Last Wednesday I volunteered at the West End Community Gardens, an undertaking of Urban Ministry and the Community Church Without Walls. Urban Ministry, a faith-based but non-sectarian 501c(3) nonprofit, has worked tirelessly since 1976 to address both the immediate and structural causes of poverty in the Birmingham area. The West End Community Garden is devoted to meeting poverty at its core: the stomach.

In my experience, food movements usually advocate a “healthy” or “fit” lifestyle with little concern for the politics of their cause. However, WE Gardens mark an emergence of health-based advocacy from within a community. Rather than promote an ideal of the human body, the Gardens are directed toward a community’s specific needs, as defined by that community. These needs, however, are properly universal in nature: the right to nutrition.

“WE Gardens is a place to build community and provides jobs for young men through the internship program,” Zac Henson, a veteran volunteer at the Gardens, echoed via email. ”It’s community economic development from the ground up.”

Garden Manager Myron Pierre similarly said, “The way to a community’s heart is through its stomach.”

Upon arriving, Garden Director Ama Shambulia tasked me with staking rebars around the two plots of emergent pepper plants. Because I’m relatively inexperienced–well, I can count the amount of times I’ve walked through a garden on one hand–I wasn’t planting rebars with confidence until I reached the second plot.

After running out of rebars, Myron asked me to use a hoop-hoe to cut weeds out of the soil around a small crop of blueberry shrubs.

I was furrowing the ground with some difficulty until Myron pointed out to me that my hoop-hoe was upside-down.

So with my bearings set, I would throw my instrument forward, but rather than rake the earth I tore at it, dragging it back to me. In time a dense, earthen sweat pulled at my shirt, my hoop-hoe unpacking the dirt in thin, weed-strewn hollows.

After about an hour, Zac arrived and we weeded together. The sunlight broadened, but my sweat somehow began to shrink–likely due to the easing humidity, the heat itself sharpening as the weeds disappeared with our effort, not one-by-one but as a stolid mass. I understood working as a body beside another body: how it feels, the chatter than ensues, the flat continuous length of the day.

At the end of my short shift, I hung around with Antonio and Jamal, two Urban Ministry Interns. We–I should say they–talked about Camelbaks, the nylon potables toted on one’s back to provide easy-access hydration.

I then watched Jamal, Myron and Antonio do what I never could: alter a plastic drum to, I assume, store and preserve flowering plants. Jamal pored over it with a drill while Myron and Antonio dispensed backseat advice: a nail here, a strip of wood there, a dollop of concrete at either end.

There’s no easy way to end this post, no touching last moment that will varnish this day with blog-ready hope and the promise of a solution. West End Community Gardens is not the solution to a problem. “Let food grow”—as one of the garden’s signs declares—might someday be a divine command, but until then it testifies, quietly though not impassively, to a community’s resilience, which however proceeds only to a point, to a stubborn limit beyond which more expansive action is needed; to pass beyond this limit is not to enter politics, but to affirm that food is political, that hunger is the brutish bottom of politics.

Let’s Move! is a national campaign that promotes healthy, active lifestyles for American kids. After her Today Show appearance, Mrs. Obama spoke at a church in Alpharetta, Georgia, recalling some of the past year’s successes while challenging attendees to continue working for childhood nutrition.

“As far as we’ve come, when nearly one in three kids in this country is still overweight or obese, then we’ve still got a long way to go,” she said.

One of Let’s Move’s biggest successes of the past year was the newly signed Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (PDF) that has promised a $4.5 billion increase in funding for the National School Lunch Program and other child nutrition programs over the next 10 years.

This newly signed act also gives the USDA the authority to set nutritional standards for all foods regularly sold in schools. Standards include:

• Calorie limits in school meals
• Reducing sodium by more than half
• Banning most trans fats
• Increased servings of fruits and vegetables
• Requiring all milk to be low fat or nonfat
• Requiring all flavored milks to be nonfat
• Eventually requiring all grains to be whole grains

These changes will have a major impact on Alabama students, since more than half are currently enrolled in the Free or Reduced Lunch Program, and nearly one in four live below the federal poverty line. School breakfasts and lunches are the primary source of nutrition for many of these kids. The new guidelines mean they will have access to more nutritious, wholesome foods.

We hope you will join the conversation about improving the school lunch program – and that’s why we’re screening Lunch Line this Sunday, February 13 at 3 p.m. at the Bama Theater in Tuscaloosa. Lunch Line is a fun, informative documentary about the history, opportunities and challenges of the school lunch program.

The screening will be followed by a Taste $2.72 reception featuring food from local favorites including Mug Shots, Surin, Roly Poly, Newk’s, Don Rafa’s Mexican Grill, Mellow Mushroom, and more. Tuscaloosa lunchrooms are reimbursed $2.72 for each lunch served, and we want to give you an idea of how far that can go.

Advance tickets are available here, or you can purchase tickets using cash or check at the door. Tickets are $5 for students and $15 for adults. Kids 5 and under are free.

We hope to see you on Sunday!

posted by T.C. McLemore

Track our fundraising progress at alabamapossible.org/fundraiser

The Alabama Poverty Project team had a great time joining the Greater Birmingham Community Food Partners to produce the 2010 Food Summit, November 12-13. We helped plan and moderate the day’s educational programming and reflections on the Birmingham Food Charter.  Here is the story of the day in pictures:

Attendees filled the beautiful Avon Theater early in the morning with high anticipation of the day’s speakers.  Mayor William Bell welcomed the crowd, and John Talmage from Social Compact talked with us about bringing grocery stores to under-served communities.

Our Executive Director Kristina Scott joined Scott Douglas from Greater Birmingham Ministries, Marquita Davis of The Links, Incorporated and the Department of Children’s Affairs, Elaine VanCleave from Bread for the World & ONE Campaign and Melissa Oliver from Alabama Arise on the panel “Using Your Voice: Advocating for change in your community.”

Kristina also moderated the Faith-Based Food Security Panel comprised of Brent Everett from the Southside Baptist Food Pantry, Leanne Pearce Reed from Montevallo Seed-to-Table, Maggie Johnston from Camp McDowell, and Charlie Griffin from Mountain Brook Presbyterian.

Horticulturalist Sallie Lee from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES) talked about the many programs and resources they offer in Jefferson County and the rest of Alabama. ACES programs include Master Gardener training, workshops and courses on home and community gardening, and plant clinics. They can also provide contact information for Master Gardeners in your area who are willing help get gardens started in their community.

Other panels, like the Community Garden Panel, had takeaways that people could act on immediately. They offered ideas on how to start a garden in your own yard, finding a garden in your community, and opportunities to attend how-to sessions at Jones Valley Urban Farm.There were great examples around the room of successful home and community gardens. Some attendees even realized they were neighbors and planned on gardening together!

Food Systems Expert Mark Winne was the lunch keynote speaker.  He delivered a strong indictment of Alabama’s current food system and a hopeful and empowering look toward the future.

The David Mathews Center for Civic Life helped us reflect on our new food charter with interactive displays. GBCFP chose to unveil the food charter during the Food Summit to publicly proclaim that the food system should work for the people that use it in an equal, fair, and healthy way.

Thanks to Elisa Muñoz, the Program Coordinator for GBCFP (below), and everyone else who came together to make this Food Summit a great success!

We had a great time and learned a lot! To learn more about the Food Summit and what you can do to address food issues in your community check out these resources:

• Food Summit website
• Hunger and Food Security Resources
• Connect with a garden in your community
• Find or start a Food Policy Council
• ASAN’s Food and Farm Forum, December 2-4, Selma
  

Posted by T.C. McLemore

Alabama ranks number one in the nation for households experiencing hunger, according to a report released Tuesday by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). An average of 6.8 percent of Alabama households reported very low food security, or food insecurity with hunger, between 2007 and 2009.

This rate has more than doubled since the last report in 2006, when 3.3 percent of households reported very low food security.

The report, “Household Food Security in the United States, 2009,” also finds that an average of 15 percent of Alabama households experienced food insecurity during the years 2007-2009.

“This report show us how badly Alabamians are hurting right now,” says Kristina Scott, Executive Director of the Alabama Poverty Project (APP). “We hear from folks every day that food assistance and hunger relief programs are being stretched beyond capacity. So many of our partners are in emergency mode, just trying to reach immediate needs.”

Food insecure households reported reduced quality, variety or desirability of diet, with little or no indication of reduced food intake.  Households with very low food security reported multiple indicators of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake.

“At the Alabama Poverty Project, we mobilize Alabamians to eliminate poverty. This means equipping faith communities, higher education institutions and other community partners who are on the front lines of direct assistance to help people move out of poverty permanently. Together, we can not only work to meet our neighbors’ immediate needs, but also permanently reduce the number of Alabamians who make up these statistics.”

How can you fight hunger?

• Get the facts: access our Hunger and Food Security Resources, including the new FRAC report on hunger. Also check out the latest income, health and obesity data

• Advocate: visit Bread for the World to learn how to advocate for federal policies to fight hunger. To influence local food policy, connect with Food Policy Councils in Birmingham or Huntsville – or start your own!

• Take Action: connect with a community garden or a food ministry in your area to see what you can do.

Posted by Robyn Hyden

]]> http://alabamapossible.org/2010/11/alabama-is-the-hungriest-state-in-the-nation/feed/ 1 http://alabamapossible.org/2010/05/growing-together-a-fresh-local-food-pantry/ http://alabamapossible.org/2010/05/growing-together-a-fresh-local-food-pantry/#comments Mon, 17 May 2010 19:41:54 +0000 Robyn Hyden http://alabamapossible.org/?p=2516 Lindsey Mullen, an alumnae of our Montgomery Hunger Workshop in March, shared an exciting update with us from the Growing Together ministry at the University of Alabama’s Canterbury Episcopal Chapel. Lindsey works with the David Mathews Center for Civic Life and is a regional coordinator with Impact Alabama. She is one of the many young people making change in Alabama possible.

“I just wanted to thank you and your staff for the work that you put into this workshop, and to update you on what I’ve been doing with some of the things that I learned at the workshop…

“First of all, at Canterbury we’ve started a vouchers program with a farmer’s market that’s held on our lawn every Thursday, so that the people who come to our food pantry (called the Deacon’s Deli) now receive vouchers to buy fresh, local produce for their families. The idea behind this is that we’re not only providing for those in need, but also supporting local growers and our local economy. We were a bit nervous that the people who came to Deacon’s Deli would have trouble with transportation or wouldn’t be interested in buying fresh produce, but, while we still want to consider how we can help overcome these obstacles, we had a great turnout this past week, and lots of people showed up to spend their vouchers at the market! The funding for this program comes from the money that students raise during football season by parking cars on our church lawn. There’s a full description of the program on Canterbury’s website.

“Something else really exciting is that this evening we’re breaking ground on a small community garden, which we hope will help build community here and supplement our food programs. The inspiration for this project came from what we heard about the Seed to Table project in Montevallo. And, in partnership with UA, the DMC, Homegrown Alabama, and the Druid City Garden Project, Canterbury has been able to hire a summer intern to work on the garden. Through this internship, the Mathews Center is hopeful about exploring networks of people interested in community agriculture, food security, hunger, and other related issues. I’m hoping that this will eventually lead into some statewide conversation on how communities can act together around these issues.”

See a video slideshow of Canterbury Garden’s groundbreaking:

We share Lindsey’s interest in spurring a statewide conversation, as well as more cooperation, collaboration, and relationship building with hunger and food security! That’s why we’re hosting a Hunger Workshop in Mobile on June 22. And why we’re helping to organize the 2nd Annual Birmingham Food Summit in November (more details TBA, so stay tuned.)

Thanks for the update Lindsey! We look forward to hearing more about the great work that Canterbury, and other similar ministries, are doing throughout the year.

Posted by Robyn Hyden

]]> http://alabamapossible.org/2010/05/growing-together-a-fresh-local-food-pantry/feed/ 0 http://alabamapossible.org/2010/03/eat-pray-grow-hunger-faith-and-community-gardens/ http://alabamapossible.org/2010/03/eat-pray-grow-hunger-faith-and-community-gardens/#comments Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:28:50 +0000 Robyn Hyden http://alabamapossible.org/?p=1297 APP hosted Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread: A Hunger and Food Security Workshop last Thursday at Capitol Heights Baptist Church in Montgomery. Over 50 attendees came together to break bread and to share information, new ideas and strategies for fighting hunger in the Montgomery area.

We heard from local hunger relief programs (Montgomery Area Food Bank, Angel Food Ministries, Montgomery FBC Caring Center), community gardening experts (Montevallo Seed to Table, Jones Valley Urban Farm) and DHR representatives (Food Assistance Program, JOBS Employment Program) about ways to get fresh, healthy, and delicious food to our friends and neighbors.

DHR representatives Patricia Huffman, Margaret Green and Mary Lois Monroe explain the benefits available from family assistance programs, as well as the challenges of accessing these resources.

One of the best ways you can address the interrelated issues of hunger, rising food costs and malnutrition in your own neighborhood is to start a community garden. See this Slate article for suggestions on how to get started, as well as our Resource page on Community Gardening.

Edwin Marty of Jones Valley Urban Farm and Leanne Read of Montevallo Seed to Table talk gardening.

Thank you to Pastor Warren Culvert and Capitol Heights Baptist Church for graciously hosting the event; Ama Shambulia, director of West End Community Gardens for catering our delicious, fresh, and and local vegetarian lunch; Trevor Jaggers at Starbucks Vestavia and Tina Gilliland at Starbucks Hoover for food and coffee donations.

For more resources from the event, see our Montgomery Hunger Resource Guide.

Posted by Robyn Hyden

In Alabama, the Food Bank of North Alabama and the Food Bank of the Chattahoochee Valley participated in the study.

Here are some highlights from the North Alabama food bank:

• 31% of the members of households served by The Food Bank of North Alabama are children under 18 years old
• 24% of households include at least one employed adult
• Among households with children, 77% are food insecure and 37% are food insecure with very low food security

And from the Chattahoochee Valley:

• 45% of the members of households served by The Second Harvest Food Bank of the Chattahoochee Valley are children under 18 years old
• 28% of households include at least one employed adult
• Among households with children, 68% are food insecure and 32% are food insecure with very low food security

Read the full report here.

Want to know more about what you can do here in Alabama? Well, save the date for APP’s Give Us This Day our Daily Bread Hunger Workshop, which will be held on Thursday, March 18, in Montgomery.  Details will follow soon. . .

Join us at Caldwell Park to walk away poverty and hunger Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 2:30!

The CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) walk is a community event calling on neighbors to walk together to take a stand against hunger and poverty in our world.

If you want to fight hunger around the block and around the world join us for the Birmingham CROP Hunger Walk.  We encourage the active involvement of teams and individuals from public and private schools, civic and cultural groups, area businesses and all faith groups.

There is no fee to participate but each walker is encouraged to raise at least $100.  25% of the money you raise will benefit stay right here in Birmingham and 75% will help international poverty relief efforts. The Birmingham CROP Hunger Walk hopes to raise $30,000 in 2010.  And every walker gets a free CROP Walk t-shirt!

If you would like to participate or need more information visit http://www.bhamcropwalk.org or contact John Duke at 205-939-1408.  You can also email John at jduke@alabamapoverty.org.

Read the full report – including the personal stories of some of these Americans – here.

It reminds me how fortunate and blessed I am.

Posted by: Kristina Scott