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COM

THE WEEK OF

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 18.2011

NON-PROFIT

WATCH VIDEO ABOUT SECOND HARVEST

FOOD BANK (SHFB), WHAT?
http://www.shfb.org/videoaboutus

FIGHTING

HUNGER

Second Harvest Food Bank makes a difference in our backyard

Family Harvest provides monthly food
assistance to low-income families with children.
Brown Bag provides weekly food
assistance to low-income seniors.
Kids NOW (Nutrition on Weekends) provides
children ages 6-18 with an assortment of
food items to take home every Friday.
Partners in Need (PIN) provides weekly food
assistance to low-income Food Bank volunteers.
Produce Mobile delivers fresh fruits and
vegetables to low-income households
with limited access to community markets.
Mobile Pantry delivers food to
geographically-isolated communities
and those with limited services.
SHFB ALSO OPERATES THE FOLLOWING
THREE FOOD ASSISTANCE PROG RAMS:
Food Connection Hotline connects callers to
multilingual operators who refer them
to local food assistance programs.
Nutrition Education provides nutrition, health,
and food safety workshops to agencies and
clients.
Food Stamp Outreach helps eligible
households apply for food stamps
and receive benefits within days.

unger is not a remote problem.

It affects us, right here. According to Kathy Jackson, Atherton
resident and CEO of Second
Harvest Food Bank, there is a
misconception about who is hungry and the
first thing we can do to help is to have some
awareness of the fact that hunger is as prevalent as it is.

7,500 people in just Menlo Park and

Atherton alone receive donated food from
Second Harvest Food Bank (SHFB) every
month. Jackson has been the CEO for 15
months and was shocked to find out what
a major problem hunger is in our seemingly

if you think you know

whos hungry, youre
probably wrong
affluent area. Due to the humiliation associated with this problem, it is often hidden. If
you think you know whos hungry, Kathy believes, youre probably wrong.SHFB serves
an average of 231,311 people each month in
both San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties
and estimates that 1 in 4 are at-risk for hungersubstantially higher than the national
average of 1 in 6. SHFB attributes this to the
high cost of living in the area and increasing
unemployment.
We are not saying that 1 in 4 people are
starving here, Kathy explains, but they are
at risk for hunger and malnutrition. Clearly
there is a difference between famine in developing nations and the problem of hunger in
the United States, but just because it is not as
severe as other countries, doesnt mean there
isnt still a problem here. It
is because of established
programs like Second
Harvest Food Bank,
that we dont allow it
to become as severe.
A
significant
portion of our own
community is suffering from undernutrition as a result
of low financial
resources.
Not having adequate
protein,

THE IRONIC LINK BETWEEN

HUNGER & OBESITY

BY KATHARINE GARDNER
Some might consider the problem of hunger in the United States irrelevant, or even hypocritical. On the surface it
seems that we have the opposite problem: an overweight
populationnot a hungry one.
Whats becoming more apparent, however, is that the two
are linked. Ironically, obesity is often the result of hunger.
The unfortunate fact is that it takes less time and money
to eat fast food than it does to eat healthy food. Not only does
healthy food (fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean
meats, and low-fat dairy products) cost more per calorie than
unhealthy food (fast food, simple sugars, refined grains, and fat),
but due to shopping and cooking, it takes more time to get on
the table.
If we want to address the problem of obesity, we need to understand the root cause. It is not enough to educate people about how
to make health food choices, if they cannot afford to make them.
The solution to hunger is not just about getting food, its about getting the right food.
The Good News, on a local level:
San Mateo County is one of the healthiest counties in California.
According to a 2010 study conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation and the University of Wisconsins Population Health Institute, San Mateo ranks 5th among 58 Counties in California.
Organizations like Second Harvest Food Bank feed an average
of 231,311 in San Mateo County every month, 40% of which is fresh
produce.
In 2004, the San Mateo County Blueprint for the Prevention of
Childhood Obesity, developed with the input of over 350 community
members, included improving place as a key strategy in its prevention framework.
In April 2005, the Get Healthy San Mateo County Task Force
(Task Force) was created to develop strategies that will reduce and
prevent obesity and other health issues caused by unhealthy eating and physical inactivity among all children in San Mateo County
children.
In 2006, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors adopted
a Healthy Communities Resolution, highlighting their commitment
to healthy people through healthy places.
(Would be great to get stats about improvements realized).
The Good News, on a national level:
On Thursday, November 10th, actor Jeff Bridges addressed
the National Press Club in his new role as national spokesman
for the No Kid Hungry Campaign. He told the Club that there
are approximately 17 million children living in food-insecure
homes, and he is dedicated to working with the organization
to stamp out childhood hunger by 2015.
Bridges believes that hunger and obesity are two sides of
the same coin. In his speech he noted that the inability to buy
fresh food contributes to a poor diet and can lead to higher levels of obesity and other diet-related diseases, such as diabetes
and heart disease.
This year, First Lady Michelle Obama also launched the
Lets Move campaign to combat both child hunger and
obesity in the United States. One of the primary objectives
of the program is to improve access to healthy food, with
the overall goal of eliminating childhood obesity within one
generation.
NOTE: The average amount a Californian receives per
day on food stamps is $4.00.

THEPAPERPAGE.COM

THE WEEK OF

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 18.2011

Second Harvest Food Bank

The Warehouse
Photograph by Dan Griffin

Second Harvest Food Bank

The Packing Line.

Second Harvest Food Bank

Operation Pick & Pack