Showing posts with label children and hunger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children and hunger. Show all posts
Monday, December 28, 2015
Friday, July 12, 2013
Summer hunger and nutrition
Watch this report on CitySquare's "Food on the Move" program this summer in Austin, Texas.
We're also delivering meals in Dallas and Houston. In addition to the meals, we provide organized physical fitness activities for low-income children.
We're also delivering meals in Dallas and Houston. In addition to the meals, we provide organized physical fitness activities for low-income children.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Hunger is real for working people. . .
Providing easy access to nutritious food products has been a core missional function of CitySquare from the earliest days of Central Dallas Food Pantry.
It is easy to lose sight of the importance of simply providing our neighbors the food they need in view of their low wages and earning power. Often we think of how food distribution can lead to other opportunities for those who come seeking our assistance with the most basic of human needs. But watching a video like this one reminds me that our work of making food available is an end in itself without further consideration.
My thanks to Michelle Kopel for sharing the video with me.
It is easy to lose sight of the importance of simply providing our neighbors the food they need in view of their low wages and earning power. Often we think of how food distribution can lead to other opportunities for those who come seeking our assistance with the most basic of human needs. But watching a video like this one reminds me that our work of making food available is an end in itself without further consideration.
My thanks to Michelle Kopel for sharing the video with me.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Hunger
Food insecurity in the U. S. presents a growing challenge to the economy, the workforce, public health and to students/public education.
Monday, December 05, 2011
Friday, September 02, 2011
Food on the Move
We received the drawing above from a child involved in our "Food on the Move" initiative this summer. You'll also see a thank you letter from this child's mother.
Partnering with the Texas Department of Agriculture through our Nurture, Knowledge and Nutrition (N,K,N) team, our AmeriCorps team and our for-profit allies at PepsiCo, we delivered thousands of meals to eligible children living all across Dallas.
Theresa Cissell, Program Specialist for our AmeriCorps team sent the drawing and the letter my way with the following commentary:
I thought you might enjoy the letter (an accompanying drawing) we got from one of the parents at a Food on the Move site. I think it shows that this program is about more than lunches!
Here are some stats for the summer that I sent to the amazing AmeriCorps members that made it through the summer, and with smiles on their faces.
We started the summer with 53 dedicated AmeriCorps members & 9 mobile routes.
You made it through 40 days of triple digit temperatures & 23,943 hours of service.
And together, this is what you achieved: 1,136 children received the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award & 279,551 meals were served to kids.
The Food on the Move effort does not take into account the meals delivered through N,K,N to well over 100 program sites across Dallas. We'll have those numbers to add to this report later. Combined we served well over 500,000 meals to low-income children during the summer school break.
Great work in the midst of recording breaking summer in terms of both temperature and community service!
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
More than food pantries. . .
This column appeared in The Dallas Morning News yesterday. David Beckmann, co-author, will deliver the keynote address at CitySquare's 16th Annual Urban Ministries Prayer Breakfast this Thursday, March 3 beginning at 7 a.m. at Dallas Market Hall.
Beckmann and James: We cannot ‘food bank’ our way out of hunger
Poverty and hunger are stark realities for many Texans. At 17 percent, the Texas poverty rate is the ninth-highest of the 50 states. The poverty rate among children is even higher, at 24 percent. Both Hispanics and African-Americans have poverty rates above the state average. Of the 15 U.S. cities with the highest poverty rates, six are in Texas.
Worse, Texas ranks second in households that struggle to put food on the table. There are strong links between hunger and poverty. The Texas food insecurity rates closely mirror the Texas poverty rates; 17 percent of Texans and 24 percent of Texan children live in households that can’t always afford groceries.
The poverty rate in Dallas is higher than the state average. Child poverty is significantly higher than the state average — 35.4 percent of children in Dallas are poor. The poverty rates of Hispanics and African-Americans in Dallas are also higher than the Texas average for each group — and almost double the overall poverty rate for the state.
Fortunately, we believe it is within our power to help ease the effects of the recession on people in need and to set the stage for rapid progress once our economy rebounds. Many of us help hungry people by contributing to food banks and charities. While this is important, all of the food collected by charities combined is only about 6 percent of what is provided by government nutrition programs.
We must continue to invest in U.S. safety-net programs, which cost just 14 cents of every federal dollar. Many families cannot afford cuts to free school breakfast and lunch, unemployment insurance, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, and tax credits for working poor families.
Cutting these anti-hunger and anti-poverty programs would be damaging to people in need and to our still-fragile economy. Without these public efforts, Texas will sink even further below the national averages for numbers of citizens and their children living in poverty. We cannot allow this to happen to our low-income neighbors.
Spending on programs such as SNAP provides an immediate stimulus to local economies. Studies show that low-income families spend their SNAP benefits immediately — spurring greater economic activity in their communities. Every dollar in SNAP benefits generates almost $1.75 in economic stimulus — so the 11 percent of all Texans who receive SNAP benefits are significantly boosting local communities.
Americans are not the only people suffering. The world has almost one billion chronically hungry people. U.S. foreign assistance can do a great deal to give hungry and poor people the tools and opportunities they need to improve the lives of their families.
We will speak on these issues at the annual CitySquare (formerly Central Dallas Ministries) Prayer Breakfast in Dallas Thursday. What can you do? Urge members of Congress to not balance the budget on the backs of hungry and poor people at home and abroad. Encourage them to press forward instead with reforms to make foreign assistance more effective in reducing poverty. With the stroke of a pen, decisions are made that can address the fundamental reasons people are hungry and poor — in Texas, in the United States, and around the world. We believe God is moving in our time to overcome hunger and poverty, and God is calling us to change the politics of hunger.
David Beckmann is president of Bread for the World, Bread for the World Institute and the Alliance to End Hunger; his e-mail address is david@bread.org . Larry James is president and CEO of CitySquare; his e-mail address is ljames@citysq.org.
Beckmann and James: We cannot ‘food bank’ our way out of hunger
Poverty and hunger are stark realities for many Texans. At 17 percent, the Texas poverty rate is the ninth-highest of the 50 states. The poverty rate among children is even higher, at 24 percent. Both Hispanics and African-Americans have poverty rates above the state average. Of the 15 U.S. cities with the highest poverty rates, six are in Texas.
Worse, Texas ranks second in households that struggle to put food on the table. There are strong links between hunger and poverty. The Texas food insecurity rates closely mirror the Texas poverty rates; 17 percent of Texans and 24 percent of Texan children live in households that can’t always afford groceries.
The poverty rate in Dallas is higher than the state average. Child poverty is significantly higher than the state average — 35.4 percent of children in Dallas are poor. The poverty rates of Hispanics and African-Americans in Dallas are also higher than the Texas average for each group — and almost double the overall poverty rate for the state.
Fortunately, we believe it is within our power to help ease the effects of the recession on people in need and to set the stage for rapid progress once our economy rebounds. Many of us help hungry people by contributing to food banks and charities. While this is important, all of the food collected by charities combined is only about 6 percent of what is provided by government nutrition programs.
We must continue to invest in U.S. safety-net programs, which cost just 14 cents of every federal dollar. Many families cannot afford cuts to free school breakfast and lunch, unemployment insurance, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, and tax credits for working poor families.
Cutting these anti-hunger and anti-poverty programs would be damaging to people in need and to our still-fragile economy. Without these public efforts, Texas will sink even further below the national averages for numbers of citizens and their children living in poverty. We cannot allow this to happen to our low-income neighbors.
Spending on programs such as SNAP provides an immediate stimulus to local economies. Studies show that low-income families spend their SNAP benefits immediately — spurring greater economic activity in their communities. Every dollar in SNAP benefits generates almost $1.75 in economic stimulus — so the 11 percent of all Texans who receive SNAP benefits are significantly boosting local communities.
Americans are not the only people suffering. The world has almost one billion chronically hungry people. U.S. foreign assistance can do a great deal to give hungry and poor people the tools and opportunities they need to improve the lives of their families.
We will speak on these issues at the annual CitySquare (formerly Central Dallas Ministries) Prayer Breakfast in Dallas Thursday. What can you do? Urge members of Congress to not balance the budget on the backs of hungry and poor people at home and abroad. Encourage them to press forward instead with reforms to make foreign assistance more effective in reducing poverty. With the stroke of a pen, decisions are made that can address the fundamental reasons people are hungry and poor — in Texas, in the United States, and around the world. We believe God is moving in our time to overcome hunger and poverty, and God is calling us to change the politics of hunger.
David Beckmann is president of Bread for the World, Bread for the World Institute and the Alliance to End Hunger; his e-mail address is david@bread.org . Larry James is president and CEO of CitySquare; his e-mail address is ljames@citysq.org.
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Feed a Family Today!
Want to make a difference today?
Right now?
CLICK HERE!!!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Hungry nation
Here's the latest on "food insecurity" and hunger in the United States today from Daily Kos. The work we do in our Food Pantry on a daily basis keeps families, working families going in inner city Dallas. Demand is way up. Want to help? Visit http://www.citysq.org/ to lend your hand and engage your heart.
One in four Americans gets government food assistance
by Joan McCarter
Tue Nov 16, 2010 at 08:36:03 AM PST
We really don't need more austerity right now in America.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that in 2009, nearly 50 million Americans -- 15 percent of U.S. families -- were "food insecure," meaning they were "uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, enough food to meet the needs of all their family members" -- either they didn't have enough money or lacked other resources to buy food. One in 10 families with children worried about food at some point in the year. Between 500,000 and 1 million families were so strapped the children had to go without eating at some point....
The United States is increasingly a safety-net nation, with one in four Americans now enrolled in one of the 15 federal feeding programs. Forty-two million people currently receive monthly benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly known as food stamps. That's up by 10 million from a year ago....
Feeding America, an organization that runs a nationwide network of food banks and bills itself as "the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity," said the number of people seeking help from its food banks has increased 46 percent over the past four years, from 25 million to 37 million.
This is just one part of why every reputable poll in the past two years has shown jobs and the economy far and away the most important issue for Americans. Food insecurity has reached deep into the working and middle classes. These people have had their fill of austerity in trying to conduct their daily lives. The last thing they need is their government imposing more on them.
To visit this site click here.
What can you do today to help a neighbor?
1) Organize a food drive in your neighborhood, church, school or community group and bring what you collect to 409 N. Haskell in Dallas, Texas.
2) Even better, make a check payable to CitySquare with a note in the Memo line: "food products." We will go to the North Texas Food Bank and obtain food for a shared maintanence fee of about 20 cents per pound, much more than you can buy in a retail store.
3) Raise the issue of domestic hunger and food insecurity in your circle of influence.
4) Come down for a visit at our Food Pantry and observe and hear the need first hand.
One in four Americans gets government food assistance
by Joan McCarter
Tue Nov 16, 2010 at 08:36:03 AM PST
We really don't need more austerity right now in America.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that in 2009, nearly 50 million Americans -- 15 percent of U.S. families -- were "food insecure," meaning they were "uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, enough food to meet the needs of all their family members" -- either they didn't have enough money or lacked other resources to buy food. One in 10 families with children worried about food at some point in the year. Between 500,000 and 1 million families were so strapped the children had to go without eating at some point....
The United States is increasingly a safety-net nation, with one in four Americans now enrolled in one of the 15 federal feeding programs. Forty-two million people currently receive monthly benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly known as food stamps. That's up by 10 million from a year ago....
Feeding America, an organization that runs a nationwide network of food banks and bills itself as "the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity," said the number of people seeking help from its food banks has increased 46 percent over the past four years, from 25 million to 37 million.
This is just one part of why every reputable poll in the past two years has shown jobs and the economy far and away the most important issue for Americans. Food insecurity has reached deep into the working and middle classes. These people have had their fill of austerity in trying to conduct their daily lives. The last thing they need is their government imposing more on them.
To visit this site click here.
What can you do today to help a neighbor?
1) Organize a food drive in your neighborhood, church, school or community group and bring what you collect to 409 N. Haskell in Dallas, Texas.
2) Even better, make a check payable to CitySquare with a note in the Memo line: "food products." We will go to the North Texas Food Bank and obtain food for a shared maintanence fee of about 20 cents per pound, much more than you can buy in a retail store.
3) Raise the issue of domestic hunger and food insecurity in your circle of influence.
4) Come down for a visit at our Food Pantry and observe and hear the need first hand.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Morning spent in a food line. . .ever been there?
Have you ever stood in such a line waiting to receive food for you and your family?
Recently, I captured these scenes at our Resource Center in inner city East Dallas before 9 a.m.
We must do better as a community.
We simply must. What do you think?
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Ending childhood hunger
Growing numbers of children experience hunger in Dallas.
Growing numbers of children and families come to CitySquare (formerly Central Dallas Ministries) every day seeking assistance with food needs.
The video below provides information on a national campaign to end childhood hunger.
The need is real and growing right here in Dallas.
Consider the pledge and then commit your financial support to our efforts here in inner city Dallas.
Growing numbers of children and families come to CitySquare (formerly Central Dallas Ministries) every day seeking assistance with food needs.
The video below provides information on a national campaign to end childhood hunger.
The need is real and growing right here in Dallas.
Consider the pledge and then commit your financial support to our efforts here in inner city Dallas.
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Get Up and Give!
Today only, every donation above $25 will be matched if you donate to us through http://www.donorbridgetx.org/, an online resource connecting donors with nonprofit organizations like Central Dallas Ministries.
Our goal is to inspire at least 200 individuals to donate at least $25 to this effort.
Please visit http://www.donorbridgetx.org/, today -- any time between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Search for Central Dallas Ministries and click “Donate Now.” Your donation will go far in helping us build genuine community in the inner city— plus every dollar given at any time during the day will receive a portion of $700,000+ in matching funds – making your dollars go even further.
Friday, August 06, 2010
Food for Good
Here's a taste of the report by Ananda Boardman:
Food for Good summer program serves 200,000th meal in Dallas
Htee Kushee remembers running from soldiers in her native Burma as a 3-year-old.
Htee still runs, but now she and her friends gather twice a day at the Towne Center Apartments in northeast Dallas, where their motivation is happiness instead of fear. Thanks to the Food for Good Initiative, a partnership between PepsiCo Inc. and Central Dallas Ministries, 10-year-old Htee and other North Texas youngsters get a free breakfast and lunch each weekday.
"I like it," Htee said simply.
Texas ranks second to Mississippi as the state with the most kids at risk to go hungry each day, according to Feeding America, a Chicago-based hunger relief organization.
Between 300,000 and 400,000 children receive free or reduced-price lunches in the Dallas area during the school year, but during the summer, access to such meals is severely limited.
For the second consecutive year, the Food for Good program has helped fill that void.
On Wednesday, it served its 200,000th meal of the summer, and officials expect to do more.
To read the entire report click here.
Monday, June 28, 2010
AmeriCorps and "Food on the Move"
Want to see our summer lunch innovation in action?
What to see children served healthy meals by AmeriCorps members who've been there?
What to see a national model for innovation that could change the way U. S. Department of Agriculture delivers meal services to millions of children every summer?
You've got to check our the story found here!
What to see children served healthy meals by AmeriCorps members who've been there?
What to see a national model for innovation that could change the way U. S. Department of Agriculture delivers meal services to millions of children every summer?
You've got to check our the story found here!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
CDM's AmeriCorps team: Food on the Move
During the school year, over 19,000,000 children participate in the free and reduced rate school lunch program, another Department of Agriculture program. However, during the summer months, that number drops to approximately 2,500,000 participants. The USDA is committed to closing that hunger gap for low-income children. Food on the Move provides a workable, scalable model that could be rolled out nationally. Such a move is our hope as we work to perfect the process here in Dallas this summer. PepsiCo is engaged in a similar effort this summer in Chicago in a partnership with Catholic Charities.
A typical stop on the Food on the Move routes sees a team of AmeriCorps members arriving 30 minutes before the meal delivery to gather and organize the children at the location. PepsiCo delivers the meals and our AmeriCorps team remains after the delivery team leaves. During the concluding half hour, our team conducts recreational, social and educational activities and invites the children to return at the same time the next day and bring friends with them. This process repeats itself at 20 sites each day.
To get a feel for how Food on the Move works click here to view a CBS Channel 11 news report on the effort.
Expect additional updates throughout the summer!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Food
Food.
We all must have it to survive.
Those of us who enjoy ready access to it don't give it a second thought most of the time. Because of the richness of our blessing, we often miss the significance and power of food.
Food acts as an organizing force for social action.
Families and friends gather around tables every day to share meals. Along wtih meals come plans for and reports on the day, ideas, dreams, fears, confessions and actions.
Food levels us. Since every single one of us must have it, we must admit that our connection is communal, viseral, organic and universal.
Evil people use food as a weapon.
Loving people use it to create ordinary forums for celebration and discovery.
Food determines health.
Food affects learning.
Food is all about togetherness, hope and being human.
Food anchors us to the earth.
Food draws out celebration. . .it is the stuff of parties, wakes and home-goings, committee meetings, community organizing gatherings and late-nite, bedtime snacks.
Have you noticed? Food facilitates conversation, connection and communion.
Consider the place of "the meal" in Christianity, Judaism and Islam--central, reoccurring and defining.
Food is about hard work, growth and the promise of another day.
Food seems to track right along with fellowship.
Food makes children laugh and run and play.
The lack of food makes the same children cry and sit and wonder.
Sharing, providing, distributing, manufacturing, growing, harvesting, selling, gathering and eating food nudges up against the Sacred.
Think about it when you enjoy your next meal.
Food--not something to take lightly or for granted.
We all must have it to survive.
Those of us who enjoy ready access to it don't give it a second thought most of the time. Because of the richness of our blessing, we often miss the significance and power of food.
Food acts as an organizing force for social action.
Families and friends gather around tables every day to share meals. Along wtih meals come plans for and reports on the day, ideas, dreams, fears, confessions and actions.
Food levels us. Since every single one of us must have it, we must admit that our connection is communal, viseral, organic and universal.
Evil people use food as a weapon.
Loving people use it to create ordinary forums for celebration and discovery.
Food determines health.
Food affects learning.
Food is all about togetherness, hope and being human.
Food anchors us to the earth.
Food draws out celebration. . .it is the stuff of parties, wakes and home-goings, committee meetings, community organizing gatherings and late-nite, bedtime snacks.
Have you noticed? Food facilitates conversation, connection and communion.
Consider the place of "the meal" in Christianity, Judaism and Islam--central, reoccurring and defining.
Food is about hard work, growth and the promise of another day.
Food seems to track right along with fellowship.
Food makes children laugh and run and play.
The lack of food makes the same children cry and sit and wonder.
Sharing, providing, distributing, manufacturing, growing, harvesting, selling, gathering and eating food nudges up against the Sacred.
Think about it when you enjoy your next meal.
Food--not something to take lightly or for granted.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Families thankful for school lunches. . .
The U. S. Department of Agriculture's free and reduced lunch program is growing. The Huffington Post picked up the following report from the Associated Press.
We know this program well here in Dallas, Texas.
What many people are surprised to learn is that over 85% of Dallas Independent School District students are eligible for free meals at school every day. Read the report and let me know what you think.
Struggling families depend more on school lunches
HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH
March 27, 2010 09:32 PM EST
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For a couple tight weeks after taking in her sixth-grade stepson, Lisa Lewis fretted about how to pay for his school lunches.
Unable to find a full-time job, the 37-year-old works part-time at a Kansas City, Kan., daycare, earning minimum wage. On that money alone, she supports herself, her unemployed husband, her stepson and her 11th-grade son.
"I sometimes cry myself to sleep wondering how I am going to keep my family fed and things like that," Lewis said. "I'm making it but barely."
Her worries were eased when she found out she could get government assistance to pay for the younger boy's meals. Her older son already is part of the subsidized lunch program.
In the midst of a blistering recession, more families are flocking to the federal program that gives students free or reduced-priced lunches. Schools are watching for who enrolls in the program because it gives teachers insight into life at home and officials consider it a barometer of poverty.
The numbers are telling.
During the 2008-2009 school year, about 19 million students received free and reduced lunches, which is 895,000 more than the previous year – a jump of nearly 5 percent and that greatly outpaced the overall increase in school enrollment, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service. Typically, the increases are about 1 to 2 percent each year.
To read the entire report click here.
We know this program well here in Dallas, Texas.
What many people are surprised to learn is that over 85% of Dallas Independent School District students are eligible for free meals at school every day. Read the report and let me know what you think.
Struggling families depend more on school lunches
HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH
March 27, 2010 09:32 PM EST
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For a couple tight weeks after taking in her sixth-grade stepson, Lisa Lewis fretted about how to pay for his school lunches.
Unable to find a full-time job, the 37-year-old works part-time at a Kansas City, Kan., daycare, earning minimum wage. On that money alone, she supports herself, her unemployed husband, her stepson and her 11th-grade son.
"I sometimes cry myself to sleep wondering how I am going to keep my family fed and things like that," Lewis said. "I'm making it but barely."
Her worries were eased when she found out she could get government assistance to pay for the younger boy's meals. Her older son already is part of the subsidized lunch program.
In the midst of a blistering recession, more families are flocking to the federal program that gives students free or reduced-priced lunches. Schools are watching for who enrolls in the program because it gives teachers insight into life at home and officials consider it a barometer of poverty.
The numbers are telling.
During the 2008-2009 school year, about 19 million students received free and reduced lunches, which is 895,000 more than the previous year – a jump of nearly 5 percent and that greatly outpaced the overall increase in school enrollment, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service. Typically, the increases are about 1 to 2 percent each year.
To read the entire report click here.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Food Facts. . .
Almost 15% of our residents are hungry and food insecure. Texas experiences the highest food insecurity rate among children in the nation.
Many of the 3 million children who participate in the free lunch program in our public schools go without a meal on the weekends and when school is closed during the summer and on holidays and school breaks.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Bad policy, bad business
I keep running across really disheartening statistics about the status of public benefits for low-income Texas children and families.
Consider just in the area of nutrition:
Bad, unconcerned policy translates to terrible business outcomes.
When will we wake up in Texas and make sure that Texas tax dollars stay or return to Texas in ways that benefit those in need of a lift, as well as those driving our local economy.
What affects one sector, affects all sectors.
Consider just in the area of nutrition:
- Out of over 300,000 eligible Dallas area children, < 9% receive the benefits of the Texas Summer Lunch Program.
- Only 41% of eligible families receive the benefits afforded by SNAP (the Texas Food Stamp program).
- Vendors prepare and sell those summer meals, putting money into our local economy, creating jobs and supporting business services.
- Dallas County loses an estimated $500,000,000 annually in retail groceries sales because of our inability or unwillingness to register everyone who is eligible for SNAP, funds lost to local businesses.
Bad, unconcerned policy translates to terrible business outcomes.
When will we wake up in Texas and make sure that Texas tax dollars stay or return to Texas in ways that benefit those in need of a lift, as well as those driving our local economy.
What affects one sector, affects all sectors.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Let's Move
The following press release hit the news this past week as First Lady Michelle Obama announced her "Let's Move" initiative to combat childhood obesity. Our friend, Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo chairman and chief executive officer, threw the support of her international corporation behind the effort.
Here's the beginning of the release to media from PepsiCo. Note especially the numbered paragraph #1 that mentions our joint endeavor this past summer with PepsiCo here in Dallas.
Exciting stuff for us!
PepsiCo Supports First Lady's Initiative to Help Reduce Childhood Obesity
Company Pledges to List Calorie Content on the Front of its Beverage Containers, Vending Machines and Fountain Equipment
PURCHASE, N.Y., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP), one of the world's largest food and beverage companies, today expressed its commitment to the White House's "Let's Move" initiative to combat childhood obesity – and announced a new beverage labeling plan in support of the initiative.
To help consumers manage their calorie consumption, PepsiCo will list calorie content on the front of its beverage containers, vending machines and fountain equipment by the end of 2012. Packages up to 20 ounces will be labeled with total calories and multi-serve containers will be labeled with calories-per-serving based on 12-ounce servings.
"We applaud the effort being led by First Lady Michelle Obama to address obesity in the United States and believe that her 'Let's Move' campaign can add significant momentum and leadership to many efforts underway," said Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo chairman and chief executive officer. "We have learned over the years there is no silver bullet to solve obesity. No single entity can do it alone. We need a guiding coalition in which individuals, companies, health agencies, consumer groups and governments all take on their appropriate responsibilities. Major food companies such as PepsiCo are in a unique position to be leaders in health and wellness because of our resources, brands, research and development capabilities, consumer reach and logistics expertise."
PepsiCo's belief in the power of public-private partnerships to help reduce obesity in the United States led to its partnership in the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF). The HWCF involves the collaboration of more than 60 members of the food and beverage industry, retailers and diverse non-governmental organizations. The group provides and promotes solutions that will help people, especially children, achieve a healthy weight by balancing the calories they consume with the calories they burn. The HWCF's efforts will provide people with the tools to achieve energy balance in three key areas: the marketplace, the workplace and schools.
PepsiCo is committed to helping advance action on all four pillars identified by the First Lady and has already taken steps that address each of them:
1. Ensuring that affordable healthy food is available in more communities
Last year, PepsiCo launched "PepsiCo Hope" to help transform inner-city communities by increasing access to affordable nutrition and creating local employment in inner-city neighborhoods. Initiated by PepsiCo employees in Dallas, the program piloted an innovative mobile delivery model that brought over 50,000 free nutritious breakfasts and snacks directly to underserved children in Dallas. With the help of more than 150 PepsiCo volunteers, the program was developed in partnership with Central Dallas Ministries as part of the Department of Agriculture's Summer Foodservice Program. PepsiCo plans to significantly expand its capabilities in Dallas in 2010 and is exploring opportunities for national expansion while sharing what it has learned with other cities across the country. PepsiCo Hope is also beginning to tackle another chronic challenge identified by the local residents: improving access to fruits and vegetables.
To read the entire repot click here.
Here's the beginning of the release to media from PepsiCo. Note especially the numbered paragraph #1 that mentions our joint endeavor this past summer with PepsiCo here in Dallas.
Exciting stuff for us!
PepsiCo Supports First Lady's Initiative to Help Reduce Childhood Obesity
Company Pledges to List Calorie Content on the Front of its Beverage Containers, Vending Machines and Fountain Equipment
PURCHASE, N.Y., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP), one of the world's largest food and beverage companies, today expressed its commitment to the White House's "Let's Move" initiative to combat childhood obesity – and announced a new beverage labeling plan in support of the initiative.
To help consumers manage their calorie consumption, PepsiCo will list calorie content on the front of its beverage containers, vending machines and fountain equipment by the end of 2012. Packages up to 20 ounces will be labeled with total calories and multi-serve containers will be labeled with calories-per-serving based on 12-ounce servings.
"We applaud the effort being led by First Lady Michelle Obama to address obesity in the United States and believe that her 'Let's Move' campaign can add significant momentum and leadership to many efforts underway," said Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo chairman and chief executive officer. "We have learned over the years there is no silver bullet to solve obesity. No single entity can do it alone. We need a guiding coalition in which individuals, companies, health agencies, consumer groups and governments all take on their appropriate responsibilities. Major food companies such as PepsiCo are in a unique position to be leaders in health and wellness because of our resources, brands, research and development capabilities, consumer reach and logistics expertise."
PepsiCo's belief in the power of public-private partnerships to help reduce obesity in the United States led to its partnership in the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF). The HWCF involves the collaboration of more than 60 members of the food and beverage industry, retailers and diverse non-governmental organizations. The group provides and promotes solutions that will help people, especially children, achieve a healthy weight by balancing the calories they consume with the calories they burn. The HWCF's efforts will provide people with the tools to achieve energy balance in three key areas: the marketplace, the workplace and schools.
PepsiCo is committed to helping advance action on all four pillars identified by the First Lady and has already taken steps that address each of them:
1. Ensuring that affordable healthy food is available in more communities
Last year, PepsiCo launched "PepsiCo Hope" to help transform inner-city communities by increasing access to affordable nutrition and creating local employment in inner-city neighborhoods. Initiated by PepsiCo employees in Dallas, the program piloted an innovative mobile delivery model that brought over 50,000 free nutritious breakfasts and snacks directly to underserved children in Dallas. With the help of more than 150 PepsiCo volunteers, the program was developed in partnership with Central Dallas Ministries as part of the Department of Agriculture's Summer Foodservice Program. PepsiCo plans to significantly expand its capabilities in Dallas in 2010 and is exploring opportunities for national expansion while sharing what it has learned with other cities across the country. PepsiCo Hope is also beginning to tackle another chronic challenge identified by the local residents: improving access to fruits and vegetables.
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