July 3, 2010
Last week was the first full week of the federal summer lunch program, the national effort to deal with the seasonal disappearance of the school lunches, breakfasts and snacks that may provide half a kid’s diet.
June 17, 2010
More than 500 summer meal sites across Oregon serve neighborhoods where at least half the families live on incomes that are at 50 percent of the federal poverty level. This summer, with a record number of Oregonians receiving public assistance, they expect to be busy. Summer meal providers are also watching Congress for votes on the reauthorization, and possible expansion, of federal nutrition programs.
June 13, 2010
At 6'4", holder of the U.S. House of Representatives free-throw record and representing a state where for 40 years the NBA has been the only major-league option, Ron Wyden often sees things in basketball terms.
Sometimes, that's even a useful way to look at things.
"I go to summer basketball programs and see kids being fed," the Oregon senator said Thursday, "and some of them won't eat again until they come back the next day."
May 22, 2010
There are a "whole lot of people" who visit the Clackamas Service Center "who are like me," said volunteer Anne Stevens.
She lost her job in 2008, her unemployment benefits have ended, her husband's wages were reduced by $2 an hour plus he had several furlough days, leaving them with $200 in monthly income after they pay their mortgage, Stevens said.
May 21, 2010
Child nutrition program advocates in Oregon are placing pressure on members of Congress to approve extending and boosting funding for five programs that provide thousands of children with nutritious food.
May 15, 2010
More than 700,000 Oregonians received food stamps last month, which means nearly one in five people in the state are relying on government help to buy their meals. The numbers -- the highest in the history of the program -- are well above the national average and suggest that families are still struggling financially.
May 14, 2010
Gov. Ted Kulongoski joined seventh- and eighth graders from Rachel Carson Environmental Middle School in introducing a new learning garden project in partnership with Oregon Food Bank.
May 14, 2010
While the big headlines out of Washington, D.C., trumpet the fallout from the oil spill in the Gulf, the debate over immigration reform and the qualifications of a Supreme Court nominee, a piece of housekeeping that affects the well-being of millions of children is quietly making its way through Congress.
Every five years, Congress must reauthorize federal child nutrition programs, which include federal school lunch and breakfast programs, summer food programs for schoolchildren, food programs for child and adult day-care operations and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, commonly known as WIC. Reauthorizing these programs might seem like a routine task, but it takes on extra significance when the economy is in recession. And past reductions in the scope of some of these programs mean they reach fewer children than they could or should.
May 13, 2010
Kulongoski honors Rachel Carson environmental science students for creating garden to benefit Oregon Food Bank
Hope is in bloom at the Rachel Carson School of Environmental Science, where students are doing their part to help fight hunger.
With each vegetable and fruit start that pushes through the rich soil in the Oregon Food Bank’s new Westside Learning Garden on the campus, students are demonstrating the importance of learning how to grow healthy food while helping to feed people in need.
May 12, 2010
In the office of the U.S. undersecretary of agriculture for nutrition is an Oregon state flag. It's bracketed by the flags of Maine and Iowa, mementos of the three places where Kevin Concannon was a high-ranking state official before taking over national oversight last year. But at the time when Congress is set to reauthorize federal child nutrition programs --the crucial elements in President Barack Obama's campaign pledge to end childhood hunger by 2015 --the flags are a reminder of how directly this office connects with people getting something to eat all over the country.
