For those who haven’t: in response to a CDC report that cited Huntington, WV as the most unhealthy city in America, British Chef Jamie Oliver decided to kick-off his U.S. food revolution.

He began by addressing the food being served in one Huntington elementary school. He was given a one week trial period by Food Service in which he had to replace the typical school lunch with  healthier, fresh cooked options and get the kids to eat it. He then tackled similar challenges at a high school, college, and with individuals.

Now he has started a petition to improve school food all across America.

If you want to support his efforts and learn more about the work he is doing, you can check it out here.

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An article recently posted on the blog, Salon.com, begs to differ. The article entitled “Hipsters on Food Stamps” highlights a group of 20 to 30 somethings who are popularizing a ‘new’ way to use food stamps. This group, containing many self-proclaimed ‘foodies’, have broken the long standing stereotypes that food stamps can only be used for government commodities and are instead using them to buy things like organic veggies and fresh baked bread at places like farmers markets and food co-ops.

Despite the fact that probably none of the clients you serve would fall into the ‘hipster’ category, this article brings up a great point for discussion about what you can and cannot buy with food stamps. The USDA Food and Nutrition Service website provides helpful information about the program, including what foods are eligible for purchase with Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards:

So the next time you are talking with your clients about food choices and healthful eating, remind them that they are not limited to packaged, processed, and frozen foods. Maybe even point out how they can stretch their food stamp dollars by buying fresh foods and cooking from scratch when they have time (and freezing meals for the week).

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It is a color-coded list and each item links to a page that provides you with details about nutrient content, recipes, varieties,  and tips for storage. I also found it eye-opening how long some produce can be stored for! (Keep this in mind if you plan on doing any gleaning this summer for your Campus Kitchen.)      Enjoy!

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Owning a pressure canner is your gateway to eating fresh and local, all year round. It is a safe, easy, and fun way to save those bountiful summer harvests and to make sure you’ve always got something in your Campus Kitchen pantry. Here, I will  provide basic, step-by-step instructions for canning tomato sauce when harvests reach their peak and tomatoes are plentiful near the of summer. Come winter, you will be able to crack open these jars to make spaghetti sauce, chili, lasagna, or any other tomato based dish.

With a 23-quart pressure canner, you can fit 7 quart jars at a time (plus several smaller jars).

You will need:

• 23-quart pressure canner ( I recommend Presto 23-qt pressure cooker/canner. About $80)
• 1 large pot (for scalding tomatoes)
• 1 large bowl of ice water
• Jar Funnel (I recommend buying a canning set)
• Jar grabber
• Quart-sized mason jars (Ball or Kerr jars can be found at most grocery stores or dollar stores, like Wal-Mart or Big Lots)
• Large spoons and ladles

Step 1: Pick your Tomatoes! A bushel of tomatoes weighs approximately 53 lbs. and will yield about 12 quarts of sauce.

Step 2: Sterilize the jars and lids. This is most easily done in the dishwasher. Start your dishwasher before you begin anything else, so that it will be done by the time you are ready to fill the jars with sauce. If you don’t have a dishwasher, you can boil a large pot of water and submerge the jars and lids in there.

Step 3: Scald the tomatoes. This is to remove the skins. Submerge the tomatoes, a few at a time in boiling water for 1 minute. Quickly transfer them to a bowl of ice water and then slide the skins off.

Step 4: Drain excess water from tomatoes. Slice them in half and place them in a strainer as you work through the bunch. Draining the water greatly reduces cooking time and results in a thicker sauce.

Step 5: Transfer tomatoes to large pot. Bring to a boil and let simmer until the volume is reduced by about one third (thinner sauce) or one half (thicker sauce). Stir a bit to break up large tomato chunks.

Step 6: Fill jars. Using the funnel and a ladle, transfer sauce to jars, leaving ¼ inch head space. Add 2 tbsp lemon juice/quart jar to help prevent spoilage and to retain color and flavor. Then, using a dry and clean cloth, wipe the rim of the jar before covering with the lid and tightening the ring.

Step 7: Pressure canning! Follow the directions that came with your canner.

Step 8: Finishing up. Once the time is up, remove the jars with the jar grabber, making sure to not bump the other jars. Place them in a cool, draft free place, overnight. As the jars seal you will hear “pop!”. You can check to see that they have all sealed by gently pressing in the center of the each lid. If it pops up and down, it is not sealed.

For helpful tips/questions see my favorite, trustworthy canning website

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For the full article: http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4422&Itemid=53

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A mere two days before the class of 2013 began to arrive at W&L, I went with Jenny to make CKP’s first food pickup from Walmart.   After some initial confusion about which of the many back doors we were supposed to go to, we made our way to the egg bunker where we met the women who would be facilitating the food pick-ups.  As they took us to the back of the store, I was stunned by the sheer volume of food.  The women gave us a brief tour and then we started loading up the cars.  My first impression of these two women was how excited they were that this food was not going to be wasted.  Despite the fact that they had to do some extra work to give us the food, they were more than happy to do so and just as excited as we were to be rescuing this food that otherwise would have been wasted.  Walmart has high standards on what can be sold, so there is an abundance of perfectly good food that they cannot sell because of damaged packaging.  The number of eggs that they were throwing out was unbelievable.  After saving the eggs for only two days, they were able to send us away with over 500 eggs.  From now on, CKP will be picking up from Walmart three times a week, which will supply more than enough food to fill the fridges and many hungry mouths, if my experience is any indication of a normal Walmart run.                            - Austin Branstetter

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$52 million of those cuts are coming from Human Support Services and Other Low-Income Programs.  To put this in prospective, the next largest cut is for Public Education at $17 million. 

I urge all of you to visit the Save Our Saftey Net website, look through the information, and sign the petition to urge the City Council to reconsider their budget cuts.  The hungry and homeless shouldn’t face the brunt of the economic burden for the rest of the District.

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A story in yesterday’s New York Times revealed how close to 300 people are going to lose their food stamp benefits in NYC for failing to disclose the fact that they were legally married.  The kicker is that food stamp benefits are based on people living inside the home, not marital status.  In some cases the victims would have been entitled to MORE benefits.

The city sent notices to the 300 people that said that they were over-issued food stamps for the amount of $0.  These people did not get anything extra from the state, and now the safety net has ripped.  These people are now losing their benefits for “failing to provide accurate information”.

What are these people, these parents, and these kids going to do now that their food stamp allotment has been unfairly taken from them?  There is no second state safety net in place for them.  This is where the role of the non-profit sector comes in to fill the void left by state run programs.

Our Campus Kitchens are a shining example of how communities can rise up and help those that are in need.  We currently have 20 kitchens across the nation from Spokane, WA to Gainesville, FL that work to end hunger on a daily basis for hundreds of people just like those affected in New York.   Interested in starting a Campus Kitchen?  Click the link above to get started. 

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