tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56781247355886133782024-03-13T19:16:19.401-07:00The Hunger ChallengeCan you eat on a food stamp budget?San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-48793364098241813452011-09-17T12:12:00.000-07:002011-09-18T12:45:20.103-07:00Last Day<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today is the final day of the 2011 Hunger Challenge. <br />
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Let us know what this experience has meant to you! <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18px;">Leave a note on our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/SFFoodBank" style="color: #cc6611; text-decoration: none;">Facebook wall</a> or <a href="mailto:hungerchallenge@sffb.org" style="color: #cc6611; text-decoration: none;">email us your story</a>!</span></span>San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-3285345694591837632011-09-16T18:37:00.000-07:002011-09-16T18:40:08.060-07:00Only ONE MORE DAY of the 2011 Hunger Challenge<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Y</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ou’re coming around the home stretch – don’t give up! Are you feeling brain tired like <a href="http://rachel-hungerchallenge.blogspot.com/2011/09/penultimate-day.html">Hunger Challenger Rachel?</a> Did you reach out to friends and family for support like <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f2f2f2; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black;"><a href="http://lavieenroute.com/2011/09/16/hunger-challenge-day-4-support-hummus-veggie-tostadas-recipe/">Anneliesz</a>?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How has your week been? What did you think it would be like and how has it been different? <br />
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Let us know via <a href="http://bit.ly/rjaPDp">twitter</a> or our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/SFFoodBank">Facebook wall</a> or by <a href="mailto:hungerchallenge@sffb.org?subject=My%20experience%20so%20far">emailing us your story</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">!<br />
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Good luck tonight!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-27632357458241637932011-09-15T18:09:00.000-07:002011-09-15T18:10:04.667-07:00Day Five<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Tomorrow is <a href="http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=-1&url_num=2&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kgoam810.com%2Fsectional.asp%3Fid%3D40701"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>KGO Radio Fights Hunger Day</b></span></a>. They’ll be broadcasting live from local food banks, bringing their listeners stories and discussions about hunger in the Bay Area!<br />
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<a href="http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=-1&url_num=3&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpetitappetit.com%2Fblog%2F"><strong><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Petit Appetit</span></i></strong></a> blogger and 4th year Hunger Challenger, Lisa Barnes, and <a href="http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=-1&url_num=4&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsfist.com%2F"><strong><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">SFist</span></i></strong></a> editor and 1st time Hunger Challenger, Brock Keeling, will be sharing their experiences on air tomorrow afternoon. Be sure to tune in throughout the day to AM 810 to hear all the hunger-related stories and interviews.<br />
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These last days of the Hunger Challenge are the hardest, but the stories we are all sharing are worth so much in the effort to alleviate hunger in our community. Hang in there!<o:p></o:p></span></div>San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-17375341680102774632011-09-14T16:21:00.000-07:002011-09-14T17:23:30.750-07:00Hunger Challenge Hump Day<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We are almost over the hump and halfway through the Hunger Challenge!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
Please join us in a <b>Hunger Challenge "Virtual Lunch" Tweet-Up TOMORROW!</b> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Thursday, September 15th: Noon - 1 pm (PST) <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sure, you may be eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich alone at your desk - but there are lots of other Hunger Challengers in the same situation. Let's get together virtually and have lunch! Here's what to do:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Sign into Twitter</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Enter the hashtag #HChal (we're using a different hashtag from the usual #HungerChallenge so there's more room to talk) into the search box. OR, if you're using Twitter apps like HootSuite, create a search stream for #HChal (if you need help, let us know)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Starting at noon, we'll be asking questions and suggesting topics!</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tweet using the #HChal hashtag to join the discussion and share your experiences, insights and ideas!</span></li>
</ol><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A lot of our challengers are starting to feel the pressure of a tight budget! Check out <a href="http://www.blogher.com/bloggers-take-food-stamp-challenge-raise-awareness-grocery-costs?wrap=blogher-topics/food/frugal-kitchen&crumb=106885">this great article on BlogHer</a> which highlights some of our Hunger Challengers!</span></div>San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-39666656942027774612011-09-13T10:00:00.000-07:002011-09-14T17:22:08.641-07:00Hunger Challenge Update<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The Hunger Challenge is going strong! Everyone has done their shopping and experienced their first two days on the challenge. While reality has set in for many of our Challengers, there are so many great lessons being learned and so many great recipes being shared!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
Here are some of our favorite blog posts:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://singlemomenough.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/food-stamp-challenge-day-two/">Single Mom Enough gets the kids involved </a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://cookingwithamy.blogspot.com/2011/09/shopping-for-hunger-challenge.html">Cooking with Amy goes shopping </a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://lamaratonista.blogspot.com/2011/09/san-francisco-food-bank-hunger_12.html">La Marotonista considers the budget’s the strain on a family</a> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.hellocupcakellc.com/2011/09/hunger-challenge-day-1.html">Hello Cupcake manages to make her food adorable</a> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Are you taking the challenge? Let us know how it’s going!</span></div>San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-18129852126620626862011-09-08T16:00:00.000-07:002011-09-12T11:49:01.074-07:00The Hunger Challenge is ON!<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">How's it going? Check out posts and tweets from the 2011 Hunger Challengers. Just click on the links on the right-hand side of this page. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">To see what everyone's saying about the Hunger Challenge, check out this Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/%23hungerchallenge" target="blank"><b>feed,</b></a> or </span><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><b><a href="http://www.facebook.com/sffoodbank" target="blank">visit the Food Bank's Facebook page. </a></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Taking the Challenge</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Post on Facebook daily about what you’re eating (or not able to eat). Or <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sffoodbank" target="blank"><b>join the discussion on our FB page</b>.</a></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Tweet all about it – use the hashtag <b><a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search/%23hungerchallenge" target="blank">#HungerChallenge</a></b><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Post pictures of your meals on your blog or Facebook<o:p></o:p> </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Talk to your friends, families and co-workers about what you’re doing – they’ll want to listen</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span>Support other Hunger Challengers by reading and commenting on their blogs</li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><b><a href="http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5420/p/salsa/web/common/public/content?content_item_KEY=9056" target="blank">Still need to sign up for the Challenge</a></b>?</span><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> It's not too late! You can join at any time.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div>San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-67511533589727472502011-08-18T13:55:00.000-07:002011-08-22T10:10:39.900-07:00Sign up for the 2011 Hunger Challenge!Think you could live on a food stamp budget - for a week or even a day? We invite you to <a href="http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5420/p/salsa/web/common/public/content?content_item_KEY=9056" target="blank">sign up for the 2011 Hunger Challenge</a>, which will take place September 11-17. <br />
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Throughout the year, we post news on this site about hunger and food stamps, so subscribe to our RSS feed to receive updates, too!San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-74093858395511635032011-08-18T13:54:00.000-07:002011-08-18T13:54:41.421-07:00"Hunger and Children in America: a Slow and Steady Starvation"ABC News has been running a series on hunger in America. This shocking story appeared on Good Morning America:<br />
<blockquote>A little 2-year-old boy came to the hospital hungry, not just for dinner, but every day of his young life. He is smaller than he should be and his organs, including his brain, are not developing fully. And he lives in Boston, one of America's most prosperous cities. <br />
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Doctors at Boston Medical Center's Grow Clinic, which provides assistance to children diagnosed with "failure to thrive," say they have seen a dramatic increase in the number of children they treat who are dangerously thin. <br />
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"What's so hard is that a lot of families are working so hard," said Dr. Megan Sandel, an associate professor of pediatrics and public health at BMC. "They are working jobs. They are earning money and their dollars just don't go far enough." <br />
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That is life for nearly 15 million children living in poverty in the U.S., according to the National Center for Children in Poverty...Across the country, nearly 5.5 million children live in families that have lost homes to foreclosures and 8 million children live in families where at least one parent has lost a job, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation.... <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Health/US/hunger-children-america-slow-steady-starvation/story?id=14328390" target="blank"><strong>READ MORE</strong></a></blockquote>San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-26882369297898940712011-07-07T15:31:00.000-07:002011-07-07T15:31:07.687-07:00California ranks next to last in food stamp participation - and it's hurting our economyThe <a href="http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/sacramento-food-stamps-lost-supper/content?oid=2487068">Sacramento News & Review</a> reports on one woman's struggle to obtain food stamp assistance in California, following Monica Turner through "the food stamp process’s web of appointments and paperwork." Fixing the broken system could go a long way toward helping California's economy. Here's why:<br />
<blockquote>Many Californians give up or don’t bother. As a result, the state leaves $4.9 billion in benefits on the table each year, money that could juice the economy by $8.7 billion in related activity.</blockquote><blockquote>Forces here and in the nation’s capital are now working hard to change the way people participate in the federal food-stamps program, known nationally as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Improving California’s participation could provide a potent injection for a sick economy, a booster shot that California could mainline straight into its corroded veins. At the same time, this elixir would also help people in need, people such as Turner, and provide a jackpot return on the investment.</blockquote><blockquote>At the moment, California faces some embarrassing statistics. Despite need, the state ranks next to last nationally in food-stamp participation. Less than half of those eligible in California enroll, compared to a national average of 75 percent. <a href="http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/sacramento-food-stamps-lost-supper/content?oid=2487068"><strong>Read the entire article</strong></a></blockquote>San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-26268401879035626892011-06-09T12:48:00.000-07:002011-06-09T12:48:13.163-07:00GOP plan guts food programIn this June 2, 2011, <a href="http://www.registercitizen.com/articles/2011/06/02/opinion/doc4de6fc64b15e2618940057.txt" target="blank">editorial in The Register Citizen</a>, Rosa DeLauro lays out the grim effects of a plan put forward in the U.S. House of Representatives:<br />
<blockquote>The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, helps to feed more than 44 million Americans a day, 21 million of them kids. Put another way, one out of every seven Americans, and one out of every five children, is getting help. It is our country’s most important anti-hunger program.</blockquote><blockquote>Yet, under the budget put forward by the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, this vital effort is at risk</blockquote><blockquote>Among the many drastic cuts included, the Republicans’ 2012 budget would slash SNAP by $127 billion — almost 20 percent — over the next 10 years. This could mean up to 10 million men, women, and children would be cut from the rolls and have to go hungry. The Republicans plan to convert SNAP into yet another underfunded block grant to the states, which could mean even larger cuts for American families.<br />
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Republicans argue that they are making these cuts because the cost of SNAP has increased in recent years. That is true due to simple math. SNAP helps feed those in economic need, and as the economy has stumbled, their numbers have grown.<br />
According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, food stamp aid lifted more than 4.5 million Americans over the poverty line in 2009, including more than 2 million children and 200,000 seniors...<a href="http://www.registercitizen.com/articles/2011/06/02/opinion/doc4de6fc64b15e2618940057.txt" target="blank">Read more</a></blockquote>San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-65728882450771549552011-04-28T14:47:00.000-07:002011-04-28T14:47:42.092-07:00Soaring Costs Force Some Renters To Choose Between Shelter and FoodIn the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/26/rent-vs-buy_n_852779.html?icid=main%7Ccompaq-laptop%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk1%7C210970" target=blank>Huffington Post</a>, Yepoka Yeebo writes about an alarming trend - higher rents are eating up income that used to go to food:<br />
<blockquote>Around 10 million American households -- or one in every four families that rent their homes -- could have to choose between paying rent, buying groceries or keeping current with bills, according to a report released Tuesday.</blockquote><blockquote>The number of households spending more than 50 percent of their income on rent and bills jumped by 2.6 million over the last decade, according to a Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies report. Economists generally consider "affordable" rent to cost about 30 percent of a tenant's income.</blockquote><blockquote>When housng costs hit certain levels, many Americans are forced to choose between rent and food. "In real terms, it means more people have less money to spend on household necessities such as food, health care, or savings," Eric Belsky, director of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, said in the report. Households which spend 50 percent or more of their income on rent also spend almost 40 percent less on food and over 50 percent less on health care than households with more affordable rent. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/26/rent-vs-buy_n_852779.html?icid=main%7Ccompaq-laptop%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk1%7C210970" target=blank><strong>Read more</strong></a></blockquote>San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-65406663567538826032011-03-31T13:26:00.000-07:002011-03-31T13:27:33.865-07:00NY Times' Mark Bittman Fasts to Protest Proposed Budget Cuts to Hunger ProgramsNew York Times food writer and author of the weekly <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/features/diningandwine/columns/the_minimalist/index.html?scp=2&sq=minimalist&st=cse" target="blank">Minimalist</a> column is <em>really</em> going mimimal. He's joined a group protesting proposed Congressional budget cuts to hunger relief programs. Here is his Op-Ed about the fast: <br />
<blockquote>I stopped eating on Monday and joined around 4,000 other people in a fast to call attention to Congressional budget proposals that would make huge cuts in programs for the poor and hungry.</blockquote><blockquote>By doing so, I surprised myself; after all, I eat for a living. But the decision was easy after I spoke last week with David Beckmann, a reverend who is this year’s World Food Prize laureate. Our conversation turned, as so many about food do these days, to the poor.</blockquote><blockquote>Who are — once again — under attack, this time in the House budget bill, H.R. 1. The budget proposes cuts in the WIC program (which supports women, infants and children), in international food and health aid (18 million people would be immediately cut off from a much-needed food stream, and 4 million would lose access to malaria medicine) and in programs that aid farmers in underdeveloped countries. Food stamps are also being attacked, in the twisted “Welfare Reform 2011” bill. (There are other egregious maneuvers in H.R. 1, but I’m sticking to those related to food.)<br />
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These supposedly deficit-reducing cuts — they’d barely make a dent — will quite literally cause more people to starve to death, go to bed hungry or live more miserably than are doing so now. And: The bill would increase defense spending... <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/29/why-were-fasting/?src=me&ref=general" target="blank">Read the entire article</a></blockquote>San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-3526694827233048902011-01-13T12:34:00.000-08:002011-01-13T12:35:49.975-08:00Food stamps: More Americans keep signing upThe Christian Science Monitor reports that food stamp participation continued to rise in December - the latest in a series of record-breaking months for the food stamp program:<br />
<blockquote>As a logical consequence of the prolonged economic downturn it appears that participation in the federal food stamp program is continuing to rise.</blockquote><blockquote>In fact, household participation has been climbing so steadily that it has far surpassed the last peak set as a result of the immediate fallout following hurricane Katrina.</blockquote><blockquote>The latest data released by the Department of Agriculture shows that in October, an additional 289,737 new recipients were added to the food stamps program, an increase of 14.67% on a year-over-year basis, while household participation increased 16.98%.</blockquote><blockquote>Individual participation as a ratio of the overall civilian non-institutional population has increased 13.72% over the same period. </blockquote><a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Paper-Economy/2011/0112/Food-stamps-More-Americans-keep-signing-up">Read more</a>San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-49712689570666320212011-01-05T13:16:00.000-08:002011-01-05T13:16:42.044-08:00One in Three Working Families Considered "Low Income"The Wall Street Journal reported December 21, 2010:<br />
<blockquote>Nearly one in three working families earned less than 200% of poverty line last year, as a bad economy pushed 250,000 families below that threshold, according to a new analysis of Census Bureau data.<br />
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The recession’s effects extended beyond the millions who lost jobs, according to a report released Tuesday by the Working Poor Families Project, which researches and advocates for working families. Among those who were working, more than 10 million families earned less than 200% of the poverty level, which the researchers considered “low income.” The low-income threshold for a family of four with two children last year was $43,512.<br />
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“Working families are taking it hard during the great recession,” said Brandon Roberts, one of the report’s authors. “We’ve got a whole lot of middle-income families, middle-class families that have now fallen back into low-income working families.”</blockquote><div><div>Read the full story <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/12/21/one-in-three-working-families-considered-low-income/">here</a>.<br />
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</div></div>San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-50488304216389535282010-12-09T12:17:00.000-08:002010-12-09T12:17:55.782-08:00Number of Americans relying on food stamps still on the rise - now at nearly 43 millionThe <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/12/08/food-stamp-rolls-continue-to-rise/">Wall Street Journal</a> notes the continuing rise of Americans relying on food stamps:<br />
<blockquote>Some 42.9 million people collected food stamps last month, up 1.2% from the prior month and 16.2% higher than the same time a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.<br />
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Nationwide 14% of the population relied on food stamps as of September but in some states the percentage was much higher. In Washington, D.C., Mississippi and Tennessee – the states with the largest share of citizens receiving benefits – more than a fifth of the population in each was collecting food stamps.</blockquote>In California, almost 3.5 million people count on food stamps - an uptick of 17.7% over September, 2009. Go <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/12/08/food-stamp-rolls-continue-to-rise/">here</a> to read the entire article and see the individual stats for each state.San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-31507437306578264602010-11-10T15:14:00.000-08:002010-11-10T15:50:28.952-08:0014% of Americans Now Rely on Food Stamps<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span><span><span><span>The <span style="font-style: italic;">Wall Street Journal</span> reports that, as of August, </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span><span><span><span><span style="color: rgb(84, 46, 25);">42,389,619</span></span></span></span></span> Americans rely on Food Stamps - up 17% from a year ago:<br /></span><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span><span><span><span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">A huge number of American households are still relying on government assistance to buy food as the recession continues to batter families.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span><span><span><span><span style="color: rgb(84, 46, 25);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Food stamp recipients ticked up in August, children consumed millions of free lunches and nearly</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">five million low-income mothers tapped into a government nutrition program for women and young children.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span><span><span><span><span style="color: rgb(84, 46, 25);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Some 42,389,619 Americans received food stamps in August, a 17% rise from the same time a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which tracks the data. That number is up 58.5% from August 2007, before the recession began.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Read the entire article </span><a style="color: rgb(204, 102, 0);" href="http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/11/04/some-14-of-us-uses-food-stamps/" target="blank">here</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">.</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-21176501957338522692010-09-20T15:34:00.000-07:002010-09-20T15:34:54.784-07:00We Did It! 300,000 Pounds of Tyson Chicken is on the Way!Many thanks to everyone who left and comment on the <a href="http://www.tysonhungerrelief.com/2010/09/who-are-the-hungry-people-you-can-help-with-a-comment/" target="blank">Tyson Hunger Relief</a> website and helped spread the word. For each comment, Tyson put another 100 pounds of chicken on the truck headed for the San Francisco Food Bank.<br />
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We've reached our goal, and the chicken is on its way!<br />
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Thanks also to Tyson, for their generous support of our Hunger Challenge - for the third year in a row - and for all their hunger relief efforts across the country.San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-11070834799998750522010-09-13T17:37:00.000-07:002010-09-13T17:37:37.848-07:00Founding Hunger Challenger Genie Gratto on this Year's ChallengeGenie Gratto of <a href="http://www.theinadvertentgardener.com/" target="blank">The Inadvertent Gardener</a> was one of the founding bloggers of the Hunger Challenge. In this post on <a href="http://www.blogher.com" target="blank">BlogHer</a>, she checks out what others are writing about their 2010 Hunger Challenge experiences:<br />
<blockquote><a href="http://www.blogher.com/hungry-cause-hunger-challengers-underway-third-year" target="blank">Hungry for a Cause: The Hunger Challenge Gets Under Way for Third Year</a></blockquote>Thanks for all your support, Genie!San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-91740397791620117392010-09-13T17:36:00.000-07:002010-09-13T17:36:29.093-07:00Founding Hunger Challenger Faith Kramer Takes on Year #3Founding Hunger Challenge blogger Faith Kramer of <a href="http://clickblogappetit.blogspot.com" target="blank">Blog Appetit</a> has a wealth of observations, recipes and tips for eating on a budget. Here's an excerpt from her first 2010 Hunger Challenge post: <br />
<blockquote>This is the third year that I've participated. You can see everything I posted on the 2008 challenge here, including shopping lists, daily menus, meal planning tips and more. In 2008, we only had $3 a person a day to work with, so filling up my family of four and keeping the food nutritious was even more challenging. (The extra dollar a day really makes a difference, but it is just a temporary change and is due to expire.) I think the Hunger Challenge Chili was my favorite recipe from that year. I also feel that what I wrote in my wrap up/recommendations for change post still sums my experience and what I learned and what I would like to see change to make it easier for Food Bank clients and those on food stamps to feed themselves and their families as well as possible.<br />
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You can read about my 2009 experience here. In 2009 we were able to use $4 a day per person. Like the year before, I also planned out a weekly meal plan, gave shopping trips, shared about my experiences and developed recipes. Probably my favorite from 2009 was the Hunger Challenge Cassoulet (a bean and sausage stew). I summed up my reactions here. <b><a href="http://clickblogappetit.blogspot.com/search/label/Hunger%20Challenge%202010" target="blank">READ MORE</a></b></blockquote>San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-54829910544236916382010-09-09T14:57:00.000-07:002010-09-09T17:48:26.537-07:00CA Assemblywoman Fiona Ma Joins the Hunger Challenge!Showing her commitment to supporting the issue of hunger in California, <a href="http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a12/" target="blank">Assemblywoman Fiona Ma</a> has stepped up to take the Hunger Challenge.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">“I've been a food bank volunteer for the past 10 years," Ma says, "And the lines are longer and the clients are younger. In keeping with my commitment to a hands-on approach, I will take this Hunger Challenge to see for myself how difficult it is to survive on limited assistance in these trying times.”</span></span> <br />
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Any other politicians out there who are willing to live for a week on a food stamp budget?San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-81446075369505434012010-07-30T16:41:00.000-07:002010-07-30T16:48:07.622-07:00Senate Cutting Food Stamps Funding by $6.7 Billion<a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/07/senate_cutting_food_stamps_to.html" target=blank>Ezra Klein reports in the Washington Post</a> that the Senate is cutting food stamps funding by $6.7 billon. Klein notes that's a strange move, because money spent on food stamps may be the the best economic stimulus of all:<br />
<blockquote>The Recovery Act included an immediate 13.6 percent increase in food stamps (which are now known as SNAP). That increase equals out to a maximum of $80 per household -- and these are not rich households. But the price of food has leveled out, and in some cases decreased, in the recession. Meanwhile, the number of people who needed help skyrocketed to more than 40 million. For that reason, the program's costs ballooned from an expected $20 billion to about $65 billion. The new price tag scared some, so people began talking about cutting the benefits back.<br />
<br />
And here we are. Democrats needed to offset spending on two worthy, important programs [Medicare and teacher funding]. So they're cutting another important, worthy program. But you really can't think of a worse program to cut than SNAP. SNAP is an extraordinarily well-targeted stimulus. It goes to poor households, for something they need to buy. According to Mark Zandi's numbers, it's literally the most stimulative way to spend a dollar: Better than state and local aid, or unemployment insurance. You get more than $1.70 of economic activity for each buck you put in... </blockquote><blockquote>But this is also a question of priorities, of what gets cut. Bernie Sanders put up an amendment last month to cut about $35 billion in oil and gas subsidies. It failed. Republicans are arguing to extend Bush's tax cuts for the rich with no offsets, and they may well succeed. But food assistance for poor families? You can get the votes to slash those. <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/07/senate_cutting_food_stamps_to.html" target="blank">Read more</a></blockquote>San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-10295470360418832752010-07-22T14:25:00.000-07:002010-07-22T14:29:29.616-07:00What's it Like When the Hunger Challenge Never Ends? A Family Living on Food Stamps<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Hunger Challenge participants are lucky - we only have to live for seven days on a food stamp budget. For many people, it's just life, non-stop, with no end in sight. Here's a National Public Radio series about a family from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Carlisle</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">PA,</st1:state></st1:place> struggling to make ends meet. They live on an income of $18,000 and have to stretch $600 in food stamps to feed two adults, an eight year old boy and two teenage girls.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128618224" target="blank" title="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128618224">A Daily Fight To Find Food: One Family's Story</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="date"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="date"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Aired: July 19, 2010 </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">(9:01)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128621057" target="blank">Eating Nutritiously: A Struggle When Money Is Scarce</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="date"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">July 20, 2010 (6:58)</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-23501719418244176642010-07-01T15:25:00.000-07:002010-07-01T15:28:30.550-07:00Food Stamp Use Up 55% in San FranciscoNeed for food assistance continues to rise in San Francisco. Requests for help from the San Francisco Food Bank are up 25%, and the number of people on food stamps continues to grow. Here's an update, from the San Francisco Examiner:<br />
<blockquote>The number of San Franciscans on food stamps has grown by some 55 percent in the past 17 months. Today, about 41,743 San Franciscans rely on food stamps, according to San Francisco’s Human Services Agency.<br />
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But despite the recent spikes, San Francisco food-security advocates say the food-stamp program is not carrying its fair share of the burden. Today, just one-twentieth of San Franciscans are on food-stamp rolls, compared to one-eighth of all Americans.<br />
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One might imagine that disparity could simply mean there’s less hunger in wealthy San Francisco than elsewhere in the nation.<br />
<br />
But, in fact, the San Francisco Food Bank believes the opposite is true. It estimates that fully one-quarter of all children and senior citizens and about one-fifth of adults in San Francisco live each day with food insecurity. That’s compared to a national average of about 15 percent, according to the latest estimates by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.<br />
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The cost of living in San Francisco is a major problem for residents who need food stamps, according to food-security advocates.</blockquote>Read the entire story <a href="http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/High-cost-of-living-works-against-citys-hungry-97540574.html#ixzz0sTJF80ix">here</a>.San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-22956054507797055012010-01-12T14:23:00.000-08:002010-01-12T16:08:04.436-08:007 Million More Food Stamp Recipients vs. Last Year - and Half Are ChildrenThe Los Angeles Times reports today:<br />
<blockquote>A study finds 7 million additional people receiving food stamps compared with a year ago, half of them children. California had a 21% increase in recipients. As more families are hammered by the recession, more are using food stamps to feed their kids, according to a <a href="http://www.brookings.edu/%7E/media/Files/rc/papers/2010/0104_child_poverty_isaacs/0104_child_poverty_isaacs.pdf">study</a> by the Brookings Institution and First Focus, a bipartisan child advocacy group. <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-food-stamps12-2010jan12,0,181812.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews%2Fnationworld%2Fnation+%28L.A.+Times+-+National+News%29" target=blank>Read the full story</a></blockquote>San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5678124735588613378.post-4595408364693855022010-01-04T16:18:00.000-08:002010-01-05T16:28:28.094-08:00New York Times: Living on Nothing but Food StampsA New York Times (Jan. 3, 2010) piece by Jason Deparle and Robert M. Gebeloff reveals the surprising story of those who have been forced to rely food stamps as their only source of "income":<br />
<blockquote>After an improbable rise from the Bronx projects to a job selling Gulf Coast homes, Isabel Bermudez lost it all to an epic housing bust — the six-figure income, the house with the pool and the investment property.<br />
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Now, as she papers the county with résumés and girds herself for rejection, she is supporting two daughters on an income that inspires a double take: zero dollars in monthly cash and a few hundred dollars in food stamps.<br />
With food-stamp use at a record high and surging by the day, Ms. Bermudez belongs to an overlooked subgroup that is growing especially fast: recipients with no cash income.<br />
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About six million Americans receiving food stamps report they have no other income, according to an analysis of state data collected by The New York Times. In declarations that states verify and the federal government audits, they described themselves as unemployed and receiving no cash aid — no welfare, no unemployment insurance, and no pensions, child support or disability pay.<br />
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Their numbers were rising before the recession as tougher welfare laws made it harder for poor people to get cash aid, but they have soared by about 50 percent over the past two years. About one in 50 Americans now lives in a household with a reported income that consists of nothing but a food-stamp card. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/us/03foodstamps.html?emc=eta1&pagewanted=print">Read the entire story...</a><br />
</blockquote>San Francisco Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736126733809984923noreply@blogger.com1