FISH will offer nutrition classes

Southeast FISH will host a series of nutrition classes in the next two weeks as part of a pilot program with the newly established Connection Center at the food bank. The sessions will offer meal planning, recipes, food demos and more. Families will have the opportunity to participate in the classes from 9:30-10:30 a.m. while they wait their turn to go through the food bank. A ticket system will ensure that no one loses their place in line.

Here's the initial schedule:

Monday, 11/23/09
Family Meals - Easy, Tasty, and Healthy!
Discuss how to plan, shop, and prepare healthy, low-cost meals for the family and learn ways to let our children help. We will discuss the difficulties and some ideas on how to make meals low-cost.

Wednesday, 11/25/09
How Much? Food and Physical Activity
A healthy lifestyle means paying attention to what we eat and how physically active we are each day. We will discuss the kinds and amounts of foods that our family needs.

Monday, 11/30/09
Vegetables and Fruits - Simple Solutions
Talk about ways to include the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables in our daily meal plans and learn ways to encourage our children to eat fruits and vegetables.

Wednesday, 12/02/09
Family Time - Active and Fun
Discuss why being physically active is important and the challenges to being active every day. Learn how to be more physically active and begin to make healthy choices for meals and snacks.

Additional classes will be scheduled at Northwest FISH and Edgewood. Watch this space for dates and times.

Number of hungry Americans continues to climb

A new USDA report says that more Americans than ever are facing food insecurity. In 2008, some 49 million people, or 14.6 percent of U.S. households, struggled to put enough food on the table to support a healthy lifestyle. The numbers represent a significant increase over 2007, when food insecurity affected 11.1 percent of households. Find the NY Times coverage of the report here, and the USDA press release here.

Half of US kids will get food stamps, study says

A new study based on 30 years of data says that nearly half of US children will be on food stamps at some point in their childhood, more evidence that belies common stereotypes of those who need food assistance.
The Associated Press: Half of US kids will get food stamps

All the necessities ...

Families who come to our food banks for help need more than food. While food is the most essential need, it's easy to overlook other necessities we take for granted, like personal hygiene items. News Tribune columnist Kathleen Merryman spotlighted a group of eager volunteers from Good Samaritan Behavioral Health who have started a Toilet Paper Club to supply the Graham-South Hill FISH with rolls of TP for their clients. Read all about it ... and think about starting a Toilet Paper Club for your local food bank!