Nature Conservancy Seeks Proposals for School Gardens

The Nature Conservancy is awarding grants to support projects that implement green infrastructure to address local environmental challenges. These include access to healthy food, air quality, heat island effect, climate change, or storm water collection. Young people will work as social innovators to help their communities through project design and implementation. A $2,000 grant will be awarded to 55 schools. Applications must be submitted online by 5 PM ET October 31, 2016. 

Learn more here.

STRENGTHENING FARM-TO-SCHOOL PROGRAMS

USDA is making up to $5 million in grant funds available to help schools create or strengthen farm to school programs this school year. Farm to School Grants fund school districts, state and local agencies, agricultural producers, and nonprofit organizations that seek to increase local foods served through child nutrition programs, teach children about food and agriculture through garden and classroom education, and develop schools’ and farmers’ capacities to participate in farm to school. They can use the funds for training, supporting operations, planning, purchasing equipment, developing school gardens, developing partnerships, and implementing farm to school programs. This year, awards ranging from $20,000 to $100,000 will be distributed in four different grant categories: Planning, Implementation, Support Service, and Training.  Applications are due on grants.gov by December 8, 2016.

Source: USDA, 9/13/16, Farm-to-School

MODELING A BETTER PLAN TO REDUCE HUNGER

New research using innovative simulation modelling techniques demonstrates that SNAP, WIC, and School Lunch Program are key components of a plan to reduce food insecurity. The research finds that:

• If SNAP benefits were increased by basing the calculation on the Low Cost Food Plan, SNAP-participant families with children would have an 8% increase in purchasing power for food. This would result in 5.3% of currently food-insecure people in families with children becoming food secure.
• If WIC age-eligibility were increased to age 6, 2.2% of newly eligible 5-year-olds’ families would increase their food purchasing power. This change would result in 1.5% of WIC-eligible food-insecure 5-year-olds and their families becoming food secure.
• Over 13% of all children whose family food purchasing power was increased by their participation in the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs shifted into a higher income-to-poverty-ratio category. This resulted in 1.7% of food-insecure families of students participating in school lunches and 1% of food-insecure families of students participating in school breakfasts to become fully food secure in 2014.

Source: Children’s Health Watch, 9/20/16, Modeling Change

USDA Farm to School Grant RFA Open

USDA has announced the release of the FY 2017 Farm to School Grant Program Request for Applications. Up to $5 million in grant funds is available to help schools create or strengthen farm to school programs this school year. Awards ranging from $20,000 to $100,000 will be distributed in four different grant categories: Planning, Implementation, Support Service, and Training.  Applications are due by December 8, 2016.  OnThursday, September 29, at 1pm EST, USDA will host a webinar to review the RFA and assist eligible entities in preparing proposals.

Learn more here. 

WIC GAP COULD LEAVE SOME KIDS HUNGRY

University of Missouri researcher have found that 5% of the estimated 900,000 children that use WIC could be going hungry because they turn 5 years old before going into kindergarten where they could get school meals. By law, children are eligible for WIC assistance only until they turn age five. It would require an act of Congress to get the requirements changed. The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry passed a bill in January  to have eligibility end at 6 years old.

Source: KOMU TV, 9/20/16, WIC Gap

Hunger 101 presentation at Little River School

On Friday afternoon, I presented GardenShare's Hunger 101 program at the Little River School in Canton.  The participants included high school students from Little River and St. Lawrence University students from Commons College.

Hunger 101 is an interactive, role-playing exercise that allows participants to experience some of the challenges of trying to feed a family on a tight budget.

Here are are few of the responses students gave to the question, "What is the most important thing you learned from Hunger 101?"

• How pervasive the issue of hunger is and the number of obstacles folks face
• That the issue of hunger is systemic, but there are small things we can do to help create change on a local level
• There are more hunger issues in St. Lawrence County than I thought
• How hard it is to get by, even with SNAP
• How hard it can be to acquire nutritious food on a limited budget
• That volunteering our time is a step in the right direction
• 20% of St. Lawrence County families do not make enough to provide sufficient food

Would you like to have a Hunger 101 presentation at your church, school, or other organization?  Get in touch!

Gloria

FOOD HARDSHIP HIGHER IN HOUSEHOLDS WITH CHILDREN

Despite an improving economy, far too many Americans — and, especially, far too many children — still live in households that struggle against hunger, according to a new report that finds one in five households with children suffers from food hardship nationally, and in nearly half of the states. The food hardship rate for households with children (19.2%) is considerably higher than the rate for households without children (14.2%). Among the nation’s 100 largest urban areas, 45 had food hardship rates above 20% for households with children.

Source: Food Research & Action Center, 9/20/16, Food Hardship

NY Grown and Certified

The New York State Grown and Certified Program was introduced by Governor Cuomo in August.  New York State Grown and Certified highlights the products of farmers who follow superior health and safety and environmental practices.  There are three elements to New York State Grown and Certified.

o          Products must be grown on a farm in New York State

o          The farm must have a Good Agricultural Practices, (GAP) or equivalent certification

o          The farm must be working with their local Soil and Water Conservation District on the                Agricultural Environmental Management Program, (AEM)

A significant marketing campaign will be undertaken to feature products from farms with the New York State Grown and Certified designation.  This will enable those farms to differentiate their products from other products in the marketplace.

There is no cost to the New York State Grown and Certified Program.  If a farm meets the requirements and completes an application, they will be part of the program. 

If you would like an application or more information on the Program or GAP and AEM please contact:nysgrownandcertified@agriculture.ny.gov  or 800-544-4501, option 3.

School garden grants available

Safer Brand, a company that sells organic gardening products, just announced they will be starting an annual school garden grant to help kids build healthy habits through gardening. Watch their video about how school gardens help kids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW6hKrZf-TU To find more info on the School Garden Grant, visit their site: http://www.saferbrand.com/blog/how-to-start-a-school-garden/  Applications are due December 1.

COALITION ASKS CANDIDATES TO TALK ABOUT HUNGER

A coalition of 166 anti-hunger and -poverty groups has delivered the names of more than 631,000 voters to the Clinton and Trump campaign headquarters. The voters signed a petition calling on the political parties, candidates, and this Congress to make ending hunger a top priority. The Vote to End Hunger coalition also delivered the names to NBC News anchor Lester Holt, who will moderate the first presidential debate on Sept. 26. The coalition is urging Holt to ask Clinton and Trump the following question: “If elected, what will you do to end hunger, alleviate poverty, and create opportunity in the U.S. and worldwide?”

Source: WAAYTV, 9/14/16, Debating Hunger

HUNGER CAN FORCE TEENS INTO BAD CHOICES

Food insecurity and hunger is causing many young people to stay with friends or relatives, engage in criminal behavior, and sell sex or drugs to buy food, according to a new study. An estimated 6.8 million people ages 10 to 17 are food insecure, meaning they don’t have reliable access to enough affordable, nutritious food. Another 2.9 million are very food insecure, and roughly 4 million live in marginally food secure households, where the threat of running out of food is real. The report analyses the results of 20 focus groups with at-risk teenagers in 10 communities, finding that teen food insecurity is widespread but that young people will go to great lengths to hide their struggle to find food. Some participants talked about intentionally going to jail or failing classes in order to attend summer school as viable strategies for ensuring regular meals, according to the study.

Source: Urban Institute, 9/12/16, Teen Hunger

SNAP LIFTS MILLIONS OUT OF POVERTY

The Census Bureau’s annual report on poverty, income, and health coverage shows major economic improvement on a number of indicators, including a drop in poverty from 14.8% of Americans in 2014 to 13.5% in 2015. Virtually all groups of Americans, including children, shared in the poverty reduction, with about one million fewer children living in poverty and the child poverty rate improving from 21.1 percent in 2014 to 19.7 percent in 2015. Notably, the report quantifies the continued success of SNAP, School Lunch Program, and the Earned Income Tax Credit in helping large numbers of Americans.  For example, the Census Bureau’s special poverty measure, which estimate the effects of the EITC, SNAP, and other programs on poverty (necessary because these programs are not included in the regular poverty measure), finds that in 2015,  SNAP raised 4.6 million people out of poverty, the EITC and other refundable tax credits affected 9.2 million, and school lunches boosted 1.2 million.

Source: Center for Law & Social Progress, 9/13/16, Poverty Uplift

How colleges can help low-income students

Education institutions must “engage the village” — including social workers and nutrition assistance programs — to help fight poverty and financial stresses faced by today’s college students, writes Sara Goldrick-Rab, professor of higher-education policy and sociology at Temple University and founder of the Wisconsin HOPE Lab, in this op-ed. Research on 3,000 Pell Grant recipients at Wisconsin’s 42 public college and universities found that “a significant fraction of students are going without sufficient food or housing,” and rather than families supporting their children financially while in college, the reverse is happening for low-income students.

What Colleges Can Do Right Now to Help Low-Income Students Succeed – Chronicle of Higher Education, August 28, 2016

Another possible funding source for school garden projects

Project Learning Tree (PLT) offers GreenWorks! 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 to implement recycling programs at schools, 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/resources/greenworks-grants/

New York Farm Viability Institute seeks grant proposals

The New York Farm Viability Institute (NYFVI) is seeking proposals for its competitive grant
program. NYFVI grants connect farmer-identified needs to practical research and education
solutions for positive farm-level impact. Proposals are welcome from any individual, business or
organization seeking to build and share knowledge to improve the economic viability of New
York’s farmers. NYFVI funds projects that reflect the diversity of NY agriculture’s production
sectors, farm sizes, production practices, and geographic regions. The organization seeks to fund
projects that demonstrate: Broad-based support from farmers; Farm-level impacts within the life
of the grant; State-, region-, or industry-wide emphasis and application; Cost-effectiveness and
value. Eligible grant applicants include farmer groups, researchers, educators, organizations,
agencies and businesses. Applicants may represent nonprofit or for-profit sectors. NYFVI
encourages individuals with ideas to partner with existing organizations to ensure project
viability and execution.

Deadline: November 10, 2016

http://www.nyfvi.org/

Agriculture Energy Audit Program

NYSERDA offers financial assistance to identify electric and natural gas energy efficiency
measures for eligible farms and on-farm producers, including but not limited to: dairies,
orchards, greenhouses, vegetables, vineyards, grain dryers, and poultry/egg. NYSERDA will
assign Flexible Technical Assistance (FlexTech) Program Consultants to perform energy audits
to eligible farms. The program offers free energy audits on a first-come, first-served basis, and is
connecting producers with funding to implement the recommended energy efficiency practices.
This is a great opportunity for producers to learn where to save energy on their operations, and to
take advantage of funding that can help them reduce energy costs.

https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Programs/Agriculture-Energy-Audit

Whole Kids Foundation School Garden Grant Opportunity

This annual grantmaking program supports school garden projects designed to help students
learn about topics such as nutrition and health, sustainability and conservation, food systems, and community awareness. Garden projects may be at any stage of development (planning,
construction, or operation); year-long projects will be funded $2,000. Priority will be given to
both limited-resource communities and to projects that demonstrate strong buy-in from
stakeholders as well as the ability to financially sustain the garden. Eligibility: an applicant must
be a nonprofit K-12 school (public, private, or charter) and/or a 501(c)(3) organization that is
developing or currently maintaining a garden project on school grounds as a way to interest
children in fresh fruits and vegetables. In addition, the applicant must have the support of a
specific partner organization from the community (a nonprofit, farm, local business, Whole
Foods store, or garden club) that brings added support and sustainability to the initiative. The
applicant, if a nonprofit, may be the community partner for the grant.

Deadline: October 31, 2016

https://www.wholekidsfoundation.org/index.php/schools/programs/school-garden-grantprogram

AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS SCARCE IN HIGH-POVERTY COMMUNITIES

Despite higher demand for afterschool programs in communities of concentrated poverty, many low-income families face barriers to participating in such programs, according to a new report from the Afterschool Alliance. America After 3 PM finds that 67% of parents living in areas where the poverty rate is 30% percent or higher struggle to find a quality afterschool environment for their child, compared to 46% of parents in other communities. Affordability, poor transportation networks, hours of operation, and inconvenient locations were the primary obstacles facing parents looking for a program. The authors recommend increased investment in public afterschool programs, integrating other social services such as affordable housing and meals into afterschool programs, and raising awareness about the effectiveness of such programs in low-income communities.

Source: Spotlight on Poverty, 9/7/16, Afterschool

WEST COAST FOOD ACTIVIST THINKS BIG

Even though he knew nothing about farming, Ed Zigas became the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association’s first Food and Agriculture Policy Director in  2011. Since then he has co-authored research about city support for urban agriculture, the benefits of strong regional food systems, and improving access to healthy food—all issues with a broad impact in the nine-county Bay Area, a complex web of urban, suburban, and rural areas steeped in agriculture where 10% of adults struggle to put three meals a day on the table. Zigas’s next a big project is to build political support for state or federal funding of matching public assistance dollars to low-income people similar to the ones that have become popular at farmers markets around the country—but at grocery stores. He’s applied for funding from the USDA to launch a pilot grocery store program, based on a similar initiative in Michigan.

Source: Civil Eats, 9/2/16, Food Activist

CHILD FOOD INSECURITY HITS NEW LOW

USDA says that food insecurity among American children has fallen to record low levels.  A new report finds children were food insecure at times during the year in 7.8% of U.S. households with children (3.0 million households), down significantly from 9.4% in 2014. The estimated percentage of all U.S. households that were food insecure in 2015 also declined significantly from 2014, to 12.7%, continuing a downward trend from a high of 14.9% in 2011. But the 2015 figure was still above the 2007 prerecessionary level of 11.1%. Very low food security dropped to 5% in 2015 from a peak of 5.7%. Nearly 60% of food-insecure households reported that they had participated in one or more of the three largest Federal nutrition assistance programs (SNAP; WIC; and National School Lunch Program).

Source: USDA, 9/7/16, Food Insecurity

Food banks to receive cheese from USDA purchase

US dairy farmers are facing record-levels of excess cheese, so USDA is purchasing about $20 million worth of cheese from dairy farmers and giving it to food banks across the country. (The dairy industry asked USDA to buy $150 million worth of cheese.) This is good news for dairy farmers who have seen falling prices and excess cheese in storage and for food banks, who say that cheese is popular but ‘hard to get.’ But, while cheese is in high demand at food banks, high dairy consumption is linked to obesity, diabetes, and inflammation. The USDA distribution comes at a time when some food banks are refusing low-nutrient, high-calorie foods and encouraging their retail partners to donate fruits and vegetables instead.

Source: NPR, 8/26/16, Say Cheese

Sorority signs up as a team to take part in the Fight Hunger 5K

The members of SLU's Kappa Delta Sigma (KDS) have formed a team to take part in the 5K on Sunday and are already hard at work raising some donations!

Thank you!

We hope some other sororities and fraternities will get on board also.  It's easy to make a team, go here and click on register and the site will walk you through some simple steps.

New ways to get food to kids when school is out

Nearly 21.5 million kids. are eligible for free or reduced-priced school meals, yet according to a 2016 report from the Food Research Action Center, only 1 in 6 of them receives that benefit over summer break.  Lack of transportation and difficulties communicating with families are often cited as barriers to summer meal participation. One way to overcome these barriers is to give families electronic benefits over the summer rather than require their children to go to a summer meals site.  Seven states currently allow this possibility. Another suggestion is to make the Summer Food Program part of the National School Lunch Plan. This would make it easier for groups that run both after-school and summer programs to feed children year round instead of having to operate two child nutrition programs with slightly different rules. It would also cut down on paperwork and administrative costs and potentially encourage more groups to sponsor sites. Other proposals include allocating funds for transportation to and from sites and lowering from 50% to 40% the eligibility requirement of kids in a school district who need to qualify for free and reduced-priced lunch in order for the district to offer summer meals.

Source: The 74, 8/17/16, Summer Meals

Veggie of the Month: Onions

Onion facts:

●     Many different varieties

●     On average, it takes about three to four months from seedling to harvest

●     Red onions generally milder than white and brown varieties

Recipe:  Sweet Onion Pie

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups buttery round crackers, crumbled
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 cups thinly sliced sweet onions
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
• 3/4 cup whole milk

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 pinch paprika
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a mixing bowl, combine crackers and 4 tablespoons of butter in a bowl until well blended. Press into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of 8 inch pie plate to form a shell. Refrigerate until needed.
3. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic slowly until tender, about 12 minutes. Arrange onions in the cracker crust.
4. Beat eggs, whole milk, chives, and salt in a bowl until blended. Pour the mixture over the onions. Sprinkle with cheese and paprika.
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for 35 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. Garnish with the parsley. Serve hot or at room temperature.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2016 Allrecipes.com 

Alternate Recipe:  Quesadilla with Jalapeno Jack and Fresh Chard

Makes 12 to 16 servings (i.e. 16 1/4s of a tortilla or 12 1/3s of a tortilla)

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups finely chopped red onion

Vegetable or olive oil

1-1/2 cups coarsely chopped chard leaves, packed

4 flour tortillas (8-inch)

1/2 pound jalapeno jack cheese, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

Saute onion in large oiled skillet for about 5 minutes or until tender-crisp.

Add chard and saute 1 minute longer.

Steam tortillas in steamer or in microwave oven for about 1 minute.

Top one half of each tortilla with one quarter of the cheese. Spoon one quarter of the onion-chard mixture on top of cheese. Fold each quesadilla over like a turnover and pat to stay folded.

Wipe out skillet then heat over medium-high heat with a little oil in bottom. Add quesadillas and cook, turning once, until light golden and cheese melts.

Cut and arrange on plate, garnish with red pepper, and place in 250 degree oven until ready to serve. 

SLU First Year Program students will take part in Fight Hunger 5K

St. Lawrence University First Year Program students are participating this Sunday in the  GardenShare Fight Hunger 5K.  Each of the First Year colleges (Brown, Campbell, Heaton, Herrick, Holmes, MacAllaster, Romer, Romoda, and Reiff) will send students to run in this event as well as raise money by getting friends and family to sponsor them.  Students interested in participating will have the opportunity to secure sponsorship from family/friends via GardenShare's online fundraising tools and will also collect “spare change” from other students in their residences.  

The college with the top number of participants and the most money raised, will “win” the inter-college competition.  The prize will be a Sergi’s pizza party in a lounge of the residence hall where the winning team lives. 

Fight Hunger 5K Details

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Remington Recreation Trail

Registration Starts at 12:30 pm

Walkers leave @ 1:00 pm

Runners leave @ 1:30 pm

Location:  Remington Recreation Trail, Canton

Best parking will be behind Maplewood and registration will take place in the pavilion between Maplewood and Partridge Knoll.

According to Jenny Hansen, Associate Dean of the First Year Program, "The point of this inter-college competition is not to have the fastest runners/walkers, but rather to inspire lots of our students to participate and raise money to fight food insecurity in the North Country."

There is still time to sign up, if you want to join these students and local residents at the Fight Hunger 5K.  Sign up here!

HOSPITALS CAN PROVIDE SUMMER MEALS

Federal laws require nonprofit hospitals to (1) help improve the health and well-being of the local communities they serve in order to maintain their nonprofit status and (2) complete a Community Health Needs Assessment, in collaboration with public health experts and community representatives, that identifies significant community health challenges in need of interventions. Taken together, these requirements extend community benefit activities to include things like “access to adequate nutrition” and other social determinants of illness. These assessments can provide opportunities for nonprofit hospitals to partner with the USDA Summer Food Service and other federally funded nutrition programs. Hospitals could serve free healthy in their clinics and cafeterias to children visiting the hospital for appointments or when they accompany family members being cared for as patients. Additionally, the sites can be “open,” thus allowing children in the community to receive a free meal.

Source: Food Research & Action Council, 8/16, Summer Meals at Hospitals

New book "A Square Meal"

Like us today, during the Great Depression our grandparents grappled with a barrage of advice from nutritionists on the best foods to eat. A new book, “A Square Meal” by Jane Ziegelman and Andrew Coe is an absorbing account of how the Depression changed American eating habits. The Depression gave reformers the opportunity not simply to try to avert hunger, Ziegelman and Coe write, but to change the way America eats. These reformers believed that modern scientific research on nutrition offered the key to improving a misguided and wasteful American diet. First, Wilbur Atwater at Wesleyan University established baseline calorie needs and measured the caloric value of common foods.; then Elmer McCollum and others figured out which vitamins and trace elements were important. They argued that milk was the most perfect food. Armed with this information, nutritionists, home economists, and government officials convinced food companies to fortify their foods and advised homemakers on the best diets for their families. In the process, regional home cooking drowned in a sea of creamed casseroles and milky chowders, the authors assert.

Source: Wall Street Journal, 8/17/16, Depression Dining

Senator Gillibrand urges streamlining of Farmers Market Nutrition Program

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand wrote this week to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) urging the Agency to assist states in creating and implementing an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) system for Farmers’ Market Nutrition Programs (FMNP). By law, all federal nutrition programs are being transitioned to an EBT system by October 2020, but there is no plan for FMNPs. FMNPs allow beneficiaries, who include low-income woman, infants, and young children participating in the WIC program and Seniors, to redeem benefits at farmers markets, using paper vouchers valued at $4 each.

Read more, including the text of her letter, here.

Fall intern joins the team

My name is Jamie Oriol and I am one of GardenShare’s fall interns! Growing up in the suburban town of West Hartford, Connecticut, my interest in food systems really began when I signed up for the Sustainability Semester my freshman year at St. Lawrence. Through this experience, I began to learn about the large disconnect between so many Americans and their food source. Now a senior, I have become aware of the struggle people in poverty face trying to purchase healthy food, the lack of education of many Americans in how to prepare healthy food and where food comes from, and the many roadblocks created through policy that make it difficult to change the system. I believe that the food system in America, as well as people’s relationship with their food, needs to change, and I believe that organizations such as GardenShare are the way to help bring that change. For this reason, I am extremely excited to join the GardenShare team this fall.

                For a little information about myself, I am a huge fan of anything outdoors. In my free time you can often find me hiking, running, or swimming. I absolutely LOVE eating so I spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen attempting to cook. Although I’m not a great baker and do not like to follow instructions, I make up for it with my determination and am always up to make a fresh batch of cookies (as long as I can eat some). 

            If I were a superhero, I would without a doubt want to have the power to fly. This is because of the feeling of freedom that comes with this and the chance to see the world from a new angle. 

            I’d say my most recent accomplishment is becoming captain of the St. Lawrence field hockey team this year and I cannot wait to see how the season turns out!

If I could do anything, I would want to own a blueberry farm. Not only are blueberries the most delicious berry out there, in my opinion of course, but they also have so many uses! I would love to sell fresh blueberries, frozen blueberries, blueberry jams, blueberry deserts, and anything else that could possibly be made with blueberries. Blueberries make me happy and I’d love to help other people experience the same joy.  Other than blueberries, I also like to read. 

My favorite book for the last 3 years has been Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. I do not want to give anything away, but this book really helped opened my mind to the inequalities experienced by millions of people around the world as a result of globalization. It has a beautiful message and is an extremely worthy read. This book makes you think about how privileged Americans are just to be born into a developed country that has a system in place to protect its people with clean drinking water, welfare, and other government aid.

If anyone would like to learn any more fun facts about myself, talk about blueberries, or talk about issues surrounding America’s food system, I would love to hear from you! Looking forward to a great semester!

-Jamie

New intern joins the team at GardenShare

Hello From GardenShare!

My Name is Julia Callahan and I am happy to be wrapping up my St. Lawrence career as an intern at GardenShare. In December I will graduate with a Degree in Environmental Studies and a minor in Outdoor Studies.

When I arrived in Canton as freshman hailing from good ole’ suburbia Connecticut, I was unaware and unexposed to the infectious spirit of the rural North Country and it’s strong ability to spread localized impact. I was lucky enough to experience a dose of North Country Farm Culture, with Ann and Brian at Bittersweet Farm in the fall of 2014, and with Flip and Bob at littleGrasse Foodworks in the summer of 2015. Both of these farm-stays enlightened my understanding of the interconnection of land, community, and sustainability the North Country fosters. It was here, in Canton, that I fell in love with food (really, ask my mom). Access to and knowledge of local, nurturing food should be a right to all people. I admire the work of GardenShare to tackle the food system in a localized area, in order to conceptualize the broader global food system.

When I am not eating cabbage, I can be seen running around the streets of Canton, sipping coffee on the porch, exploring the Adirondack lakes in a canoe, picking veggies and flowers, planning the next time I will eat cabbage, and hanging out with my lovely friends, who inspire me every day.

-Julia

FOOD SECURITY FOR CHILDREN WITH SEVERE DISABILITIES

Millions of American children experience physical, intellectual, and emotional conditions that necessitate special health-related services. Some of these children live in low-income families and their special health care needs (SHCN) are so severe that they qualify for Supplemental Security Income. Despite this assistance, families with SHCN children are at greater risk of food insecurity than children with similar needs who do not receive SSI and those without SHCN. While this may seem counterintuitive, it is logical given that receiving SSI is associated with significant disability-related expenses that compete with other family needs, like food. A new report suggests several policy changes to alleviate this situation, including partially discounting SSI income when determining SNAP eligibility.

Source: Children’s Health Watch, 8/23/16, Children with Disabilities