Food Waste and Meat Consumption: New Dream blogger Kim compares the U.S. to Poland in order to discuss some of our society’s strange food contradictions, like malnourishment alongside food waste. 

Panelists at Drexel discuss hunger: It seems more and more cities and counties are turning their attention toward hunger. This piece reports that Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter has formed a Mayor’s Task Force on Hunger, and the Evening Sun reports that the Campus Kitchen at Gettysburg is getting involved with a county-wide initiative on food insecurity.

Turning Waste Into Gourmet Food: There’s no Campus Kitchen in San Francisco (not yet, anyway), so they’re coming up with other ways to deal with food waste. This article reports on how the city’s composting program is making leftovers into food for locavores.

Pixies for the People: A new WIC line: As we noted in a previous week’s digest, the federal WIC program doesn’t currently cover fruits and vegetables in most states, but a new program in California is providing free produce to mothers and their children who receive WIC.

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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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Build the Strong Bones of a City Food System: This article not only provides a strong argument for expanding and increasing food stamp benefits (also known as SNAP benefits), but also a helpful overview of initiatives to increase access to sustainable food in urban areas.  It’s focused on NYC, but folks here in DC are working on similar increases in food stamp benefits and programs to water those food deserts.

Human hunger trumps politics and hassle : An LA Times columnists argues in favor of a law that would require caterers to donate leftover food. (Found this one through the LA Homeless Blog, one of my new favorites.)

Homeless in Sacramento’s Tent City to Move to Fairground: Since our post last week that included news of the homeless encampment in Sacramento, the place has become the new face of homelessness in America, attracting the attention of folks like Gov. Schwarzenegger and Oprah.

The Schoolyard Foodie: Why our kids are fighting over fruit: A teacher from a school in Oakland where 100% of students get free lunch connects the lack of nutritious food in the cafeteria to their classroom experience. He writes:

For the next ninety minutes, it’s my job to convince this malnourished kid (who, by the way, has orange fingers from a bag of Cheetos being passed around surreptitiously) to sit still and be an active participant for an afternoon of middle school prison training.

Word to my mom: My family is notorious for haphazardly sending along bits of interesting/tangentially relevant news. Just last week, my Gma Joan sent me this piece about what sounds like a rad food pantry in Austin, TX. Then yesterday,  Mom sent me the link to this forum post to let me know that even corporate meeting planners are thinking about food waste these days. I think doing news digests must be in my genes.

Oh and check me out on the Organic on the Green blog! I guest blogged this week about food, community and CKP.

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Desperate tent city revival for America’s homeless

Food bank uses food stamps to help economy: Elsewhere in California, an organization called Food for People has started a campaign called  “Bring a Million to Humboldt County,” which intends to educate the community about how their food stamp dollars can stimulate their local economy.  Their aim is both to enroll more people in the program (in Humboldt County, only 46% of those eligible for food stamps actually use them) and to educate them about the benefits of buying locally.

Expand the WIC Program: More encouraging news comes from Delaware, which just became the second state in the U.S. to include fresh produce and whole grains in the WIC (Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children) program. Greg Plotkin reports on change.org Poverty in America blog that believe it or not,

A program that is, at its core, designed to help low-income mothers with young children purchase healthy food to increase the nutritional value of their diets didn’t include fresh fruits and vegetables as an edible option until now.

Senate votes to triple AmeriCorps, bolster service: In other legislative news, the SERVE Act, which promises to signficantly expand national service, passed yesterday. Check out what some of CKP’s own Americorps members had to say about their service last month.

Students craft their own cafeteria offerings: In an effort to balance better nutrition with taste that will appeal to teenagers, schools from in cities from Oakland to Baltimore are sponsoring cooking competitions for their students. Maybe CKP should be recruiting from the ranks of these young chefs…

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