Chickenfoot is a super group featuring guitarist Joe Satriani, drummer Kenny Aronoff, former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and front man Sammy Hagar. As part of the A Different Devil Tour, Sammy Hagar will be donating to Feeding America member food banks in the cities of the tour through the Hagar Family Foundation. This is the second year Sammy Hagar has donated to food banks during Chickenfoot’s tour.

Motivated by the dismal economy and letters Sammy received from fans about living with unemployment and poverty, Chickenfoot wrote the song “Three and a Half Letters (I Need a Job).” Inspired to do good, Sammy is putting his money where his mouth is and has partnered with Feeding America to encourage his fans to give back to those struggling with hunger and poverty.

Lindsi Gish, Associate Director of Communications and Media Relations at Second Harvest Heartland in St. Paul, MN, picked up the check for her food bank at The Brick in Minneapolis last week and got to spend some time with Sammy. He mentioned that food banks are his “new love” because he’s given to a lot of charities in the past that haven’t done a good job with his money, but he has learned that food banks are all very efficient.

He then asked Lindsi how many meals $10 provides to hungry Minnesotans. She told him that $10 to Second Harvest Heartland provides 37 meals, and Sammy responded by grabbing Lindsi’s face and kissing both cheeks. It sure is rare to find a celebrity so genuinely dedicated to a cause!

At the end of the “Three and a Half Letters (I Need a Job)” music video, there is tag that reads “People from all walks of life are facing hunger. Please help your local food bank.” The song features the band reading letters from people who have been out of work and are struggling in this economy.  You can view the video here.

Thanks to Sammy Hagar and Chickenfoot for generously donating to Feeding America and food banks within our nationwide network. We truly appreciate your dedication to raising awareness for the nearly 49 million Americans facing hunger.

We said goodbye to the goats and hopped in the car for our next stop – Benson Area Medical Center in Benson, NC where the medical mobile distribution was taking place.  The doctors at this medical center teamed up to provide care to their low-income patients and went a step further by partnering with Tri-County Community Health Center and Interfaith to provide a prescription of fresh fruits and vegetables to their patients, most of whom are diabetic.  This partnership started in 2009 and the collaboration between different organizations helped to break down barriers to nutritious food and helped provide access to healthy food and additional resources.  Clients are given a voucher by the physician which qualifies them to participate in the food distribution.  Another way to qualify is through MAP (Medical Assistance Program) intended for North Carolina citizens who are uninsured or who qualify for Medicare coverage often find that they cannot afford the medications required to treat or ameliorate their chronic health problems.  Clients present the voucher at the entrance and go through the line to pick out the product of their choice.

The medical center provides an enclosed warehouse space to stage the product and allow the clients to walk around to room and select their produce.  They also provide a waiting area for clients to take a seat while they wait for the distribution to start.  While the clients waited they had a chance to chat with Katherine Moser, the nutrition outreach coordinator provided by Inter-Faith Food Shuttle.  Katherine made a sample of some of the product available for distribution that day for clients to try in the waiting room.  She used collard greens for her sample and made a garden frittata with eggs ahead of time and brought it to the site.  Once the clients had a chance to taste the frittata Katherine asked them what they thought.  It was surprising to see that clients were not shy to express their opinion.  Some thought the dish would taste better warm and others talked about how their recipe would make it taste better.  It was a great dialogue and even I brought home some cooking tips to make my greens taste better!  A printed recipe was provided for clients to try the dish at home.  I thought it was great ingredients from the distribution that day for the sample so clients take home ideas and recipes to cook a certain ingredient that day for dinner.

Once the distribution started it was a very smooth process.  Clients seemed to know one another as well as the clinic administrators.  The distribution served about 60 individuals which is small compared to most distributions I have attended but this distribution was targeted to a specific population who had to qualify to attend.  Clients walked through the line and selected items based on their doctor’s prescription as well as personal taste.  Some of the items available for the distribution I attended were potatoes, sweet potatoes, oranges, cabbage, lettuce, collard greens, green onions, peppers, etc.  Everyone seemed so thankful for having fresh produce available to them through this distribution.  Ms. Virginia, a regular client, took the time to speak to me on camera about her journey and what this distribution meant to her.

That’s because thanks to our partners at General Mills – makers of Cheerios, Lucky Charms and dozens of other products – a portion of my cereal box was dedicated to the Outnumber Hunger campaign. It reminded me of how it takes a communal effort to help feed people and, hopefully, one day eradicate hunger completely from this country.

The Outnumber Hunger campaign is an effort between Feeding America, General Mills and Big Machine Label Group (home of Rascal Flatts, The Band Perry, Martina McBride and other great country acts) to provide meals to local food banks. Here’s how it works: consumers enter a code found on a number of General Mills products at the Outnumber Hunger website (outnumberhunger.com). Each code entered results in five meals secured for the local Feeding America network food bank.

And it’s not just cereal. Check out outnumberhunger.com/products to see the whole list.

In about a month, 5.7 million meals have already been secured. The goal is 15 million, so we are a little less than half way to there. So be sure to do your part to help!  Head over to Facebook and “like” Outnumber Hunger to help Feeding America secure 5 meals.   

Which gets me back to my cereal box ­- who needs a toy when the gift of a meal is so much more rewarding?

The Child Hunger Corps is a national service program designed to increase the capacity and capability of food banks to execute programs targeted towards the alleviation of child hunger. The objective of the program is to increase the number of nutritious snacks and meals served to children in need in local communities across the country. The Child Hunger Corps initiative is sponsored by the ConAgra Foods Foundation.

In August 2011, the second cohort of 11 new Corps members were placed at Feeding America member food banks, bringing the current total to 17 Child Hunger Corps members working at food banks across the country.  This post is by second cohort member Traci Simmons, Child Hunger Corps member at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.

Spring Break: a time for relaxation, family vacations, and not worrying about anything school related right? Well, this spring break is completely different for many of Oklahoma City Public School students. Since the district switched over to a continuous learning calendar, metro students have an extra week away from school. As a recent grad, a two-week spring break is something I could have only dreamed about, but for many metro students I’m sure this break can seem a little daunting.

This extended break is definitely a change in pace for kids that rely on free and reduced-priced meals at school. Ten days is a long time to go without normally scheduled meals, especially for the most vulnerable, chronically hungry students who may have very little to nothing to eat at home.  Wanting to meet this gap in meal service, the Regional Food Bank recently partnered with the school district and other organizations throughout the metro-area to ensure students have something to eat during their long break. For schools that currently participate in our BackPack and School Pantry program, extra sacks of food were sent home with kids before the break.  Other OKCPS metro schools not participating in a food bank sponsored program also received sacks of food for students to take home. 

In addition to sending extra sacks of food home with students, we partnered with 12 feeding sites through partnerships with OKC Parks and Recreation, the YMCA, Urban League, and Community Action Agency of OKC so kids could receive a free lunch and snack. I monitored several of these sites and enjoyed seeing the kids excited about their meals.  We served 2,600 meals during the entire winter break.  This time we served more than 2,600 meals in just the first week of service. With feeding opportunities throughout the metro area, hunger is an issue that many kids don’t have to face this spring break.

Dr. Angela Odoms-Young is an assistant professor of Kinesiology and Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is also a member of the Feeding America Nutrition Advisory Team and the Greater Chicago Food Depository Board of Directors.

The economic downturn has had a severe impact on low-income families in the United States. Current estimates indicate that approximately 48.8 million people live in households that are classified as food-insecure, having limited or uncertain access to adequate food.  Households with incomes below the Federal poverty line, families with children, and families headed by single women are disproportionately at risk for food insecurity compared to Americans overall.  While household food insecurity has long been associated with poor nutrition, adverse physical and mental health outcomes, and low academic achievement, a growing body of research is exploring the role of food insecurity in the development of obesity.  Results from studies targeting children and men have been mixed, but a consistent link has been found between food-insecurity and overweight and obesity in women.

Many Americans might view this association as a paradox given that food-insecurity is defined as having limited or uncertain access to food and obesity is commonly associated with overconsumption. However, members of food-insecure households use various coping strategies that may contribute to weight gain. To maintain adequate energy intake, many families with limited resources select lower-quality diets, including high calorie-energy dense foods. These foods are traditionally the least expensive, are easy to over consume, have been shown to promote weight gain, and have been found to be more prevalent in low-income neighborhoods compared to healthier food options. Food-insecure households also spend less on healthy items. The frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption declines significantly as food-insecurity status worsens. Food-insecurity may also lead to psychological and behavioral changes, including stress, depression, and physical limitations in adults, which can lead to an increased risk for obesity.  Mothers in food-insecure households are believed to be particularly vulnerable because of their important role in household food management. Previous studies indicate that food-insecure mothers adopt strategies, such as eating less, cutting the size of meals, skipping meals, and waiting to eat later in the day to spare their children from the impact of hunger.  

The rising prevalence of obesity is one of our nation’s most important public health issues. Understanding the link between food-insecurity and obesity may inform strategies to alleviate hunger, as well as better promote health and well being in low-income families.  Hopefully there will be more research to come.

What a pleasure it was to visit Inter-faith Food Shuttle in Raleigh, NC and have the opportunity to meet the wonderful staff, tour the facility, check out their fabulous kitchen & community garden, have a chat with the Executive Director, Jill Staton Bullard all before hitting the road to see their Teaching Farm and Medical Mobile Distribution.

Perhaps we should start from the beginning for those who don’t know Inter-faith Food Shuttle’s history.  They are one of the original Feeding America FRO’s (Food Rescue Operations) located on the NC state land that hosts North Carolina’s largest Famers Market.  As you can imagine, produce is a big part of their operation and in Jill Staton Bullard’s words, “produce is what we do.”  In FY 2011, Interfaith distributed almost 2.5 million pounds of produce out of a total distribution of approximately 6 million pounds – 41 percent of all product distributed by Inter-faith is produce! 

Needless to say getting fresh produce out to the clients in their community is a big priority for Inter-faith.  The warehouse I saw is relatively small compared to others in the network but the large amounts of produce distribution does not allow for large warehouse space since the fresh food needs to be in and out.  More often than not, the produce doesn’t even come into the warehouse.  It’s picked up from the Farmers Market and driven directly to agencies or agencies bring their vehicles to get the produce and get it out their clients as fast as possible to preserve freshness and reduce spoilage.  Produce and mobile distribution model go hand in hand to get the product out fast.  In Fiscal Year 11, 20 percent of Inter-faith’s entire distribution was done via the mobile distribution model.  Naturally, as a Programs Specialist with a focus on mobile pantry programs, I was keen to see this work in action.  

Kia Baker, Director of Food Recovery & Distribution, was kind enough to show me around for the day. Tradell, administrator and routing software engineer, also came along with us and provided an interesting perspective on coordinating all the deliveries and modernizing their software to increase efficiency.  Our first stop was the Teaching Farm sponsored by Inter-faith.  Neal Wisenbaker, Farm Manger, describes the farm in the video below.  In addition, there is an apprenticeship program for high school students as well as Young Farmer Training Program for younger students interested in farming.  The Young Farmer Training Program runs in the summer for 3 days a week, 6 hours/day.  A small weekly stipend is provided for the participants.  In 2011, there were 9 students who graduated from the program.  Besides teaching students farming skills, the program emphasis entrepreneurial skills to help students start their own business like a food truck, composting operation, fertilizer development, etc.

We also got a tour of their greenhouse where a hydroponic pond is in the works to raise tilapia.  The farm also had two bee colonies, a chicken coop and an area for the newly arrived goats that are trained to clear all shrubbery on the edge of the farm.  We saw and learned about compost and how it turns into fertilizer.  The farm tries to use all the by-product to replenish the same land.  It was great to see that the Teaching Farm is housed on 2 acres which is not large by farming standards but it’s not the space that matters; it is the impact of the work that stuck out in my mind.  Young people learning farming and connecting with the land in way their parents maybe never did was something special to see.  Inter-faith is working tirelessly to provide for its communities as well as sowing seeds of change in the young generation.

Next up, Jaspreet talks about her visit to a medical mobile distribution site.

Over the last several years, Feeding America has nearly doubled the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables secured and distributed throughout the network. During this time, households across the country have received more than 2.2 billion pounds of wholesome fruits and vegetables. Our focus on produce has presented tremendous opportunities and many challenges for our network, which was built on a system of distribution for non-perishable foods. As a result, our network is dedicated to not only sourcing more fresh fruits and vegetables but also to building the capacity to transport, store and deliver those foods in a way that is acceptable and drives demand among our clients.  We hope that the stronger capacity will help our network reach its goal of securing at least 1 billion pounds of fresh produce per year by 2015.

The Feeding America network is strengthening partnerships, advocating for policies and building systems that drive healthier foods through our own food bank system to improve healthy food access for the millions of low income and food-insecure clients we serve each year. To learn more about our clients’ stories and to see how you can help, check out the Donate Your Voice For Hunger site.

Hunger advocate and health expert Dr. Mache Seibel is an advocate against domestic hunger and authority on matters concerning the hunger-obesity paradox.  You can learn more about his work at DoctorSeibel.com.**

Sodas are often an inexpensive go-to beverage for many Americans. But if you asked me for one food tip to help everyone stay well, the first thing I’d say is stop drinking soda. First, there is the matter of weight: you can lose 10 pounds in a year just by drinking one less soda a day. My music video “Liquid Candy” explains this in fun way. But new information is proving sodas, regular or diet, are much worse that just weight gain.

The results of a Harvard study done on over 90,000 nurses shows that soda can double the risk of type 2 diabetes. Recently, as published in the journal Circulation, a second study that followed 42,883 men over a 22-year period of time showed that drinking one 12-ounce can daily could increase a man’s chances of having a heart attack by 20 percent. Two sugary drinks a day increased the risk of heart attack by 42 percent and with three sugary drinks daily, the risk rose by 69 percent. Soda also increased blood levels of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein, which is a marker of heart disease. Click here to see my video about this.

But wait, there’s more! Before switching to diet soda, consider this. A separate study of 2,600 men and women found that those who drank any soda regularly had a 40 percent greater chance of stroke or heart attack. Women who drank soda were at greater risk for having high levels of fat in their blood called triglycerides – a fat that puts them at risk for metabolic syndrome. The more soda a woman drinks, the higher her risk of having high levels of triglycerides.

Finally, a flavoring substance in colas, phosphoric acid, makes the blood more acidic and leaches calcium out of the bones in an attempt to balance the blood’s pH. Women who drink three colas a week have on average of 4 percent more bone loss in their hips than women who drink other beverages, including non-cola sugary drinks and sodas.

It’s time to switch to water or tea. Enjoy my Metabolic Syndrome music video. As my gift to you, click here for a FREE three part video series to help you stay well.

**The expressed comments and views of guest bloggers do not necessarily reflect the views of Feeding America or its network members.

John was a longtime director of the Feeding America West Michigan Food Bank, which distributes more than 2 million pounds of food per month to 40 counties in western Michigan. He was instrumental in helping create the Feeding America network of food banks. He firmly believed that nobody should be without food and was a tireless advocate on behalf of those struggling with hunger.

He was an innovator and the first to create a mobile pantry program. He converted a beverage truck to become a produce distribution truck that would take food to people in need rather that brought food to people in need. This program has been adopted by food banks nationwide.

In addition, he firmly believed in “client choice,” meaning that instead of receiving a pre-determined food box, people would be able to choose the food they would like to receive and this would help eliminate food waste.

I remember John’s infectious passion for helping those in need and his relentless efforts to improve how we did our core business as a network. He was truly a pioneer and he will be missed across our network family of food banks.

I can only imagine that John is in heaven and screaming “Stop writing this blog post and get back to the important work”

Below is a tribute video from our CEO, Vicki Escarra.