY SCHOOL LUNCHES

Schools can serve healthy lunches, but whether kids will eat them is a question that has been asked often since 2012-13, when updated national nutrition standards led districts across the United States to raise the nutritional quality of their meals. Multiple studies comparing students’ eating habits before and after these changes show that the answer is clearly yes.  For example, researchers from UConn’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity weighed and photographed lunches served to children at 12 Connecticut schools. Compared with 2012, the amount of their entrees that children ate increased by nearly 13 percentage points in 2013, and 18 percentage points of their vegetables by 2014. Food waste declined as a result. The researchers also found that greater variety led to healthier choices. Each additional fruit option offered was associated with a 9.3% increase in fruit servings selected by students.

Source: Pew Charitable Trust, 4/14/16, School Lunches

WIC CHANGES IMPROVE TODDLER’S NUTRITION

A change to the WIC nutrition program improved the diets of millions of young children in low-income families, a new study says. Researchers compared the eating habits of nearly 1,200 2- to 4-year-olds in low-income households before and after WIC was changed in 2009. With the revamp, more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat milk were included in the WIC food voucher package.

The change improved the diets for the approximately 4 million children in the program, according to the University of California (UC) study published.

Source: Health Day, 4/7/16, WIC Changes Work

Webinar: How to Successfully Implement Salad Bars in Your School Cafeteria

Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools

Thursday, April 28, 3pm ET

School salad bars are one of the easiest ways to meet the fruit and vegetable standards for school lunch, increase participation in the lunch program, reduce plate waste and increase student’s fruit and vegetable consumption. The Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools initiative has donated salad bars to more than 4,500 schools nationwide and has resources to help schools successfully implement salad bars. Hear from school food service directors about their experience with salad bars and how you can apply for salad bars from LMSB2S. Register here.

It's National Zucchini Bread Day

Happy National Zucchini Bread Day! While April may be a funny time to celebrate zucchini, many of us find that, after gardening season, we have zucchinis in the freezer for quite some time. To all of the home gardeners out there, are you looking for a tasty way to get rid of those extra zucchinis? Try this recipe that GardenShare’s intern Taylor Owen swears by (when her grandmother makes it, at least)!

This recipe freezes well and is enjoyable no matter the month! Enjoy!

BOOSTING SNAP BENEFITS CHEAPER THAN CORPORATE TAX BREAKS

A new report outlines four proposals to reduce poverty and expand opportunity for low-income Americans that would cost less than current tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. For example, letting US corporations defer paying taxes on their overseas profits currently costs the treasury almost $65 billion a year. It would cost just 1/3 that amount, $ 21.6 billion, to base SNAP benefits on USDA’s low-cost food plan instead of the basic food plan that is now used. The basic plan yields $1.41 per meal on average in benefits; switching to the low-cost plan would boost benefits by 30%, to $1.83 per meal.

Source: Center for American Progress, 4/14/16, Alternatives to Poverty

ChopChop: The Fun Cooking Magazine for Families

The award-winning ChopChop Magazine is an engaging tool for teaching kids about food and where it comes from, cooking, nutrition and health. Inspire and teach kids to cook real food through delicious, kid-tested recipes, fun food facts and puzzles, gardening activities and games to keep kids moving. Teachers use ChopChop as part of wellness and nutrition education programs throughout the country. Available in English and Spanish and endorsed by the Academy of Pediatrics, ChopChop is a quarterly magazine and does not contain any advertising. You can purchase a 1-year subscription (4 issues) for just $14.95. Teachers can purchase a special classroom package of 30 copies for $40 (shipping and handling included). Each teacher package includes curriculum which includes classroom activities, printables and math lessons in math, science, ELA and social studies. Download a free sample of ChopChop curriculum here.  ChopChop can also be purchased in large quantities of boxes of 50 copies for $65/box (includes shipping). For more information on custom programs and pricing, please contact Evilee Ebb at ev@chopchopmag.org.

USDA Grants for Food Safety Training, Outreach and Technical Assistance

The USDA has announced the availability of $4.7 million in grants for food safety education, training, and technical assistance projects that address the needs of owners and operators of small to mid-sized farms, beginning farmers, socially-disadvantaged farmers, small processors, small fresh fruit and vegetable merchant wholesalers, food hubs, farmers' markets, and others. The grants, offered through the Food Safety Outreach Program and administered by USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), are designed to help these stakeholders comply with new food safety guidelines established by the Food and Drug Administration under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Learn more here. 

FRAC Focus: Obesity and Poverty

The Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) is pleased to release this new issue of FRAC Focus: Obesity and Poverty. This periodical e-newsletter focuses on obesity and low-income children and adults, looking at the intersection of obesity, low income, food insecurity, the federal nutrition programs, and federal food and nutrition policy.

This issue first features a summary of the Aspen Institute’s Advancing Health through Food Security: A Multi-Sector Approach to Address the Disease Burden and Costs of U.S. Food Insecurity on our Health System. The report explores our current understanding of the short- and long-term impacts of food insecurity on healthcare costs as well as potential solutions to address food insecurity and its health implications. 

April 2016
Online Version

Help kids get meals in the summer

HOW DOES THIS PROGRAM WORK?

Purpose: To serve free, healthy meals to low-income children and teens during summer months when school is out. 

Where: Any safe place for kids (for example: school, park, rec center, library, faith organization, etc.) can be a summer meal site.

Who: Summer meal sites receive meals from local sponsoring organizations (for example: Boys and Girls Club, YMCA, local school district, etc.).  Sponsors prepare the food (or order it), deliver it to the meal site, and are reimbursed by USDA for the costs.

Eligibility: Any meal site open to the public is eligible if it is in a school attendance area where 50% or more children qualify for free and reduced-priced school meals.  If it is not open to the public (for example: a summer camp), 50% of more of the enrolled students must qualify for free and reduced-priced school meals.

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HOW DO I BECOME A SITE OR SPONSOR?

Contact your State Agency that operates the program for your state.  They will provide information about the eligibility of your area and local sponsors that serve meals to sites.

We encourage you to learn if sites are already nearby in your community before starting a new one.  Through community outreach and promotion of the program, you can increase the number of children participating in sites that already exist. 

Learn about sites that may have been in your community last summer, and nearby organizations that can work with sites through USDA's Summer Meals Capacity Builder.  It will be updated with 2016 meal sites closer to summer time.

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WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE?

Summer Meals Short Videos: Watch these inspiring YouTube videos about the program.

USDA Summer Meals Toolkit: Learn tips for getting the word out through community planning and outreach, success stories, and more.

Summer Food, Summer Moves Toolkit: Explore fun games that children can play at sites.

Earth Day is tomorrow - lots going on in Canton!

This year, people around the world will be celebrating the 46^th Earth Day on Friday, April 22.  There will be public rallies, protests against fossil fuels, and demonstrations about mass extinctions all over the globe.  But what’s happening in our neck of the woods?

Students at St. Lawrence University have taken it upon themselves to make sure that Earth Day does not go unnoticed.  Thursday night kicks off the “Earth Day Extravaganza” with an event called EARTHx – a spinoff of the international podcast series, TED Talks.  Professors and community members have been invited to answer the question, in a time of environmental crisis, how can we live right now?, from each of their unique perspectives.  Homesteaders, outdoor recreationalists, economists, farmers, and environmentalists are just some of the speakers who will have five minutes to share their personal stories.  EARTHx will take place on campus at Pub 56 at 7:OO PM, on Thursday, April 21.  The event is free and open to the public.  A map of St. Lawrence’s campus can be found here.

On Friday, the focus shifts to more community engagement and participation with the issues surrounding Earth Day, as students join together to stand up for the environment.

Plastic water bottles that were salvaged from trashcans will be strung together and hung up in Sullivan Student Center to showcase the ridiculous amount of waste produced by not using reusable water bottles.  White Spruce saplings will be planted in rusty oil barrels and placed on display in the Student Center to urge the St. Lawrence community to question our energy investments.  “On behalf of Mother Earth, let’s uproot society from the false security of fossil fuel dependency,” reads the sign that will accompany the trees.  Over one hundred people plan to “drop dead” during the lunch rush to represent the number of species that face extinction every day.  And the food miles of all of our exotic favorites will be calculated, as well as the carbon that their travel emits into the atmosphere, so that we might be less inclined to pick up that banana, and opt for the local apple instead.

Students have chosen to focus on the issues because they want to demonstrate that complacency is not an option.  The earth that we live on is experiencing huge amounts of environmental stress, and our actions have a direct impact on it.

From 12PM to 2PM, there will be a tie dying station outside the Student Center.  The dyes will be made from natural ingredients instead of chemicals, and will use locally grown products.  Beets, onion skins, and black beans – all grown by students at the Sustainability House on Rt. 68 in Canton – produce beautiful, earthy colors that aren’t toxic if they spill into the soil. Materials will be provided.  At 3PM, anyone is invited to the ice cream social behind Commons College at 78 Park Street in exchange for a few seeds sowed.  Seed to Table, a club on campus that grows food for the dining halls, needs help starting seeds for their upcoming season, and anyone can take a stab at making soil blocks or getting their hands dirty in the permaculture garden.  All of these events are free and open to the public.

But students aren’t the only ones celebrating Earth Day.  Nature Up North, another local non-profit, is hosting an #EncounterEarth campaign all day Friday which calls on participants to post a picture on their website of something they did outside.  Nature Up North hopes that the contest will urge people to get outdoors and appreciate their local environments – one lucky Encounter poster will win a prize!  You can find more information on how to participate here.

The festivities continue into the weekend, with Nature Up North’s Earth Day 7K at 9:30 on Saturday morning at the Wachtmeister Field Station.  After the race, runners can make their way to Folk Fest at St. Lawrence University, where bands from near and far will be playing music from noon to nearly midnight outside on the Java Quad.  Local vendors will be at the festival from 12PM until 6PM, so make sure to stop by and check them out – both GardenShare and Nature Up North will have tables there!

There are many ways to celebrate Earth Day, and many ways to make a difference.  Here at GardenShare, we hope that you will choose to think about where your food comes from and how it was grown – not just on Earth Day, but everyday.  Your choices have an impact on our environment and our community!  How will you be appreciating nature?

Free Webinar on How to Evaluate Economic Benefits of Local Food Systems

Local and regional food systems are helping revitalize rural and urban communities across the country.  The authors of a new U.S. Department of Agriculture guide to evaluate the economic impacts of investing in farmers markets, community supported agriculture (CSA), food hubs, and other local food systems will discuss the toolkit during a free webinar on Thursday, April 28, 2016, at 3 p.m. E.T.

The Economics of Local Food Systems: A Toolkit to Guide Community Discussions, Assessments and Choices, developed by the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) in cooperation with Colorado State University (CSU), uses real-world projects, experiences, and applied research to help community leaders, planners, economic development specialists, public agencies, and private businesses or foundations evaluate the economic benefits of local and regional food systems.

Audience:       Community leaders, planners, economic development specialists, public agencies, and private businesses or foundations

What:              Free webinar on how to use The Economics of Local Food Systems: A Toolkit to Guide Community Discussions, Assessments and Choices. The webinar will last approximately 90- minutes.

When:             3 p.m. E.T., Thursday, April 28, 2016

Speakers:        Debra Tropp, USDA Agricultural Marketing Service

Alfonso Morales, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Becca Jablonski, Colorado State University

Dave Swenson, Iowa State University

Dawn Thilmany, Colorado State University

To register for the webinar, please use this link: http://goo.gl/forms/JIOrvfQiMM

If you have any questions, please email: becca.jablonski@colostate.edu

THE SAFETY NET IS FRAYING

Today, in large part because of welfare reform laws enacted in 1996, the safety net—the set of government efforts to come to the aid of the country’s citizens when they are down on their luck, much of which has existed since the Great Depression—is thin and getting thinner. The number of people receiving cash assistance, the traditional form of welfare, dropped to 3 million today from 13 million in 1995. Welfare reform had big goals of moving people to self-sufficiency by training them to work. But it did little to create job opportunities or the types of programs that help people stay in jobs once they get them. Instead, they’re on their own.

And this thinning goes beyond giving needy families cash support: On April 1, between 500,000 and one million childless adults will lose access to food stamps). This is the belated consequence of a rule that was part of the 1996 welfare reform, which stipulated that childless adults can only receive three months of food stamps if they aren’t employed at least 20 hours a week or in a training program. For years states received waivers for the rule, but in many states, governors have chosen not to ask for extensions for this year.

Source: Atlantic, 4/1/16, Safety Net Frays

DRUG TESTING SNAP RECIPIENTS

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and 11 other Republican governors have asked Congress to allow their states to drug test SNAP recipients. Their letter asserts that “Drug testing recipients of SNAP benefits… will aid in our ability to move individuals off of this welfare program and back into the workforce as productive members of their communities.” But research shows that drug testing welfare recipients is a solution in search of a problem. While the federal government has thus far vetoed state proposals to drug test SNAP recipients, states are allowed to drug test people who receive cash welfare benefits from the TANF program. Seven states do so, but, as of early 2015, the positive test rates in all but one were below 1%, and all of them were below the national drug use rate. Those states together spent nearly $1 million on the testing.

Source: Think Progress, 4/13/16, SNAP Drug Tests

Project Produce: Fruit and Veggie Grants for Schools

The Chef Ann Foundation has $250,000 available to support school lunchroom learning programs. Project Produce: Fruit and Veggie Grants for Schools is a grant program designed to help increase kids’ access to fresh fruits and vegetables and create experiential nutrition education when and where students make their food choices: in the cafeteria. The $2,500 one-year grants support food costs to incorporate school-wide fruit and vegetable tastings into the school's nutrition program. Any district or independent school participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is eligible to apply. Grants will be determined on an ongoing basis depending on available funding; there is no application deadline. Learn more here. An information webinar about applying for the grants will be offered on Wednesday, April 27 from 4-5pm ET. Register here. 

GardenShare receives grant from Excellus

Excellus BlueCross BlueShield selects seven Central New York nonprofit organizations to receive Community Health Awards

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Seven nonprofit Central New York organizations have been chosen from among a total of 185 applications to receive Excellus BlueCross BlueShield’s 2016 Community Health Awards. Each award recipient today received up to $4,000 of the $87,000 allocated by the company to help fund health and wellness programs in its 31-county upstate New York region.

Through a competitive application process, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield’s Community Health Awards support programs that have clear goals to improve the health or health care of a specific population.

Awards focus on improving the health status of the community, reducing the incidence of specific diseases, promoting health education and enhancing overall wellness and are made based on scope of need, goals of the program, number of people expected to benefit from the program and positive impact on the community’s health status.

The seven nonprofit organizations in the Central New York region selected to receive Excellus BlueCross BlueShield’s Community Health Awards are: 

·         Canton Woods Senior Center, Baldwinsville, to install a hydration station (including a water fountain and bottle filling station) and provide educational information on the health benefits of proper hydration to help improve the health of senior participants.

·         Community Health Center of the North Country, Canton, to make 250 carbon monoxide detectors and 300 informational brochures available to St. Lawrence County residents, 26 percent of whom do not have a carbon monoxide detector in their homes.

·         Cornell Cooperative Extension Association of Jefferson County, Watertown, to fund “4-H Up for the Challenge” at after-school programs in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties. The program’s research-based curriculum helps youth set goals and make healthy decisions regarding physical activity, health and nutrition.

·         GardenShare, Canton, to make bonus Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits available to low-income St. Lawrence County residents who shop at farmer’s markets. The bonus benefits will help low-income families increase their consumption of healthy fruits and vegetables.

·         InterFaith Works, Syracuse, to create a Refugee Wellness Program that addresses depression, loneliness and health imbalances among refugees who are experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the war, violence and oppression they have experienced.

·         SAGE Upstate, Syracuse, to offer cultural competency training and resources for health professionals who provide services for older gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals in Cortland, Onondaga and Oswego counties. Funds would also be used to produce a resource guide of supportive services for older GLBT county residents.

·         YWCA of Cortland, to support the organization’s newly formed group for girls in grade 6 through 8 who reside in low-income homes and experience stress. The girls will learn many skills, including nutrition, personal health and safety, appropriate social interaction and leadership.

“The company’s Community Health Awards demonstrate a corporate commitment to support local organizations that share our mission as a nonprofit health plan,” said Jim Reed, regional president, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. “These awards complement our existing grants and sponsorships with agencies that work to enhance quality of life, including health status, in upstate New York.”

In the 80 years that Excellus BlueCross BlueShield has been serving residents of upstate New York, the company has supported hundreds of programs that are aimed at improving the health status of area residents.

Summer EBT extended, but not to the North Country

USDA recently announced $26.9 million in grant funds to be distributed among eight grantees to continue administering pilots of the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) programs, providing summertime nutrition assistance to children who receive free and reduced price meals during the school year. In addition to funding existing pilots for summer2016, these grants will extend benefits to new rural areas, Tribal Nations, and areas of extreme need.  Unfortunately, the North Country is not among the areas receiving this funding.

Summer EBT provides a monthly benefit on a debit-type card that can be used throughout the summer for food purchases at authorized stores. Summer EBT is a complement to traditional summer meals programs, which offer no cost summer meals at approved sites, and is especially valuable in areas with limited or no access to traditional summer meals programs.

Summer EBT, which is currently operating as demonstration project, was first funded by Congress in 2010. Rigorous evaluations of these pilots found that Summer EBT can significantly reduce very low food security among children, the most severe form of food insecurity, by one-third. Studies also showed that these additional resources enabled families to eat more healthfully, eating significantly more fruits and vegetables and whole grains – key building blocks to better health. Based on these proven successes, the President's proposed plan would allow Summer EBT to reach nearly 20 million children once fully implemented.

USDA Seeks Applications for Grants to Help Agricultural Producers Increase the Value of Their Products

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is making up to $44 million available to farmers, ranchers and businesses to develop new bio-based products and expand markets through the Value-Added Producer Grant program. "America's farmers, ranchers and rural business owners are innovative entrepreneurs and this program helps them grow economic opportunities for their families and communities by increasing the value of the items they produce," Vilsack said. "The Value-Added Producer Grant program has a great track record of helping producers increase the value of products and expand their markets and customer base, strengthening rural America in the process." Value-Added Producer Grants may be used to develop new products and create additional uses for existing ones. Priority for these grants is given to veterans, members of socially disadvantaged groups, beginning farmers and ranchers, and operators of small- and medium-sized family farms and ranches. Additional priority is given to applicants who seek funding for projects that will create or increase marketing opportunities for these types of operators. More information on how to apply is on page 20607 of the April 8 Federal Register. The deadline to submit paper applications is July 1, 2016. Electronic applications submitted through grants.gov are due June 24, 2016. Additional information and assistance is available through the USDA Rural Development Office serving your county.

SNAP participation drops by more than a million people

Nationwide, SNAP caseloads dropped by 1.3 million people in January 2016, as compared to January 2015.  SNAP participation is at its lowest level since April of 2011.

Lower SNAP caseloads is likely due to an improving economy, and yet despite economic improvement, food hardship remains high, with a Gallup poll showing that 17% or respondents did not have enough money to feed themselves in the first half of 2015.

Source:  Food Research and Action Center, much more detail here

LIBRARIES SERVE HUNGRY PEOPLE

A growing number of library systems are adding services for patrons who are homeless, hungry, or suffering from drug addiction or mental illness. Increasingly, public libraries also are providing social services, such as serving children free lunches during the summer, said Sari Feldman, president of the American Library Association. Public libraries have expanded services in a number of ways. San Francisco was the first to hire a social worker, in 2009. Washington and Denver have followed suit. The Dallas Public Library has used grant money to station two AmeriCorps volunteers at a help desk where they might help proofread resumes or help with food stamp applications — and to hire someone who refers patrons to social services. Since 2012, three outreach workers at the Salt Lake City Public Library do everything from giving directions to nearby food banks to escorting victims of domestic violence to battered women’s shelters and helping patrons get state ID cards.

Source: Stateline, 4/4/16, Libraries 

Ag Studies Academy Launched at Extension Learning Farm

State Senator Patty Ritchie announced that the new state budget includes $200,000 in “seed money” to help launch the brand new North Country Agricultural Studies Academy, to help introduce and train a new generation of young farmers. “Agriculture is the most important industry in the North Country and throughout New York State, and today’s farmers—and those of the future—need innovative business and technology skills, in addition to good old fashioned farming know-how, to ensure their success,” said Senator Ritchie. Senator Ritchie toured facilities that will be home to the Ag Academy, including buildings once used by SUNY Canton’s agriculture programs, with representatives from Cooperative Extension and BOCES, as well as farmers and future farmer-members of FFA. Click Here to Read More

THE HIGH COST OF HUNGER

Hunger costs the U.S. at least $160 billion in poor health outcomes and additional healthcare expenses – and about half of these hunger-related health costs ($78.7 billion) were due to depression, anxiety or suicide. Research shows that children who grow up in impoverished or food-insecure households are exposed to toxic levels of stress that contribute to the early onset of chronic diseases and make children more vulnerable to depression and thoughts of suicide, substance abuse, and dropping out of school. Not finishing school severely limits employment opportunities in adulthood. The mental burden of hunger does not ease with age. Food-insecure seniors are 60 percent more likely to experience depression than their food-secure counterparts,

Source: Bread for the World, 3/29/16, Hunger & Mental Health

North Country Matters features GardenShare

Gloria McAdam, the Executive Director of GardenShare, discusses issues of poverty, food deserts, local food systems, and the work of GardenShare to address them with real solutions with host Ann Carvill.

UGLY FOOD PILOT PROJECT READY TO GO

Whole Foods Market will begin a pilot project later this spring offering “ugly” produce for sale in certain California stores. Whole Foods already uses this produce in its prepared foods, but it intends to put the produce on display and sell it with other fruits and vegetables. The goal is to reduce food going to waste, which the USDA estimates affects approximately one-third of the total food supply. Supermarkets in Europe and Australia already successfully sell “imperfect” produce. In addition to Whole Foods’ project, several companies and nonprofits in the U.S. are seeking to make this produce available at below-supermarket prices. One, located outside of Boston, has experienced enough success to consider expansion to other areas.

Source: CT Office of Legislative Research, 3/29/16, Ugly Food

NOFA-NY On-Farm Skills Development Guide

NOFA-NY's On-Farm Skills Development Guide is a tool for farmers and mentors to use with employees, beginning farmers or anyone they are teaching to develop a hands-on farm- based learning plan. 

Beginning farmers also can use it as a self-assessment tool to determine current strengths and weaknesses, and to identify critical learning needs. Click here for a downloadable PDF or excel spreadsheet.

POLICY CHANGES CAN INCREASE ACCESS TO ASSISTANCE

Six states participating in a work support strategies initiative identified and

adopted various policy changes to improve the delivery of work supports to low-

income families. By simplifying program policies by, for example, reducing unnecessary verification requirements, they sought to streamline access to work support programs. Simultaneously, they sought to align policies across different work support programs to reduce administrative burdens on families that qualify for more than one program. Through both kinds of policy changes—within and across programs—states sought to improve access to and retention of benefits. In SNAP, for example, changes reduced the use of face-to-face interviews, simplified verification requirements, and lengthened certification periods.

Source: Urban Institute, 3/29/16, Policy Changes

Food Bank supports gardens at local programs

Edible gardens increase food security and nurture a meaningful connection between the community and growing nutritious fresh foods.

One of the goals of Food Bank of Central New York is to engage local food pantries,  free will dinners, and community members in projects supporting community food security. Through the Food Bank's Garden Grant program, these partners can receive $250 toward establishing or expanding an edible garden.

Awards will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. It is a rolling application process with no deadline to apply. Award applicants will have to meet the criteria outlined in the application and provide all the information to receive the award. The application can be accessed online under Get Help/Community Services.

Garden installation and start-up may be assisted by Food Bank staff upon request. Partner Agencies are responsible for maintaining and sustaining the garden and, of course, reaping the reward of freshly grown produce! So Let’s Get Growing!

BEAUTIFYING FOOD WASTE

In Jean-François Millet’s 1857 painting “The Gleaners,” three women in a cornfield pick what harvesters have left behind, collecting and eventually making use of what would otherwise be wasted. It’s one of, if not the, most famous depictions of food rescue. Contemporary Brooklyn artist Alizazarov is a modern food rescue artist. Her “Waste Not” project began in 2011 when a local paper assigned her an Earth Day story to trail a “freegan.” Using freegan directories, Eliazarov intercepts food shortly after grocery stores or bakeries put it to the curb in trash bags and before it is picked up by garbage collection. Back in her studio, she gives the food two new uses. First, she arranges the tableau; then she eats. Eliazarov’s project has grown beyond still lifes of food waste to working with food rescue organizations, including photographing apple orchard gleaners with the Connecticut Food Bank.

Source: Christian Science Monitor, 3/28/16, Food Waste Artist

Defining what makes a community "low-income"

Some of the federal nutrition programs that serve children from low-income families – afterschool, summer and childcare food – use an overly restrictive area eligibility test in order to provide reimbursements to serve snacks and meals. That test defines a low-income area as one where more than 50 percent of children eligible for free or reduced-price school meals.

This 50 percent area eligibility test is the most restrictive test these programs have ever had. Prior to 1981, for example, the threshold for an area participating in Summer Food was 33 percent.

It’s harder for rural areas like St. Lawrence County to meet this 50 percent requirement since poverty is less concentrated. If Congress lowered this threshold to 40 percent, millions of low-income children would gain access to summer, after school, and childcare food.  This map shows that virtually every community in St. Lawrence County would then be eligible for these programs.

Key for Map: The red areas on the map are currently eligible. If area eligibility is lowered to 40 percent, the blue areas would become eligible.

Source:  Food Research and Action Center, www.frac.org

LOW-INCOME FAMILIES BENEFIT FROM COOKING PROGRAMS

A new study shows that a six-week cooking, shopping and nutrition course for low-income families has a powerful and sustained effect. Families report shopping smarter, eating healthier, and preparing more meals at home even six months after completing the course. What's more, they no longer regularly worry that their food might run out each month. The study found families have more confidence in the kitchen; are eating healthier, putting them at lower risk for diet-related diseases; and are more confident that they'll be able to afford enough food. Before taking the course, families sometimes worried that food might run out each month. Six months later, participants reported they rarely worry. Seventeen percent said they were more confident in stretching food dollars due to strategies they learned, like planning meals, shopping with a list and comparing unit prices.

Source: PR Newswire, 3/29/16, Cooking Skills

Introducing one of GardenShare's interns

Did you  know that GardenShare has only one full-time and two part-time employeesy?  This small, but mighty organization gets so much done in the community that it may surprise you!  Lots of that work is done by student interns and volunteers and today's blog entry comes from one of those interns.

"My name is Dan Pollis and I am a sophomore at St. Lawrence University. When I applied to SLU, after having grown up in New York City, I was thoroughly aware of its geographic placement, that placement being in Canton, New York. I was very aware of the potentially culture shock I might face, but I was excited for the change in scenery and change in environment. Canton lies within what is called the North Country. The tip-top of New York State and the coldest place on earth, as some might like to argue. But for being recognized as such a distant community within the large borders that make up our wonderful state; I have felt nothing but welcomed and loved when living up here in the NoCo. 

"Since St. Lawrence County has welcomed me with open arms I thought I should give something back in return. This semester, my Sophomore spring, I signed up for a CBL class at St. Lawrence. CBL means Community Based Learning and my class specifically deals with civic engagement. In our class of 20 or so people we each, for the most part, have our own placements within our CBL class; mine being GardenShare. Nearing the end of January I first arrived one snowy Monday morning to the office of GardenShare just a few miles from Campus. 

"From the moment I first sat down up until this very point in early April I have had a constantly altering and growing list of tasks. Whether small or big, I always enjoy helping out the people at GardenShare. My time is valuable to them, even if I’m one of a few volunteers/interns who come in throughout the week. Since it’s a nonprofit, people who choose to spend a few hours a week helping assist GardenShare in raising awareness and fighting hunger are important towards living in a better world. Work will always be given to me every time I show up on my Monday mornings because I know fighting hunger is big fight, and organizations like GardenShare can use all the help from the public they can get; and I’m happy to be a part of this team. I have learned so much about the status of our nation and specifically the status of our county just from my few short months of volunteering. I’m excited for what the rest of the spring has to bring the team at Garden hare, and I’m ecstatic to be here."

Vets Growing Berries workshop

Vets Growing BerriesSaturday, April 23^rd, 9am-2pm
Apple Hills, 131 Brooks Rd, Binghamton, NY

Calling All Veterans: 
Do you have an interest in growing strawberries, raspberries, blackberries or other small fruits? Maybe you’d like to start a U-pick, or sell at your local Farmers Market?

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Broome County (Binghamton, NY) will be hosting a workshop with Cornell University faculty to teach about growing and marketing berries, and then will host an on-farm hands-on component at a local farm to see some techniques in action.

Register online here: https://reg.cce.cornell.edu/vetsgrowingberries_203. $15 per person includes all materials and lunch.

Priority for spots will be given to veterans in the New York State, but others are welcome to attend as space permits.

This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2015-70017-22882.

STATE TRENDS IN LOCAL FOOD SYSTEMS

In recent years, state legislatures have been active across a several policy areas: local food system approaches; farm-to-school programs; farmers’ markets; community gardens and urban agriculture; healthy grocery retail and food policy councils.  Take for example farmers’ markets. There are now 8,394 farmers’ markets in the U.S. as compared to 1,755 in 1944. State policymakers have recognized farmers’ markets ability to provide access to healthy, local food options for low-income and food insecure populations. From 2012-2014, eight states passed legislation supporting or expanding the ability to use SNAP, WIC, and senior nutrition program benefits at farmers’ markets. In New York, the Governor’s FreshConnect Check Program provides incentive checks for SNAP consumers at farmers market and Veterans, Servicemembers and their immediate family members at Veteran’s Affairs Offices. 

Source: National Conference of State Legislatures, 3/30/16, State Trends

GreenWorks! Grant Program

Project Learning Tree offers grants up to $1,000 to schools and youth organizations for environmental service-learning projects that link classroom learning to the real world. Students implement an action project they help design to green their school or to improve an aspect of their neighborhood’s environment. The projects partner students with their whole school, local businesses and/or community organizations, and provide opportunities for student leadership.

The funds can be used by students to implement recycling programs at their school, conserve water and energy, establish school gardens and outdoor classrooms, improve a forest, or restore a natural habitat, for example. To be eligible, applicants must have attended a PLT workshop, either in-person or online, that provides training, lesson plans, and other resources to help integrate these projects and environmental education into your curriculum or youth programs.
Deadline: September 30, 2016


https://www.plt.org//apply-for-greenworks-environmental-education-grant

BUILDING LOCAL FOOD SYSTEMS

A new resource from USDA can help communities make the economic case for investments in local food. “The Economics of Local Food Systems: A Toolkit to Guide Community Discussions, Assessments and Choices” will help local food stakeholders–including farmers markets, food hubs, and other local food outlets–tell the story of how investing in strong local and regional food systems can revitalize rural and urban economies across the country.  The toolkit allows communities to conduct reliable economic impact assessments of investing in local food system initiatives.  The Toolkit uses real-world projects, experiences, and applied research, making it a practical and useable resource for community leaders, businesses, and others.

Source: USDA, 3/24/16, Local Food Systems