Sunday, April 11, 2010
Food for Thought—A Look at Food Banks in the U.S.A.
Part 1: From Farm to Family
In this series we take a look at food banks in the United States of America, where there are many programs distributing food stuffs to people in need. For the first part in this series, we take a look at a food bank program in California and its successes in distributing fresh produce across the golden state.
Food banks in California have come to together to create a stable distribution system for fresh vegetables and fruit, in a program called the California Association of Food Banks (CAFB). This association and its Farm to Family program distribute fresh produce from farmers to people in need of food throughout California. Its distribution network effectively moves fresh produce from farms to urban areas, often far from agricultural areas where the food is grown.
California Association of Food Banks estimates 80 million pounds (about 36,000 tons) of produce distribution in 2009. (Photo courtesy of California Association of Food Banks)
The program started in response to the sharp rise in food prices and an increase in unemployment, as well as the decrease in the total amount of canned food and cereal available for donation from food manufacturers; this decrease was due to increased efficiency in supply chain management, thereby decreasing surplus food available for food banks. In our recent economic environment, the gap between the amount of food available to food banks and the amount food needed by working-poor families has been widening. In efforts to mend this gap, food banks across the country moved to collect excess fruit and vegetables from farms and distribute them to the hungry. In California, where there was an abundance of agriculture yet still the hungry were still not receiving enough food, the CAFB started the Farm to Family program in 2006.
Food collection for the program begins at farms with excess produce that otherwise might be dumped. Product that is not marketable is separated at the packinghouses, with expenses covered either by the farm or by CAFB, and is donated or sold to CAFB for a few cents per kilogram. Farmers are happy to help those in need through food banks. Dan Van Groningen, Van Groningen & Sons, Inc. recalls leaving some produce in the field, rather than harvesting it. With the Farm to Family program, he says, “now we know there is a home for this product, then we will actually harvest it. We like the feeling that this product is gonna go to needy families.” ¹
The Farm to Family program then ships roughly 50 truckloads of produce per week to food banks across the state in large bins, which are repackaged to smaller bags in the food bank warehouses by volunteers. These are then distributed through food pantries, soup kitchens and other means. While the idea seems simple enough, the program could not work without the support of many people. Gary Maxworthy, the Farm to Family founder and a board member of SF Food Bank, describes the main requirements for a program distributing perishable foods: “you need a refrigerated space, you need volunteers to be able to sort it, you need to be able to distribute it within a few days.”
Through the efforts of CAFB, fruit and vegetables now make up roughly 60% of all foodstuffs distributed by the San Francisco Food Bank. This figure is roughly 50% at the Alameda County Community Food Bank. Both are truly impressive figures, considering that only 5 years ago, the percentage of fresh produce distributed was less than 10%.
Fresh vegetables and fruit are handed out at pantries like this. Leaflets on maintaining a healthy diet are also handed out at pantries. (Photo courtesy of California Association of Food Banks)
Research shows that poor diet is leading to a higher rate of obesity among low-income families including young children.² The Farm to Family program not only helps families facing economic hardships, but also helps individuals adopt a nutritious diet of fruit and vegetables. Michael Flood, the executive director of LA Regional Food Bank, says that the program is important for bringing in nutritious products for clients who “may not have access to these items, or can’t really afford them, given their food budgets.” A mother interviewed at a distribution site echoes that statement: “It means more healthy food for my kids.”
Vicki Escarra, the president of Feeding America, says that there is “an almost unlimited supply of produce that’s not being adequately distributed,” and praises the Farm to Family program as an innovative solution.³
In Japan, 2HJ does not have an extensive network like CAFB at the moment. But the CAFB’s program inspires us to establish a similar program in Japan in the future.
We also welcome your comments and thoughts. Mail us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and follow us on Twitter for the latest news about food banking in Japan (@2HJ_en in English, @2ndharvestjapan in Japanese).
References
¹ All quotations come from a video on the Farm to Family program, linked to from the California Association of Food Banks website unless otherwise specified.
² American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 79, No. 1, 6-16, January 2004
³ The New York Times, California’s Food Banks Go Locavore
If you like this story, you might also enjoy:
Office Manager Masahiro Otake’s U.S. Food Bank Travelogue Vol. 1
2HJ’s new video - Thank you very much for your support!
Link to News story »
Monday, April 21, 2008
2HJ daikon harvesting event: Straight from the fields to 2HJ recipients
Pull, cut head, turn over, cut tail, set down. Pull, cut head, turn over, cut tail, set down.
What sounds like a streamlined slaughtering ritual, in reality is the daikon (i.e., Japanese white radish) harvesting routine of the 20 or so volunteers that answered 2HJ’s call to Okabe on Sunday February 24. They collected over 2 metric tons of daikon (from about 10 tons available on the field), all of which had been delivered to 2HJ’s recipients by February 27, only three days after the volunteers harvested them!
The following Sunday, March 2, a team of children (and their caretakers), aged from elementary to high school, took their turn and pitched in to harvest over 1.5 additional tons of daikon from the field. Coming from several of the homes to which 2HJ provides food, the children enjoyed the rare opportunity of harvesting their own food and eating it fresh from the field. The staff from the various participating children’s homes brought back a bounty of daikon to supplement meals at their agencies.
For 2HJ, it was the first time in its history that the organization literally lived up to its name by harvesting a field of donated vegetables. Due to this year’s early frosts, the usual daikon harvest period was cut short, leaving entire fields of the vegetable to the plough. Fortunately, one field of high-quality, mouth-watering daikon remained for 2HJ to gather.
Looking back, 2HJ’s Executive Director Charles McJilton stated: “I always wanted to bring such an event to life.” But the idea only gained momentum when 2HJ’s staff member Haijima-san revived the connection he had made with Mr. Karasawa (the main driver of this event on the Okabe community’s side) while working for a farmer in Miyazaki, Kyushu, before joining 2HJ. When the two met again after Haijima-san’s return to Tokyo, conversations about the details of vegetable cultivation eventually lead to reflections on if and how there might be opportunities for farming communities to contribute in their own way to 2HJ’s activities.
Farmers invest a tremendous amount of time and effort in growing crops and vegetables, “much like parents raising and educating their kids,” as Mr. Karasawa explains. It gives them a rather nauseous feeling watching the results of their efforts go to waste, be it because there are not enough hands available for harvesting all of it, or due to some follies of the change in season. Consequently, joining forces with 2HJ seemed like an optimal way to kill two birds with one stone: Not only did some of the yet unharvested daikon get harvested, but also there were people happily looking forward to such a highly valued addition to their menu.
Tired, cold, excited, covered from head to toe in soil blown upon us by the marrow-chilling wind and looking forward to dropping by the nearby onsen (i.e., local hot spring) before returning to Tokyo, all volunteers agreed that working in the fields and harvesting daikon with our own hands had taken the stress of city-life, at least temporarily, away from us. And, if only for a few hours, we had made the somewhat surprising discovery that country life was not all about sweet strawberries and gorgeous green meadows. The life of a farmer can be tough—and the strong winds, blinding us at times, forcing us to swallow more than the odd grain of soil and sand, served as a good example of how tough that life can be.
As the first time ran so smoothly and was a positive, educational and last but not least fun experience for all participants, 2HJ hopes to continue this newly set up collaboration with the Okabe agricultural community, and maybe even set up links to other communities in the future.
And, as 2HJ is now looking into converting this originally one-off event into a regular, maybe twice-a-year activity, I am looking forward to another of those rare opportunities where I get to work with my hands. Maybe I will be allowed once more the occasional glimpse to the panorama of the snow-covered Northern Alps rising at the horizon. No doubt at the end of another such day I will again fall into my bed with a rare but soothing, satisfactory feeling of having accomplished a truly productive day.
Writer/Photographer: Pamela Ravasio
Link to News story »Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Recipient profile: Canaan Christ Church
“Delicious” church offers nourishment for body, soul
Lined with cheap hostels and known for attracting day laborers, Kotobuki area is located in Yokohama’s Naka Ward. This neighborhood is populated by welfare recipients—many of them disabled people and seniors—as well as numerous homeless people. It is also home to Canaan Christ Church. The church consists of four connected one-room apartments within a building.
The church’s goal is to be a “happy, fun, delicious church,” according to Pastor Satoshi Sato. A meal of curry and rice for all attendees follows Sunday services; boxed lunches or other meals are offered after roadside services on Saturday mornings and Thursday afternoons; snacks always accompany early morning and evening services.
“Without the food we receive from Second Harvest Japan (2HJ), we couldn’t do this kind of activity. I’m filled with gratitude at the fact that they always come from far away to deliver the food to us,” says Pastor Sato’s wife, Pastor Yeonhee Seo. 2HJ delivers bread, fresh vegetables, and canned goods to the church twice a month, while one of 2HJ’s donors, Nichirei, visits the church every week with a shipment of frozen foods. Since most people in the neighborhood can’t spare money to tithe, being able to receive food for free really helps the church. “On days when we’re expecting a delivery, we all look forward to seeing what will arrive that day,” says Pastor Seo.
Pastor Seo and Korean congregation members living in Japan originally established the church to preach to people living in this area. Just as the sign at the church entrance reads, today the church welcomes “anyone seeking a purpose, anyone who is confused, anyone tired from working, anyone who has been hurt, anyone at all.” People who have lost their job, money, and home, as well as people who spent most of their lives in prison, come here.
“Most people first come here more interested in one meal than one hundred sermons. Along the way, though, I’ve seen countless brothers and sisters have their spirits healed and be redeemed,” says Pastor Sato. In some cases, people go from living on the streets to helping at the church, and eventually even taking up jobs because they “want to donate money.”
Two years ago the church took in a couple who had been living in the underground walkways of Yokohama in a makeshift cardboard house. The woman was pregnant, and the situation had been dangerous for both her and her unborn child, but in July of last year she gave birth to a healthy baby girl. The baby, named Kanako after Canaan Church, is being watched over by many people and is thriving. Pastor Seo calls her the “treasure of the church.” Kanako-chan and her parents still live at the church, and her previously homeless father has become a sub-official at the city’s sanitation department.
From this fall, Canaan Church will serve as a 2HJ pantry. As such, it will function as the community “food contact point”: anyone who lacks food security or needs emergency groceries can visit the pantry to receive a parcel of food (non-perishable items like canned goods and dry noodles), which the pantry will receive from 2HJ and make available to anyone in need in the community. 2HJ is working to establish these food contact points in various locations throughout Japan.
“To help those who are troubled, both spiritually and materially, is our role as a church. We’re happy to serve as a connection between our community and 2HJ,” says Pastor Sato.
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By Etsuko Ohara
Photo: Yusuke Wada
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
2HJ delivers food to women and children
Among the various recipients of 2HJ food deliveries, there is a privately run shelter for women and children. This shelter admits female victims of domestic violence or human trafficking as well as women who have become homeless due to various circumstances. Because of the imminent danger of relentless pursuit by their husbands, it is not possible to disclose the shelter’s address, name, or other details.
The shelter mother, a talented cook, prepares a nutritious meal three times a day. Depending on what she receives from 2HJ’s fortnightly delivery, she comes up with a custom tailored menu. If for example she receives the same vegetable in large quantities, she uses techniques such as pickling to guarantee that not a single item is wasted.
“We can afford the daily groceries we need, but thanks to 2HJ we are able to provide a more diverse menu,” a staff member explains. Furthermore, for institutions like this one, that rarely receive any government support and rely heavily on members’ donations to keep operating, “Being able to save tens of thousands of yen on our monthly food budget really helps us a lot. Instead, we can spend that money on baby formula, diapers, and other items.”
Here, food is a means of support not only to the body, but also to the minds of the sheltered. Whether they were restricted by a violent husband or by financial hardship, many of them had not been free to eat what they liked best for a long time. “They look beyond happy,” says the staff, “to have so much food in front of them and to be told, ‘It’s your choice. Eat whatever you like.’”
The shelter’s “graduates,” i.e., those who find an apartment and start an independent life, can choose to take part in 2HJ`s Harvest Pantry, which sends them urgently needed food items through a parcel delivery service. Since almost all of them are living their lives relying on public welfare, food is something a single mother with growing kids is always “grateful to receive—every little bit helps.”
Additionally, Fujimamas, a restaurant located in Omotesando, prepares a free meal once a week for the women living in the shelter. A 2HJ volunteer picks the meals up and delivers them without failure, even during New Year’s or Obon. The women are all happily looking forward to this weekly event and wondering, “What kind of dinner will we get today?”
From the staff’s explanations, I have come to realize that food is not only something that fills one’s stomach: For these women, who have encountered hard experiences, food is also a modest support that encourages them to recover their dignity and independence.
Writer: Etsuko Ohara
Photo: Patricia Decker
Friday, April 06, 2007
Food drives feed Harvest Pantry
Every week, Second Harvest Japan’s Harvest Pantry feeds close to 100 individuals, including 47 children. The majority of critically needed non-perishable foods come to us through food drives held by schools, businesses, and associations. With over 650,000 people in Japan lacking food security, food drives—no matter how big or how small—play an important role in helping to alleviate hunger.
Mark Valens, an English teacher at the Tokyo Korean School, helped to organize a food drive with his students, grades one through six. Approximately 450 students participated in the five-day drive. To motivate and build enthusiasm, the teachers put forth a challenge. If the students collected over 500 items, the teachers would sing a Japanese song in front of the student body. If the school fell short of the target, the sixth grade students would have to sing an English song on stage.
In the end, the students collected over 1,100 items and “everyone involved with the food drive agreed that it was a great success,” said Valens. “Donating food showed students how they could make a difference in people’s lives as well as educated them about the fact that many people go to bed hungry each night, even in a wealthy developed country.” Most of the teachers also spoke about the need some have for food and why they felt it was important to help others.
Many food drives are organized around World Food Day (October 16), which was established in 1979 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to increase international awareness of the issues behind hunger and poverty around the world. World Food Day is an excellent occasion to run a food drive for 2HJ and help spread awareness about hunger in Japan.
But since hunger is a year-round problem, there’s no need to wait until autumn to plan a food drive. See below for some pointers for organizing a food drive and contact 2HJ today to get started!
Be sure to contact Harvest Pantry Coordinator Michelle Ryan .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) before you start collecting food.
Download this printer-friendly PDF of the above pointers.
Writer: Michelle Ryan
Link to News story »RSS
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