First Lady Michelle Obama wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal titled "The Business Case for Healthier Food Options". It's an interesting piece about what's being done about the fight against obesity.
Introducing: Megan Dixon
by Megan Dixon Hi, my name is Megan and I am one of the new Health Educator Interns at Inter-Faith Food Shuttle! I am currently a senior at North Carolina State University majoring in both Biological Sciences and Nutrition Sciences. Originally, I had I planned on being a nurse when I started at NCSU, so I was majoring in biology. Shortly after I discovered that I was a true foodie at heart; if I see something I have never eaten, I become obsessed with it until I actually try it. So I figured, why not take a nutrition course? After the first week of my Introduction to Nutrition class I had my “Ah Hah!” moment that I think everyone in college seeks to have. I finally found something that I was truly passionate about and was actually applicable to real life (I still do not see how calculus could be applicable in real life, but I will not give up hope!). So while I was taking my first nutrition class I immediately added Nutrition Sciences as my second major.
Since then I have taken many more nutrition courses and some food science courses. I have learned so much and I could not wait to share my knowledge with others. Last semester, I acted as chef in a Cooking Matters class put on by my Community Nutrition class. I had the privilege and delight to teach eight “tweens” how to make budget friendly, healthy, and tasty meals at home. I also worked with a small company, Delight Soy last year, where I witnessed what goes on in the food industry first hand when it came to formulating new products, good manufacturing practices, and some business elements.
During my time at IFFS, I will be teaching the nutrition portion of the Food Matters curricula at Mobile Markets. I truly enjoy my internship and always look forward to hearing how people are enhancing their lives by choosing more nutritious options. I feel like I am doing something worthwhile because everyone needs proper nutrition.
Local Gardeners’ PARt in Ending Hunger
Calling all backyard, community, and school gardeners! You can make a difference in the lives of your neighbors in need by Planting a Row for the Hungry. With daylight savings time starting this weekend, spring feels just around the corner, and that means it’s time to start planning and planting your garden! But as you’re dreaming of your summer squashes, tomatoes, beans, and corn, there’s something else you can dream of: helping feed those in need in your community with garden-fresh, healthy produce: yours.
What is Plant a Row for the Hungry?
Plant a Row for the Hungry (PAR) is a national program created by The Garden Writers Association that encourages garden communities and individuals to donate fresh vegetables, fruit, and herbs to people in need. Inter-Faith Food Shuttle is the PAR partner in the Triangle
How do I PARticipate?
No matter the size of your garden, you can make a difference. Just 1 pound of your fresh produce supplements 4 meals. You can earmark a row in your garden to donate, or just commit to donate your excess (like in the summer when you’re overflowing with zucchini and your family and friends are already sick of it! ). Sign up on our website (select Plant a Row for the Hungry member)!
There are a number of drop-off sites where you can bring your donated produce in Wake and Durham counties (now including Duke Gardens!). Find the list of places and times along with produce guidelines on our website here.
This Saturday, March 9th from 11am-4pm, our partner Logan’s Trading Company is holding a kick-off event for their 5th year as a Plant a Row drop-off site. Last year they collected over 20,000 lbs of fresh produce from generous local gardeners. You can help them surpass that and meet their new goal of 25,000 lbs! Plus, if you sign up at the event (which includes free gardening classes and activities for kids and the whole family), you’ll receive a Goodie Bag filled with coupons, freebies , and more to help you get your PAR garden started. There will even be drawings for a composter, locally made goodies, an apple tree, and a blueberry bush!
Earlier that day, if you’re heading to AHA’s Dig In event, look for our table to sign up there, too!
Who should PARticipate?
If you garden or are involved in a garden, YOU! We welcome donations from individuals, community gardens, and school gardens. Two of our largest PAR donor gardens include Highland Methodist United Church Victory Community Garden, which donated over 3500 lbs last year, and Hayes Barton United Methodist Church’s Mustard Seed Garden community garden.
Why Plant a Row?
We believe everyone has a right to fresh, healthy food. However, this right goes unrealized for far too many in our community. One in four children in North Carolina is at risk of hunger. Paradoxically, due to lack of access to and lack of enough income to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, people experiencing hunger and food insecurity are also the most likely to be overweight and obese, and also to suffer from chronic illness. North Carolina has some the highest rates of obesity and chronic disease in the US, and the most limited access to healthy, fresh foods. By Planting a Row, you help people experiencing hunger and food insecurity gain access to fresh, local, nutritious produce!
Small Announcement
Shopping Matters has been re-branded and re-named to Cooking Matters at the Store.
PORCH-Durham, supporting BackPack Buddies and Beyond
Sometimes the simplest concept can have the biggest impact…like this one: Families buy a few extra items at the grocery store, and once a month they put them in bags on their porches. Then PORCH-Durham volunteers come to pick them up, and—VOILA!—hundreds more children are being fed in Durham county every month! PORCH-Durham’s mission is to support the Backpack Buddies Program in Durham, North Carolina. And support the program, they do. The program provides 420 BackPacks full of 6 balanced meals and 2 healthy snacks every weekend during the school year for children in need—that’s 32,000 pounds of food as of February 2013.
Inspired by the PORCH (People Offering Relief for Chapel Hill-Carrboro Homes) program in Chapel Hill, three women in Durham decided to join forces and start PORCH-Durham in January of 2011. Since that time, founders Lesli Garrison, Chasie Harris, Jen Meldrum and a team of volunteers have been collecting food donations every 3rd Monday of the month from porches in neighborhoods across Durham that kind and generous folks have set out to donate. That food then goes to support Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s BackPack Buddies program. Thanks to their ongoing support, we have been able to add 4 new schools to the BackPack Buddies Program, supply our 5 pantry schools, AND supply a pantry at the Durham Teen Center.
Donations go to John Avery Boys & Girls Club of Durham and Durham Public Schools including Eastway Elementary, Y.E. Smith Elementary, Glenn Elementary, C.C. Spaulding Elementary, Forestview Elementary, George Watts Elementary, and Central Elementary (in Hillsborough). PORCH-Durham also sends food nations directly to E.K. Powe Elementary and Club Boulevard Elementary
Additional food that is collected that doesn’t fit within suggested foods for BackPack Buddies goes to school pantries at Githens Middle School, Neal Middle School, Hillside New Technical High School, Northern High School, and Southern High School.
Learn how to get involved on their website here.
In the Kitchen with the Hub: Cookies Matter
by Sarah Burch There are few things as comforting as a freshly baked cookie. They fill the kitchen with delicious aromas, evoke childhood memories and satisfy that sweet tooth like very little else. Yes, cookies definitely matter! So when I recently developed a wheat allergy, I will admit to a brief moment of panic. I started experimenting with flour free recipes, only to find they varied greatly in flavor and texture and not always in a good way. Then I came across a recipe, in a book called Everyday Paleo by Sarah Fragoso. This recipe was not only wheat free, but also contained no added sugar and no dairy products. Fortunately, we don’t have issues with dairy products in my house, so it was the no added sugar factor that made me want to try this recipe. I was intrigued. The ingredients looked delicious when considered individually, but would they really meld together into a tasty cookie?
I glanced over at my two teenage boys. Now that would be the ultimate test. Would THEY be able to tell these cookies contained no wheat, no dairy products and horror of horrors, no added sugar? Believe me, they’re a tough audience. There was only one way to find out…I would make the cookies but not disclose these facts. It was time to get sneaky.
Here’s the recipe and then I’ll tell you what happened. First though, a word of warning. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be hard pressed to avoid tasting at every step, and pretty soon end up with relatively little cookie dough. Resist! The end result is totally worth it!
First, peel two ripe bananas. The riper the better and the sweeter the cookies will be. Place them in a medium sized mixing bowl and mash them with a fork. Next, add 1/3 cup coconut flour, ¾ cup of peanut (or almond) butter, and ½ teaspoon baking soda to the bowl and mix well. Peel and chop 1 medium sized apple (I used Gala) and place in a food processor along with 1/3 cup raw walnuts… Pulse until the apple and walnuts resemble a fine dice. Add the walnuts/apple mixture, 1/3 cup of coconut milk and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon to the bowl and mix well. Cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper and spoon heaping tablespoons of the cookie dough onto the parchment paper, an inch or two apart.
Bake for 25 minutes. Makes approximately 20-24 cookies.
They kind of resemble meatballs, but you’ll have to take my word for it that those are the cookies. So, back to my sneaky mom story. Did my teenagers like them? You bet they did! Two hours later… they were gone!
The verdict? Nutritious and delicious! I hope you enjoy them, too!
Introducing: Sarah Burch
by Sarah Burch I started at the Inter Faith Food Shuttle two weeks ago, taking over from Morgan Medders as the new Americorps VISTA. It quickly became apparent that things don’t stay the same for long around here! Case in point – I found out yesterday that the name of my program has changed. Good bye “Shopping Matters.” Hello “Cooking Matters at the Store!”
I am thrilled to be a part of such a dynamic work environment. Even though at times I’ve felt like one of those characters in a movie who moves in slow motion while the rest of the world rushes past her. I have scrambled to keep up with all that’s going on around me, plumbing the depths of our coolers and warehouse in search of ingredients, heading out to Wendell to assist at a Cooking Matters class, attending mobile markets in Benson and Durham to recruit participants for upcoming grocery tours, and finally running my first Shopping Matters, sorry, Cooking Matters at the Store tour from start to finish.
What has struck me the most over the past two weeks is how much food connects us all. Food connects us at the hub. We raid the warehouse for cans of corn, beans and tomatoes we can use in our cooking classes. Food connects us to our community. We reach out to those agencies and organizations that can benefit from our programs, and who share our mission of feeding the hungry. Last but not least, food connects us with the people we are trying to help. The most rewarding part of my job so far has without doubt been leading a grocery shopping tour in Durham: sharing nutritional advice with participants, reading a food label together, identifying whole grains and looking at unit prices. We even shared recipes. One participant had made a coating for fish with nuts and breadcrumbs. Doesn’t that sound good? And today my co-worker shared how everyone signed her instructor guide at the graduation class for her Cooking Matters course. See what I mean? Food connects us all. I can’t wait for what’s ahead of me this year, but please, don’t change the name again!
Job Opening: Catering Manager
Inter-Faith Food Shuttle currently has an opening in our Catering Program. The purpose of Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s not-for-profit catering program, Catering With A Cause, is to generate revenue for funding our programs which work to end hunger in the greater Triangle. Interested individuals should send a resume to Terri Hutter, COO Food Service/Job Training at terri@foodshuttle.org
Catering Manager, Inter-Faith Food Shuttle
Reports to: COO Food Service/Culinary Job Training
How the catering program works:
- Graduates are hired from our Culinary Job Training Program (CJTP)
- Catering With A Cause serves as an extended training program for CJTP graduates to learn catering-specific skills before beginning a career in the food service industry
- Meals are prepared in the kitchens of our headquarters and InterAct's Family Safety and Empowerment Center
Primary Duties
- Catering sales and service
- Start to finish customer service for catered events including menu selection, invoicing, and record keeping
- Deliver, set up, serve, and break down events
- Assist with food preparation as needed
- Create menus for clients wanting custom ordered events
- Create marketing materials for Catering With A Cause
- Promote Catering With A Cause through social media sites, including blog posts
Additional Responsibilities
- Represent Inter-Faith food Shuttle in the community through speaking engagements, community events, tours, fundraisers
Works closely with
- Catering Kitchen Manager
- Culinary Job Training Program Training Chef
- Culinary Job Training Program Interns
- IFFS Communications and Marketing team
Requirements
- 2 years catering or banquet service with sales and/or management experience
- 1 year culinary experience
- Current ServSafe certification or become certified within 90 days of hire
- Valid NC Drivers License and clean driving record
- Ability to lift up to 40lbs, repetitively lift 25lbs, stand for long periods, work in hot, cold and wet environment, and smile while you’re doing it
- Ability to work evenings, weekends and holidays as needed
For more information contact terri@foodshuttle.org or visit our website www.foodshuttle.org
"The Hunger Games"
by Sarah Paxson This graphic really says it all. Proud to be a part of the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, an organization that is addressing these very real problems in our community.
Introducing: Annie Lassiter
by Annie Lassiter Hi! I’m Annie and I recently started interning with the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. I’m a senior in Applied Nutrition at North Carolina State University. I originally began at NCSU with a major in Human Biology. However, after an Introduction to Human Nutrition, I fell in love with the subject and switched majors. My focus is really on childhood nutrition. It is incredibly rewarding to have kids taste a healthy food or drink for the first time and tell you that they like it. Working in the community is critical for forming healthy, lifelong habits. By exposing kids to basic nutrition concepts and healthy eating practices, we can help them have a healthier lifestyle throughout their whole life.
I play clarinet in the NCSU marching band, so if you ever go to a football game, look for me on the field at half time. I’ll be the one in red! I also play in my church orchestra every Sunday, which I feel is a wonderful way to give my time and talents. In the past, I have volunteered with Cooking Matters for Teens, which taught me a lot about working with kids. Last summer I got the opportunity to teach Food Chemistry at the All Arts, Sciences, and Technology camp, through UNCG. I taught elementary and middle school students how to make simple recipes like cookies, soup, and ice cream. I had a blast getting to work with the students in the classroom setting as well as during the every day camp activities. I also worked with Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) last summer, conducting focus groups with low-income mothers and their use of social media. This was definitely a new experience in assisting with research, working with adults, and helping with the writing process.
In my time with the Food Shuttle, I will be teaching a Cooking Matters for Kids course; I am really excited to get more teaching experience and I absolutely love children. I have always had a passion for nutrition, so teaching nutrition to kids is just wonderful!