While panels covered topics like fighting childhood obesity and health disparities, speakers continually returned to the subject of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and outreach to Latinos about the program.

With only 56 percent of SNAP-eligible Latinos participating in the program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture along with food banks and other non-profits are looking to boost participation. The message among all of the panelists: there is hope.

Liz Gomez from Almaeda County Food Bank shared with the group three myths surrounding SNAP, which new radio PSA’s in California try to combat.

Myths:

1. You have to be on welfare to get food stamps
2. If I’m not eligible, either are my children
3. You’ll be embarrassed using food stamps at the register

Knowing what’s being said about food stamps helped California put together advertisements airing on Spanish-language radio stations to further inform Latinos in the state (California is the second worst state when it comes to utilizing the SNAP program) about the nutrition assistance available to them.

The audience offered other ideas for increasing SNAP enrollment, including: community-based outreach (rather than sending everyone to crowded county offices), partnering with the local department of aging to reach seniors, and conducting SNAP outreach right at the register of the grocery store.

Campus Kitchens like Gettysburg College and its partnership with Lincoln Intermediate Migrant Education Program help make healthy foods available to Latino communities regardless of SNAP enrollment.

As the network continues to expand its service to Latino communities across the nation, look into SNAP outreach materials, and consider making that resource available to your community partners.

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EBT Sign in Los Angeles, California

Think food stamps and envision lines at the local grocery store with people buying fresh produce items and ingredients for healthy, affordable, family-style meals. The last place we expect to see food stamps used is down the street at the local fast food chain.  I was shocked when I first noticed the sign reading “EBT Welcomed” in the window of a Los Angeles Burger King.

Recently, in many U.S. counties, that’s exactly what you’ll see.

Since 2005, participating fast food restaurants have accepted Food Stamps  (termed SNAP benefits) in Los Angeles County for the disabled, homeless and elderly.

SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) provides benefits to those that qualify via EBT electronic benefits transfer. SNAP allows recipients to buy groceries from participating stores. Recipients must only purchase food items that are authorized by SNAP.

Typically, EBT users cannot swipe their cards for pre-made hot meals. But now, many counties in California, Arizona, Florida, and Michigan, are now allowing SNAP benefits to be used towards the purchasing meals in restaurants.

Many attribute this shift to lack of access to kitchens by homeless individuals. Some argue the elderly and disabled may have trouble cooking from fresh ingredients typically allowed by SNAP. This change in rules in Los Angeles County takes these individuals’ needs into consideration, but may do more harm then good.

Restaurants that now accept EBT in Los Angeles include:

• Subway
• El Pollo Loco
• Kentucky Fried Chicken
• Jack in the Box
• Burger King
• Pizza Hut

These eateries have menus that offer a wealth of food high in fat and sugar and low in nutritional value.

The elderly and homeless need options that are nutritious and easily accessible. People deserve hot meals, which is why all of the Campus Kitchens provide meals for those that are most at risk, including: the homeless, elderly, and disabled.  The Campus Kitchens Project is helping those with no access to a kitchen or with physical or mental handicaps. Student leaders recognize these volunteers may not benefit from groceries alone.

In addition, the Campus Kitchen at Gettysburg College has made is possible to use EBT cards at their local farmers market with help from the food council in Adams County. Their oversight of the machine allows those who qualify for EBT and have access to kitchens the ability to buy fresh and healthy produce and food.

Ask at your local farmers market if they accept EBT. If they don’t, see what you can do to bring them there, so that lawmakers can start promoting SNAP benefits used on fresh and local product rather than nutrient-lacking fast food.

To read more about the work that the Campus Kitchen at Gettysburg College and all of the other Campus Kitchens are doing read our Annual Report.  http://www.campuskitchens.org/national/images/files/financials/ckp_2009ar.pdf

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According to a recent BBC News article, “The Printed Future of Christmas Dinner“, a team at Cornell University is building a 3D food printer with the goal of making it a daily use item like a blender or coffee -maker.

While many engineering groups have worked with 3D printers to construct objects, and some have even worked with food, Cornell’s scientists (the Fab@home team) are working to make printing food affordable and accessible to the home consumer.

This could mean an earthquake that rocks the food world.

3D food printers work much like 2D printers. A computer program communicates with a printer that holds “inks” – in this case, a syringe system – which layers ink ingredients as needed to achieve desired visual effect and textures.

I saw a rubber ducky in mid-print at Desktop Factory in Pasadena, Calif. a few years back. The print was two hours in, and the pint-sized duck still needed its head. My guess is, this technology has come a long way in a few short years.

Wikicommons 3-D Printed Objects

It could bring people so far, according to the article, that those lacking culinary skills could download basic recipe files (imagine what this could do for child nutrition?) A Chicago restaurant owner also told  BBC News that food ink could cut on waste from current production methods. Many items we use in the production chain that have negative environmental impact would become obsolete.

But regular use of 3-D food printers could churn up something else.

Many Americans are already disconnected with where food comes from and what whole ingredients do for the body. Some have argued the microwave and other shortcuts have separated us further.

If we could print a bar of chocolate to eat every day, would our understanding of nutrition float further from reality? If it only took a button to print potato chips, would our obesity problem grow? If our diets become increasingly synthetic, what happens when our printer jams? Do we go hungry?

And what happens to the joy of cooking?

These are questions we should probably consider before we deem 3-D printing the next necessary step in human consumption.

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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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