Healthy Returns Coordinator and Nutrition Educator, Dahlia Rockowitz, works at D.C. Central Kitchen through a partnership with AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps.
Last night marked the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. I observed the holiday by participating in a Seder, a festive meal and retelling of the story of the ancient Israelites’ exodus from Egypt.
However, last night’s Seder was not the first Seder I attended this year. Last Wednesday, I had the privilege of attending “Let All Who Are Hungry Come and Eat: A Seder Dedicated to Child Nutrition and Hunger Awareness” at the United States Capitol. This incredible event, co-sponsored by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) and Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger, was just one of over forty such Seders that will be taking place all over the country in the coming days.
The Child Nutrition Seder uses the story of Passover and the ritual practices associated with this Jewish holiday as a means to raise consciousness about the continued presence of childhood hunger and malnutrition in the United States.
For example, at a traditional Passover Seder, participants read about four fictitious children: the wise son, the wicked son, the simple son, and the son who does not know how to ask questions. For each son, the Hagaddah, the Seder’s guidebook, reveals how one should explain the proceedings of the Seder to address each child’s distinctive personality.
At the Child Nutrition Seder, we read about four very different children…four “faces of child hunger”: “the child who receives free school lunch,” “the child who receives free school breakfast,” “the child who should be able to participate in a summer feeding program,” and “the mother and her child who participate in WIC [Women, Infants, and Children Program].” We learn how each child fares in different government nutrition programs and how we can better meet that child’s nutritional needs.
Rather than recounting the ten plagues brought to bear on the ancient Egyptians by God to encourage them to free the Israelite slaves, we acknowledged ten different prototypes of Americans plagued by hunger.
The purpose of the Child Nutrition Seder was not just to educate, but also to empower and advocate for change. The Seder’s impetus was the impending reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Bill, as well as President Obama’s campaign pledge to end childhood hunger by 2015. The Seders are an opportunity for individuals and communities, Jews and non-Jews alike, to lobby the federal government for sufficient funds to combat child hunger and malnutrition.
At local Child Nutrition Seders, participants are provided with resources to advocate for child nutrition programs, and are encouraged to pursue specific action steps to continue to work for change. At last Wednesday’s National Child Nutrition Seder, Senator Harkin (IA), Representatives Emerson (MO), Clyburn (SC), DeLauro (CT), and the presidents of the JCPA and Mazon co-signed a letter to Congress, asking for at least $4 billion in new funding for child nutrition programs.
Ultimately, this week’s Child Nutrition Seders seek to demonstrate that just as the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt, with proper governmental support, so too can hungry children be freed from the bondage of hunger and malnutrition.
As Campus Kitchen volunteers, you are constantly made aware of the dire need for greater governmental funding for nutrition programs. In the spirit of the Child Nutrition Seder, I urge you write a letter to Congress in support of a strong Child Nutrition Reauthorization. While you are munching on that delicious, complimentary matzo in the dining hall, visit: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml to find contact information for your congressperson, or http://www.senate.gov/to find contact information for your senator.
For more information on the JCPA and the Child Nutrition Seder, as well as a sample letter to Congress, visit: http://engage.jewishpublicaffairs.org/t/1686/content.jsp?content_KEY=853
For more information on Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger, visit: http://www.mazon.org/
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Follow-up comment rss or Leave a Trackback[...] Mike Curtin, our CEO, then talked about DCCK’s own Healthy Returns Program. He referenced their work about the importance of nutrition, how to access the nutrition and all the work the program has done. We’ll put a shout out here to our own guest blogger (and hero) Dahlia Rockowitz, who has been doing an amazing job at running the program this year. (If you haven’t already read them, you can check out her blog posts here and here.) [...]
Keep up the Great job! Also some Kids health drinks are available in the market one can afford.
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