Friday, March 31, 2006

What's in a food box from the South Plains Food Bank?


This afternoon, I received a call from a donor. He had just received our most recent newsletter. While he supports the South Plains Food Bank he wanted to see what people receive when they get a food box from us. He asked me to send samples but I thought a few pictures might do instead.

Normally we provide a box of dry goods, a box of frozen goods, plus any bread, produce, and dairy products we have received. We try to provide a variety of items that allow people to prepare a healthy, well balanced meal. OK, maybe the popcorn isn't part of a well balanced diet, but it is also fun to provide some snacks that folks can enjoy at home.

Some of the food comes from local food drives, such as the U-Can Share Food Drive, some comes from local grocers who donate food and perishable items, and some comes from the USDA TEFAP Commodity program. Here's a picture of the contents of a food box. Each food box is different but contains the same basic mix of items.

Everyone who receives a food box has been screened for eligibility by one of our agencies. The agency gives them a voucher which can be redeemed at the South Plains Food Bank for a food box. We work with about 230 different agencies throughout the South Plains. Not all them use vouchers. Some get food through the Food Bank and make their own food boxes.

As you can see, I am not much of a photographer nor a food stylist. But I hope you get the picture.

Monday, March 27, 2006

People can help fight hunger in America with donations of time, food or money

Below is an op-ed piece that appeared in the Lubbock Avalanche Journal on Sunday, March 25. It is a follow-up on the results of "Hunger in America, 2006," a nation wide look a hunger. The Study was conducted by America's Second Harvest, the Nations Food Bank Network. As a member of Second Harvest, the South Plains Food Bank participated in the study.

Hunger on the South Plains, 2006

How would you define the American Dream? For most folks, “The American Dream” revolves around opportunity and self-sufficiency, the ability to be in control of our destiny, the ability to provide for one’s self and one’s family. Fundamental to our dream is economic security.

For most Americans, economic security means being able to afford and save for big dreams — a vacation, new car, a house, or college tuition for the kids. For a startlingly high and growing number of our neighbors, however, economic security means meeting much more basic dreams and needs – such as a regular supply of groceries.

What’s so disquieting about these starkly contrasting experiences of people within every one of our communities in the United States is the scale; according to the results of a new major study by America’s Second Harvest —The Nation’s Food Bank Network, more than 25 million people rely on emergency food assistance through the America’s Second Harvest Network in order to make ends meet. That represents eight percent more people than in 2001, when America’s Second Harvest last studied those seeking emergency food assistance from its Network of 45,000 emergency food distribution agencies.

Locally, more than 90,000 individuals across the South Plains were helped last year by the South Plains Food Bank and our network of churches and social service agencies. In that number are 22,000 children and 12,000 seniors. Many of the 90,000 people we serve – about 33% -- come from households with at least one working, wage-earning adult. And as much as one-third or more are forced to make agonizing choices between eating and basic necessities, like heat, rent or medical care.

The study, Hunger in America 2006, which is the largest, most comprehensive study ever conducted on the charitable emergency food distribution system in the United States, also showed that hunger does not discriminate. It is present in every one of our communities around the country – small and large, urban, suburban and rural. It is present on the South Plains. Of the 90,000 neighbors in our region receiving emergency food assistance from the South Plains Food Bank network, 28 percent are white; 19 percent are African American; and 45 percent are Hispanic.

The solutions to ending hunger on the South Plains are within reach. But we must take proper steps to seize them. Our compassion is unlimited, but our resources are not. That is the reality we have to face. So how can we leverage our resources?

The federal government plays a decidedly critical role in providing food for low-income Americans. Thirty-five percent of the clients in the America’s Second Harvest Network report that they are enrolled in the Food Stamp Program and the majority of children in households seeking emergency food assistance are enrolled in the National School Breakfast program and School Lunch Program.

That’s good news. But, even as this nation approaches record levels of participation in the Food Stamp Program and our charitable emergency food distribution network delivers more food than ever before, clearly what we’re doing as a nation to address hunger is not enough.

We need to make sure that every person who qualifies for existing public benefits knows about them and gets them. Our study shows that fewer than 4 million of the 25 million people we serve receive these benefits.

We also need Congress and the Administration to protect the federal safety-net nutrition programs, including the Food Stamp Program, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, and Women, Infants and Children, as it considers the reauthorization of the 2007 Farm Bill.

Every American can join the hunger movement in their community by being engaged with the South Plains Food Bank and its agencies through giving time, food or a financial donation. Voluntary support is critical to service delivery: about 75 percent of food pantries and 65 percent of our soup kitchens rely entirely on volunteers and have no paid staff. While it is no secret that our society relies heavily upon the charitable sector to ensure that none of our neighbors go to bed hungry, the critical role that volunteers play in making this process happen is often overlooked.

“What amount of hunger is acceptable in our community?” you may ask. The answer of course is “No amount.”

We know we may never succeed in wiping out hunger completely – but we truly fail only when we stop dreaming and stop trying.

Sunday, March 26, 2006

What's for dinner?

Saturday was a busy day for my daughter, Grace. She had to go to two birthday parties. Such a hetic day! By the time evening rolled around, she was dragging. She came up to me and asked, "Dad, can we have some Breedlove Soup tonight?"

Since she was four or five years old, I've used Grace as a guinea pig to see how she likes the blends that the team at Breedlove Dehydrated Foods has come up with. I figure that if she likes it, anyone will. Grace has always been happy to share her opinion. For Grace, Breedlove's Vegetable Blend has become a comfort food.

One cup of vegetable blend and five cups of water got us started. We added some salt and other seasonings. Then I looked in the refrigerator to see if we add some other vegetables we could had to the mix.

I'm not the only one who embellishes. As we have shipped Breedlove to other parts of the world, it is fun to hear what local families do to adapt our blend to their tastes. Quite a bit of our vegetable blend has been distributed in Indonesia through USAID through the International Food Relief Partnership Program. USAID has put together an Indonesian recipe page for Breedlove product.

Thirty minutes later, we had soup!

Over the past year, Breedlove has shipped more than 165 million servings of our vegetable blends to feed tsunami victims in Southeast Asia, hurricane victims along the Gulf Coast, poor families in Mexico, children in Nicaragua, and a host of other people facing hunger throughout the world.

Like any parent, I want only the best for my daughter. Grace enjoyed her soup. It gives me pause to think of other parents throughout the world struggling to provide the best they can for their family. Somewhere else today, perhaps another family is sharing a bowl of soup made with our Breedlove Vegetable Blend. I hope they too find nourishment and comfort.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006


Leadership Lubbock volunteers making boxes! Posted by Picasa

Leadership Lubbock volunteers at the South Plains Food Bank Posted by Picasa

Leadership Lubbock Volunteers Posted by Picasa

Lower Income Group has to sit on the floor at the Leadership Lubbock Hunger Banquet Posted by Picasa

Leadership Lubbock Hunger Banquet

The current Leadership Lubbock class stopped by the South Plains Food Bank today to volunteer and to have lunch. Leadership Lubbock is a program of the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce. For the past thirty years, this program has provided an opportunity for Lubbock Leaders to learn more about their community. Today, they were learning about several of Lubbock social service agencies, including the South Plains Food Bank.

Today's class came expecting to volunteer, which they did, and to have lunch with us. Of course no one told them it was a Feast or Famine Banquet. As our guests arrived they were give a fate card that designated them as either upper income (15%), middle income (25%) or lower income (60%). The percentages represent the percent of the world's population that fit into each of those categories. The upper income group had nice five course meal. The middle income group had a hearty meal of beans and rice with corn bread. The lower income folks were fed soup and crackers.

The lunch of course is a metaphor for how food and other resources are distributed around the world, not in a necessarily equitable way. Economic forces beyond individual control rewarded some and moved others out of the middle income group into the lower income group.

On the whole, the lunch succeeded in introducing this Leadership Lubbock class to the issue of hunger. Each year, the South Plains Food Bank and our network of agencies serves more than 90,000 people. Hunger exists. Fortunately, there are people in our community who join us to serve the hungry by providing food, donating time and by sharing the stories of the hungry with others.

Our banquet today was modeled after the Oxfam Hunger Banquet. The San Francisco Food Bank also offers on online version of Hunger 101, an interactive look at hunger.

After lunch, we put the group to work marking cans, bagging peaches, and making boxes. Michelle, the lady in charge of making food boxes for us, said they were great. Then she asked me why they couldn't stay all afternoon!

I thought the story about Leadership Lubbock would end here. However not long after they left us, a middle aged woman stopped by the South Plains Food Bank wearing a tee-shirt with an "interesting" message. She quickly explained that the shirt was given to her by a local shelter and is not her choice of apparel. Simply put, it is all she has to wear.

A victim of abuse that left her disabled and now a cancer victim, she is beginning life again. Between rent, deposits and medicine, she has no money for food. Life has not been kind or fair. But then that was part of the message of today's hunger banquet.

We may not correct or solve all the issues facing this sweet woman. But today she will have food. Perhaps she received some of the cans marked by our Leadership Lubbock volunteers. Maybe her box included a bag of frozen peaches. One thing is not in question. She has 50 new friends she didn't have before lunch.

Thank you Leadership Lubbock. You made a difference today.

Monday, March 20, 2006

Spring 06 Tour de Tech Terrace

Jenifer Smith came in the office this morning asking if I had ever heard of the Tour de Tech Terrace. I hadn't. But we looked up their web site at http://www.tourdetechterrace.com/. It sounds like a great way have fun, exercise, tour the Tech Terrace Neighborhood, and... raise food for the South Plains Food Bank!

This sounds like something Bo Soderbergh at the Tarrant Area Food Bank in Fort Worth would enjoy.

Read about the history of the event. I like the way this event first came together. Their plan reminds me of a quote from Herb Kelleher, founder,Southwest Airlines "We have a 'strategic' plan. It’s called doing things.”

Mark your calendar for April 1, no fooling.

FRAC Releases Its State of the States Report

The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) released its annual “State of the States: A Profile of Food and Nutrition Programs Across the Nation” on March 15. FRAC is a national policy organization based in Washington that keeps tabs on nutrition policy affecting the anti-hunger movement.

The report is a good news/bad news affair. Briefly, the good news is that participation in most programs is up, in part reflecting efforts by the states to make enrollment in nutrition programs easier to navigate. The bad news is that the percentage of households who are food insecure has increased to 11.4%. In Texas the number of food insecure households is 16.4 percent, one of the highest numbers in the nation.

Poverty is an indicator of food insecurity. Looking at the Census Bureaus’ profile for Lubbock County suggests that the percentage of food insecure household in the county is around 19%. When you look at the statistics for the surrounding counties, the numbers go up to around 25%.

The report concludes by noting that we as a nation are facing tough budget choices. FRAC President Jim Weill writes, “The President’s FY 2007 Budget proposes nutrition program cuts that would: limit states’ ability to get food stamps to 300,000 people in working families with children which are low income but not receiving cash welfare; weaken the WIC program; eliminate the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) that provides nutrition assistance to 420,000 low-income elderly people; and eliminate the Community Food and Nutrition Program (CFNP) that supports local efforts to help needy families obtain nutrition benefits. These are the wrong priorities for the nation.”

I’ve had people ask me why we need federal nutrition programs in light of the work of Food Banks. I guess it’s a matter of scale. The number of people in the United States who are food insecure is massive. Federal programs such as Food Stamps, School Lunch Programs, and the Emergency Food Assistance Program are vital to efforts to end hunger in America.

In spite of Federal efforts, there are still people who are going hungry that for one reason or another do not qualify for federal assistance or the assistance they receive is inadequate. Consider that some seniors on Food Stamps receive $10 per month. Food Banks, such as the South Plains Food Bank, fill in the gaps. Often times we are the first responders as people try to figure out how to access the system. And over the years, Food Banks have become advocates for the hungry.

Several years ago, Janet Poppendieck wrote “Sweet Charity? Emergency Food and the End of Entitlement.” The book called into question the role that food banks and soup kitchens play in feeding the nation’s hungry by asking if we are letting “federal programs off the hook.” It is certainly a book that made me stop and think.

I noticed an interview with Janet on the World Hunger Year site. It was informative to read her views seven years down the road. We are learning from one another.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

The Numbers


I have a love/hate relationship with numbers. On the one hand, it is legendary in my circle of family and friends and co-workers that I "am not good at math". There is some evidence to support this view- flunking geometry (which is NOT math in my opinion) in high school, and then recently, taking the remedial algebra in college.

However, the truth is I love numbers, IF, they are orderly, fill-in-the-blanks, products of such sensible actions such as addition, multiplication, subtraction, or division, and occasionally for spice, percentages. And that's good because we have to come up with a lot of those guys.

Today I am projecting every snack, lunch, or breakfast we will serve this summer. How can I know the future? Well, or course I don't, but years in food service, deciding how many people will want chicken salad or tortilla soup this coming Saturday, has trained my to be a pretty good guesser.

And the more numbers we have, the more real live children and moms and senior folks, will be taken care of- or at least, they will be fed. And be closer to knowing where the next meal is coming from. Something most of us take for granted.

These girls are from a Kids Cafe in Lubbock at the Asbury UMC- run by a group called Shalom Community of Hope- they are preparing veggie pizzas in a nutrition ed class. A few beautiful faces that go with my numbers.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Spring Break!

In Lubbock, it's Spring Break. Naturally, thoughts turn to getting away to the beach. Around the South Plains Food Bank, Spring Break takes on a new meaning. We're seeing an influx of all sorts of wonderful volunteers.

Ryan Schalles brought members of Boy Scout Troop 140 to help him work on a service project. The troop is sponsored by the Downtown Optimist Club. They helped us pack food boxes. Ryan said he has collected food for the South Plains Food Bank through the Scouting for Food Program. Debbie, his mom and driver said Ryan wanted to come to see what happens to the food after it is collected. They were great.

Around the corner were volunteers from Sunset Church of Christ's Adventures in Mission (AIM). Young people from around the country make an eight month commitment to AIM in preparation for missions work in other countries. Some of the volunteers this afternoon are finishing up while others are here as part of a two week camp to learn more about the program.

This afternoon, they were making freezer boxes (to go with Ryan's food boxes) and repackaging frozen bagels. They really loved our hair nets!

Procrastination



I just received the invite from David Weaver to join this Blog. This is a first for me. I'm Jenifer Smith the FOG (Farm, Orchard and Garden) Division Director. I am currently sitting in my office working on three grant applications. This is NOT my favorite thing to do - so I am playing with this Blog instead. The grants are essential, however, to keep the GRUB program going. GRUB is the youth outreach program of the food bank. David has included a link to the A. J. article on Tancquasha Brown - one of our GRUB members; I would like to invite you to check out this coming Sunday's A. J. for the Young Heroes article on Anthony Perez, another one of our fantastic GRUB members. I was originally hired to run the GRUB program, that is where my heart is. Sitting in my office working on grant applications is NOT where my heart is - but I will stop procrastinating and get back to work so we can continue to work with the wonderful young people in our community! Jenifer Smith

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Hats off to Tancquasha Brown

The Carolyn Lanier South Plains Food Bank Youth Farm is the home for GRUB (Growing Recruits for Urban Businesses). In addition to growing food for the hungry, GRUB offers young people a chance to grow up. Several of the young people involved with GRUB are considered "at risk" although I'm not sure what that term really means. To me, these teens have found a place where they are accepted and a place where they can make a difference. Tancquasha Brown is one of our GRUB Kids who is making a difference. Here's a story about her that recently appeared in the Lubbock Avalanche Journal. Tancquasha made it to the Lubbock AJ Editorial Page in the March 11 edition. It's amazing what happens when plants and kids receive a little TLC!

A take on President Bush's Faith Based and Community Initiatives

Last week the White House hosted a Conference on Faith Based and Community Initiatives. Sandra Miniutti, Director of External Relations for Charity Navigator attended. Her thoughts are posted at Trent Stamp's Take. Like many, she seems to have mixed feelings about where this will lead.

President Bush's "Faith Based and Community Initiative" has been a topic of discussion among food banks since the beginning of this administration. What does that phrase mean?

I have been working with the South Plains Food Bank in 1991. At that time, it was a matter of policy and pride that we did not accept food or funds from government sources. It's not that way today. Starting in the mid-nineties, theTexas Food Bank Network (formerly the Texas Association of Second Harvest Food Banks) began a discussion with the Texas Department of Human Services about distributing USDA commodities throughout Texas.

It was a logical partnership. Texas Food Banks and our network of agencies serve every county in the state. We offer a natural distribution system that is grass roots and efficient. From our perspective the commodities provided by USDA offered predictable choice of desirable, nutritious food we could offer our agencies to feed the hungry throughout the state. To make this work, the state gave up some control of the system. At the same time food banks developed a new trust and respect of the folks in Special Nutrition Programs at TDHS (now the Texas Health and Human Services Commission). They share our commitment to eliminating hunger. We have a lot better chance of succeeding by working together rather than ignoring one another. The result is the Texas Commodity Assistance Program (TEXCAP) a model partnership that other states have emulated.

A majority of the agencies we partner with are faith based organizations. It is a great partnership and they accept the rules and regulations that come with the territory. I will also say that when we began to distribute commodities some of our faith based agencies stopped working with us because of separation of church and state issues. I respect their integrity. It is a two edged sword.

Are outcomes all that matter? Will faith based groups lose their voice if they accept government funding? Or does government turn a blind eye and allow its resources to be used to advance a particular belief?

A View From the Inside


Karla Wardroup, our Kids Cafe Coordinator, asked me to post the following. Well, OK, I "persuaded" her to do it...


I can’t imagine that there are people who would want to read a blog written by a food bank “insider” but I am committed to writing it anyway. Maybe committed is not the right word- I am persuaded to try.

I come from 25 years of food service work to the non-profit world. Quite a change- believe me, the bottom line was, is and always will be profit in the restaurant world. Before I opened a restaurant in Ruidoso, New Mexico, in 1973 with my first husband, I thought that owning a restaurant meant waltzing down to this elegant place, dressed in an evening ensemble in order to graciously inquire how people’s meal was.

So, I learned different. That’s another blog.

And before I came to the non-profit world of food banking, I thought, well, I am trying to remember just what I did think. Hmm. Honestly, I thought that people would be lining up outside the Food Bank warehouse, and they would be thin, washed out, humble poor folks. Very grateful for what they received.

And while we do have many grateful, humble folks who come to us for help, we also have those who are angry about their situation in life that has led them to us. And many who are obese, unhealthy, and not very grateful- not necessarily all at once. But that doesn’t really matter.

What matters to me is that every day, we who work here, we try. We try to get better food for our folks, we try to get more money to buy trucks, forklifts, walk in coolers, and warehouse roofs, and we try to treat all around us with dignity, or maybe just try to treat them like fellow travelers.

I had a friend once who would always say to me, “to try is to lie.” I hated it when she said that in response to my whiny repetitive promises. I now believe that to try is like the dictionary says- it is to “make an effort to do or accomplish (something)”. Not a bad attitude. Things get done that way.

Monday, March 13, 2006


A couple of weeks ago, I asked my 11 year old daughter, if she had ever heard of blogging. She rolled her eyes, sighed, and then typed in the blog spot her DI team has at her school. http://thenutsditeam.blogspot.com/ Then I mentioned that it might be nice to have a blog about the South Plains Food Bank. Another sigh and, "Dad... you're too old."

When I left her alone, she started a blog where she said, "The food bank is a big part of our community, we treat people as if they were ourselves." It seems like a fair summation of what we do around here.

Happy Birthday

This afternoon, a young man stopped by the South Plains Food Bank to drop off a birthday gift. He had just celebrated his 8th birthday. He was accompanied by his father and younger sister. In lieu of toys, he had asked his friends to bring cans of food for the food bank. Among the items he toted in were canned asparagus, sugar free Jell-o, assorted soups, and Mac 'n' Cheese... all things we like to include in the food boxes we distribute. (I'm not sure he minded giving away the asparagus.)

His "chauffer" was not in a hurry so we took a tour of the South Plains Food Bank and talked about what will happen to the food he gave us. The gift from his friends, which he is giving to us, will be a gift to someone else in our community who does not have enough food. It was fun seeing a food box through his eyes. He thought the cereal in the food box was ok, but didn't think we needed to include coffee. Canary beans are new to him and me! Our large freezer and walk in cooler seemed to be the most fun. They are BIG and Cold.

John Killenger is a writer and pastor I enjoy reading. My favorite book is "365 Simple Gifts From God." It contains 365 reflections on the joys and sorrows of life. He points out that gifts are most precious when they are unexpected. It is then that they carry their full weight as expression of love and friendship.

My young visitor today was a wonderful surprise ... and gift. Walking through the Food Bank with him reminded me again of the incredible generosity of people across the South Plains and across our nation who are compassionate and carrying. As a result children, senior citizens, single moms, and so many others are given the gift of food and hope.