Why not in Dallas?

Hunger to increase in US due to short-sighted cuts

Take a moment to watch this video and to read the accompanying report.

Already we are seeing the impact of cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or Food Stamps).  Dig a little deeper:  read up on this very helpful benefit to working, low-income families and individuals.

Consider the impact of the proposed cuts.  Think beyond the affect on those who use the program.  Think also about the impact on the retail grocery industry and on related jobs.  Consider health care costs resulting from people being forced to consume food products that are cheap, high calorie and unhealthy.

Being penny wise and pound foolish never gets us where we want or need to be.

Your thoughts?

Low wage realities. . .

[Many of us don't understand the plight of the working poor in the United States today.  The fact is most of us work.  And, most poor people work.  As a result, millions of our neighbors don't earn enough to provide even the basics for themselves and their families.  We face this harsh reality every day here at CitySquare.  When I saw the following clip from Bill Moyers, it connected for me.  The fact is our national programs that assist the working poor turn out to be wonderful investments in our people.  And, take it from me, far too many of our people need the hand up.  Watch the program and let me know what you think.]

Just in from our AmeriCorps team in Houston. . .

[This report just in from Dr. Keven Vicknair, Director of our AmeriCorps team at CitySquare.  CitySquare directs almost 300 AmeriCorps members who work in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin this summer at children's programs and delivering summer lunches to thousands of low-income kids.  I find this report both amazing and yet, not at all atypical for some of the neighborhoods where we live and work.]

AmeriCorps members are gathered right now, eating lunch and talking about their day with one another.

As I walked through, I heard two members tell a story of their experience putting out door hangers at one of their stops.

The manager had told them not to talk to anyone on site. As the team of two young people made their way through the complex, they came across a group of young men blocking the path and talking about shooting someone the night before.

The team had to make a choice to turn back to go the long way around the property or to casually pass.

They choose to casually pass and the group stopped talking, let them pass, and then resumed their discussion of the person they shot the previous evening.

So... as you go about your day, please know you will at least not have to experience anything like the fear these two 20 years old members did today as they tried to make sure kids have a decent meal for lunch.

Keven

Welcome to the Opportunity Center, neighbor!!!

This week on Tuesday morning, volunteers from Pepsi, Albertsons, and Feed the Children joined CitySquare to distribute several tons of nutritious food products to several hundred families.

The effort's two-fold mission was to assist working families with their food needs and to introduce our neighbors to the location of our new Opportunity Center on Malcolm X Boulevard.

The effort was a huge success!

At the busiest time of the morning, cars stretched from our front gate all the way down Malcolm X to Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard!

It was a great morning among friends!

Hunger spreading in USA

I've been a huge fan of Bill Moyers for years.  I recently read the following interview regarding the challenges associated with hunger in America today.  

Going to Bed Hungry

April 5, 2013

by Theresa Riley

The United States is the world’s wealthiest nation, yet we still have families and children who don’t have enough to eat. We caught up with Joel Berg of NYC’s Coalition Against Hunger to learn what it means to be food insecure and what we can do to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry.

Theresa Riley: What does it mean to be “food insecure”? How many American children now live in “food insecure” households?

Joel Berg

Joel Berg: Food insecure means families don’t have enough money to regularly obtain all the food they need. It means they are rationing food and skipping meals. It means parents are going without food to feed their children. It means kids are missing breakfasts. And, ironically, because healthy food is usually more expensive than junk food, and because healthier options often don’t even exist in low-income neighborhoods, it means that food insecurity and obesity are flip sides of the same malnutrition coin, so food insecurity may actually increase a family’s chance of facing obesity and diabetes. Fifty million Americans, including nearly 17 million children, now live in food insecure homes.

Read the entire interview here. 

Gangster gardeners. . .your weapon of choice

Food needs grow. . .

Last week, Dr. Keven Vicknair, Director of CitySquare's "Food on the Move" initiative that seeks to address the food and nutritional needs of low-income, working families, sent me the following report on activity in our Food Pantry through the end of July 2012.  One conclusion that seems clear is the fact that the economy hurts the poor most of all.

Here's what she reports:

From January to July of 2012, the Food Pantry provided food to 12,901 individuals, of whom 4,478 (34.7%) have never before required our services and 2,283 (17.7%) who have returned after not needing us for at least six months.

This lets me know that the economy is not only pushing new people below the poverty threshold, but is in fact returning many people to the poverty rolls who had started to be self-sufficient but once again find themselves struggling.

 

ACU Honors College students and "food deserts"

CitySquare enjoys a growing relationship with Abilene Christian University. Over the weekend a group of students from the University's Honors College arrived in Dallas.  Their learning assignment:  develop a better understanding of "food deserts" and poverty in the city's southern sector. 

One of the students, Greg Jeffers, posted what follows to his blog last evening after a full day in the field.  His insights reflect an understanding and, even more importantly, a commitment to addressing the forces that keep so many of our neighbors pressed down. 

(Day 2) Justice and Food: Spring Break with the Honors College
Posted by Greg Jeffers in My Life, Travel

Greetings all!

Today was the second day of my journey with the ACU Honors College as we investigate questions of food distribution and justice. Today was packed full of exciting things.

We went to church this morning at a predominately African American church in south Dallas called St. Paul Baptist Church. This is one of the churches that actively partners with CitySquare. We were enthusiastically welcomed and were announced from the pulpit. Dr. Harbour was even asked to share a few words. It was definitely an experience. The primary focus of the service was on joy and trusting the Lord, even in difficult circumstances as well as on sacrificing what one has for the good of others. That message, in this neighborhood, took on an entirely different character from a similar message in, say, chapel at ACU.

-----------------------------------------------

After lunch we went to the headquarters of CitySquare. That’s where we met with Larry James, the CEO of CitySquare. CitySquare owns the building in which its offices are housed. It is a sixteen story building smack in the middle of downtown Dallas. The basement through the second floor is primarily for storage and rented space. The third floor houses CitySquare’s offices. The fourth through the fifteenth floor houses two-hundred apartments which CitySquare uses primarily to provide permanent housing to the homeless. The sixteenth floor has six condos which CitySquare is working on selling.

Mr. James and some of his staff instructed us about food deserts in general and in South Dallas particularly. There was far more information than I can repeat here, but let’s suffice it to say that the problem goes well beyond lack of nutritious food—it goes into health concerns, financial concerns, business concerns, and political concerns. Ultimately, of course, as Dr. Johnson pointed out later in the day, it delves into the way we understand who people are. If people do not have adequate food, then they are sicker. If they are sick, then they cannot work. If they cannot work, they cannot earn money to buy food. If a neighborhood starts to go under, then those who can do so, move. Those who can’t are forced to stay, and the neighborhood gets poorer. As businesses leave, people are left with little means of employment. The problems snow-ball. Our main focus is, of course, access to food, but all of these other things are questions as well.

We then went on a tour of Dallas with Mr. James. He drove us around for two hours as he displayed a masterful knowledge of Dallas and the problems facing its citizens. He would point to various locations or groups of houses and discuss what work was ongoing to restore things. What became readily apparent is that CitySquare is engaged in a Resurrection work. They are heavily invested in the restoration of the broken places. There are a thousand ways they are involved. They do development, health clinics, homeless housing, food distribution, financial training, health education, and so much more. It was actually sort of dizzying to keep up with Mr. James’ easy explanation of what all CitySquare is up to in the city. Something Mr. James stressed, however, is that there is so much more to be done.

To read entire post click here.

A "food desert"

Watch for CitySquare Board Member, Dr. Mark DeHaven in this informative and concerning report on access to healthy food in South Dallas.

From the air. . .

So, here's a "bird's eye view" of the goings on at CitySquare's new Opportunity Center at the corner of I-30 and Malcolm X Boulevard!

The blue trucks are drilling rigs brought in to drill 109 wells that extend 250 feet into the earth as a part of our very "green" geothermal H/VAC system.

Progress is fun to watch.

Want a piece of the action?

Lots of great naming opportunities at all fund levels.

Just give me a call or shoot me a note here!

Big win for low income families, public health and Dallas Farmers Market

Read the good news here!

Thanks to Rev. Gerald Britt, his public policy team and our many community partners!

Healthy food choices make our community stronger.

Mayor proclaims Dallas "No Kid Hungry City"

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings Proclaims Dallas as
“No Kid Hungry City”
Nov. 9, 2011 / GDJR NEWS WIRE

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings spoke Wednesday to the North Texas Hunger Summit declaring that Dallas would become a “No Kid Hungry City” and a Food Planning Association would accomplish this goal.

The summit was hosted by 30th District Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson who moved to action after viewing a local non-profit video on hunger.

The video created by FEED 3, a local educational nonprofit focused on addressing hunger and poverty in North Texas, revealed that over 380,000 North Texas children are challenged with hunger. The summit held at the Dallas Farmers Market, included governmental agencies, non-profits, local community food pantries, and business leaders.

Congresswoman Johnson shared passionately her desire to end hunger in the 30th District where some of the most impoverished counties of Texas exist. Determined to follow through on her commitment, Johnson's staff worked over the past nine months with local non profits to assist in launching a Food Planning Association. Local organizations such as CitySquare, a leading nonprofit that addresses hunger with families and children, FEED 3, North Texas Food Bank, DISD, USDA, Greater Dallas Justice Revival, Texas Baptist, and local food pantries are key partners in forming the local food planning association.

Read the entire report here

"No Kid Hungry Dallas Summit"

Join CitySquare for Food Stamped!

Food, Inc. to show at CityWalk!

Could you make it on food stamps?

45.2 million know what it's like; Could you survive on food stamps?

Washington, October 5, 2011 - The director of the National Council of Churches Poverty Initiative is calling on Americans to feel a greater empathy for persons struggling to survive in the current economy.

"In everything do to others as you would have them do to you," said the Rev. Michael Livingston, quoting from Jesus' sermon on the mount, Matthew 7:12. "This golden rule has been cited or rephrased in nearly every religion known. It is the glue that binds us together as a human family, especially in times of common need."

Livingston noted that a member of Congress has challenged her colleagues to spend a week finding out what it is like to live on food stamps, and he challenged members of churches and religious groups to do the same.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), co-chair of the Congressional Out of Poverty Caucus, issued the 2011 Food Stamp Challenge to last from October 27 to November 3.

"The USDA recently reported that 14.5 percent of Americans are food insecure," Lee reported to members of Congress. "In June of this year, a staggering 45.2 million Americans filed to get food stamps because they either are facing or living in poverty. More than half of food stamp recipients are children and 8 percent are individuals over the age of 60."

She challenged her colleagues to spend a week attempting to live on "what a person on food stamps survives on."

Persons on food stamps receive $133.79 per month, Lee said, which amounts to $31.50 a week, $4.50 a day, or $1.50 a meal.

Livingston said millions of Americans would be hard put to live on the food stamp program. "We often hear people express the belief that persons living in poverty are well cared-for in this country," Livingston said. "Anyone who accepts Representative Lee's challenge to step into the shoes of food stamp recipients will quickly realize how difficult their lives must be."

Livingston said he hoped the exercise will convince members of Congress "that there is also an urgent need to protect the budget of all government programs that support persons living in or facing poverty.

"Doing unto others must be a fundamental rule of government," Livingston said. "Experiencing how others live is a first step toward putting that rule into action."

Persons interested in participating in the food stamp challenge as well as other Mobilization related strategies should check out the fighting poverty with faith webpage.

To register to take the Food Stamp Challenge click here.

Brotherhood--basis of community

Big brother enjoys a meal in relative peace:

Little brother wonders about his place at the table:

Little brother makes his expectations clear:

Big brother responds with kindness and concern:

Harmony and community prevail:

[Lessons observed while watching grandchildren!]

New USDA Food Chart

At USDA, a plate usurps the food pyramid

Washington Post
By Brian Vastag
Published: June 2

After devoting decades to designing a food pyramid, then refining that design with colored stripes and steps, the nation’s nutrition experts have finally settled on what they believe is the perfect geometry to represent what we should eat: a plate.

Circular, with four colorful divisions to represent the four main food groups, the new plate looks just like a pie chart — a description experts shun because, well, pie isn’t good for you.

Indeed, arriving in the midst of an obesity epidemic, this new at-a-glance guide to healthful eating is meant to remind consumers to limit heavy foods like pie and beef up instead on the greens.

“MyPlate” promotes fruits and vegetables, which cover half the circle. Grains occupy an additional quarter, as do proteins such as meat, fish and poultry. A separate circle (looking remarkably like an aerial view of a cup) represents “dairy” and rests to the side. Desserts appear to have been banished — like the pyramid — to the desert.

The message is clear: “Make half your plate fruits and vegetables,” said Robert Post, an official at USDA’s center for nutrition policy and promotion.

The Obama administration has high hopes for establishing the brightly colored image as a ubiquitous consumer icon. Post said the USDA is targeting food producers, health insurers, restaurants and schools as partners in promoting the image.

At a media-heavy rollout Thursday morning at USDA headquarters, the famously foodie first lady presided, focusing on the obesity problem in children.

“Kids can learn to use this tool now and use it for the rest of their lives,” Obama said. “It’s an image that can be reinforced at breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

USDA will bring the image to “essentially all” schools in the country via the agency’s breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and other nutrition programs, Post said.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the new “food icon” was designed to help slim Americans’ expanding girths: Two-thirds of American adults and one-third of children are overweight or obese.

“The costs associated with obesity are enormous,” Vilsack said, adding that the image popped into his head at just the right moment during dinner recently. A steak arrived covering “three-quarters” of his plate. “I didn’t eat it all,” he said.

Read entire report here.

Basic solutions

Encouraging report on challenging hunger and caring for public health via a time-tested strategy.  We need more projects like this one!  Thanks to my friend, Richard Corum for sharing the story from the Memphis Commercial Appeal!

Farmers markets cover up, freshen up farm produce offerings

By Linda A. Moore
Sunday, May 8, 2011

While there's certainly been enough rain to satisfy the Mid-South, there were few complaints on Saturday as rain fell during the grand opening of the Urban Farms Market at Broad and Tillman.

Vendors, dry under the cover of a former gas station, offered fresh produce, some grown as close by as the Urban Farm in Binghamton, locally raised meats, cut flowers, soaps and handmade jewelry.

The market was created through the larger Binghamton Development Corp. in order to bring fresh food to the inner city, said Rosalie Bouck, market manager.

"A lot of grocery stores won't come into areas like this," Bouck said. "We're trying to make way for a model for a nonprofit food store."

The store is also graced with a mural done by local artist Danny Broadway and students from St. George's Independent School in Collierville.

As the growing season progresses, produce will be brought in from the community farm, Bouck said.

The market and corner store will be open Tuesdays and Saturdays. In addition to produce, there are limited canned goods, meats and dairy products. A drive-through coffee window will be open on weekday mornings.

Many older residents in the neighborhood need to be able to walk to a grocery store, said Binghamton resident Roger Bowen, president of Binghamton Senior Watch.

"This is a good place to find healthy food," Bowen said.

Downtown behind Central Station, the Memphis Farmers Market rolled out the green carpet for the grand opening for its West Pavilion, a new nearly $300,000 covered market area.

"We love it," said hydroponic farmer Ami Hughes. "It protected us from the rain."

She and her husband, David Hughes, run Micmak Farms in Batesville, Ark., and expect to enjoy the new pavilion this summer as well.

Funding for the West Pavilion included a $100,000 grant from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, $65,000 from the Hyde Foundation with the remainder from supporters, said Beth Brock, board chairwoman.

The new space is west of the original market and has room for about 20 vendors.

Before, vendors used the space that was part of the parking lot and didn't really feel like a part of the market, Brock said.

"We wanted to do more for the vendors," she said. "We knew it wasn't ideal but it was all we could do."

"I think it's awesome," said regular shopper Jackie Oselen of Whitehaven. "It was a smart thing to do."

The Memphis Farmers Market opened in 2006 with 20 vendors. It now has more than 70 vendors. Also during those years, about 14 farmers markets, including markets in South Memphis, Cooper-Young, Arlington and Whitehaven, have sprung up.

With the shared goal of bringing more fresh produce to consumers, the more farmers markets the better, Brock said.

"We're so excited about the number of of farmers markets," she said. "It's wonderful."