The Official Modest Needs Blog

Giving Back: Formerly Hungry Helps Those Without

Today I'd like to share with you a very moving little story told by a woman who volunteers at the Mid-South Food Bank in Memphis, Tennessee. Glendora Greenway, aged 59, went to bed many times in her young life hungry and cold. She gives back now to those without in hopes that another little girl won't go without dinner.

One interesting part of her story is that just like at Modest Needs, the donors/volunteers, are also the recipients. The same people who help to sort and hand out the food are also those in line to get the food.

Take four minutes out of your day to hear how past hunger drives one woman to do as much as she can to prevent that suffering for others.

[Photo by Walmart Stores]

The New Face of Food Insecurity

There is a report in USA Today that verifies what we see at Modest Needs day in and day out, and that is that different types of people than ever before don't have or worry about not having enough to eat:

Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of Feeding America, the nation's largest hunger-relief charity with a network of more than 200 food bank partners, says there is a growing problem with suburban poverty, "where new clients are individuals who have never needed to rely on the charitable food system."

Hunger has been a challenge in the U.S., even when the economy is running on all cylinders.

At the end of the economic boom in 2007, 13 million people or about 11% of all households were considered "food insecure," the official term used by the government to define one's inability to access an adequate amount of nutritious food at times during the year.

"Not everyone who is food insecure is literally going hungry," says Mark Nord, sociologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. "Some are able to head off hunger by reducing the quality and variety of their diets. But if food insecurity is severe or prolonged, it is likely to result in hunger."

We see requests daily from individuals and family who must choose between groceries and car repair, dinner or rent. And typically, these people have long been self-sufficient, never before having to ask for help.

Do you know of friends or family who are food insecure for the first time? Know of any peers or neighbors who need help like never before?

You don't have to wait for them to ask for help. Tell them about Modest Needs.

[Photo by Carly Sheil]

Are Food Prices Rising Where You Live?

Browse the headlines on the web and you'll find the headlines often--food prices are going up around the world and drastically:

Food-producing countries must relax export controls and divert production away from biofuels to prevent millions more people being driven into poverty by higher food prices, the head of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, said on Thursday in Washington.

Without action to increase the supply of food, an extra 10 million people could fall below the extreme poverty line of $1.25 (76p) a day over the next few months, in addition to the 44 million pushed into poverty by soaring food prices over the past year, he warned.

A report by the World Bank found prices had jumped by 36% since April 2010, driven in part by higher fuel costs connected to events in the Middle East and north Africa,

Higher transport and fertiliser costs have sent the price of wheat, maize and soya back to levels last seen in the price boom of 2008.

"More poor people are suffering and more people could become poor because of high and volatile food prices," said Zoellick. "We have to put food first and protect the poor and vulnerable, who spend most of their money on food."

And while this inflation situation is most dire for the poor in developing nations, the poor in the United States, who also spend a large percentage of their income on food, will also suffer.

How soon will we see prices rise on the shelves here in the states? You tell me. Have you seen food prices rise in your area? Which items are more costly now where you live?

If you've noticed high prices in the grocery store aisles where you live, tell us about it in the comments.

[Photo by Alyson Hurt]

Fight Poverty While Celebrating your Sweetie this Valentine's Day

As if you could escape the knowledge, Valentine's Day is on Monday. This means that plenty of lovey dovey celebrating will be going on this weekend. Candlelit dinners, shared chocolates, big, big bouquets--all the stuff that people in love just love, and those who are single love to loathe.

If you are lucky enough to have a sweetheart in your life, and are planning on treating him or her to traditional gestures, please know that when you do it the right way, you can help aid those in extreme poverty worldwide. Yep. It' s true.

Check out The One Blog who has more:

What can be more romantic than a bouquet of beautiful red roses for that special person in your life? Thankfully you can make sure that the flowers you buy also bring joy to more than just your loved one.

One of the best ways is to look for flowers with the Fairtrade Mark. Fairtrade offers you a powerful way to reduce poverty through your every day shopping. It provides a better deal and improved terms of trade for producers, which in turn allows them the opportunity to improve their lives and plan for their future.

If you live in the UK you can also order flowers with ONE’s sister organisation (RED). (RED) has so far generated over $160 million for the Global Fund to help eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015. All arrangements from Flowe(RED) are composed of ethically-sourced flowers and profits go to helping those living with HIV in Africa so that they can continue caring for their families and contribute socially and economically to their communities. The bouquets are stunning too!

Read more to learn about how cocoa--the primary ingredient in chocolate--can be bought via fair trade, as well as other V Day gifts.

[Photo by eleanorfox]

Is It Possible to Eat Cheaply *and* Eat Healthfully?

There is little doubt that money for food takes a giant bite out of the budgets of the working poor. For those making minimum wage or living on disability or unemployment, the percentage of income that goes to groceries is enormous.

Unless, that is, these families opt for foods with little to no nutritional value. Fast food can be incredibly inexpensive ($1 menu, anyone?), as can a coupon deal on a haul of generic frozen pizzas. But when eating that way on the cheap, you are doing your body an injustice. Cheeseburgers, french fries and frozen pizzas does not a healthy diet make.

So, is it possible to eat well and eat cheaply? Can one get the recommended daily allowance for nutrients and stay within a meager food budget?

One San Diego aims to find out.

The blog Eating in 3D is an experiment in healthy eating on a shoestring budget--the very budget that many, many people must contend with. It is a chronicle of one family of three's attempt to get all the vitamins and minerals they need all for $10 per person per day. And as the author of Eating in 3D notes, this is more than many of the nation's working poor have to spend on groceries, even though it may sound like an incredibly low amount.

I will let her explain what, exactly, Eating in 3D is:

Eat well or eat cheap - you pick. The average American family has fewer than $10 per day per person for food. On this budget, can you meet standard nutritional guidelines within the practical time and financial constraints of real people? Is Eating in 3D (Time-Money-Nutrition) possible? Let's see.

[...]

Simply put, Eating in 3D is consuming the proper nutrients – from food – to meet standard guidelines on fewer than $10 per person per day and with fewer than 35 minutes of food preparation time for any given meal.

[...]

For simplification, I am using a basic 2000-calorie baseline for all three of us (Ed, Jamie and Celia) in this experiment even though age, gender and physical activity levels impact caloric requirements.

You can read all about the "ground rules" of this project here.

What this family learned is that, while sometimes difficult, eating "in 3D" is possible. Careful planning, careful shopping and lots of nutritional knowledge can make this goal a reality. But is it sustainable? That remains to be seen.

Here is an example of what this family is eating in a day to stay under $10 per person per day, and how their nutritional numbers add up:

ED

Breakfast

Go Lean Crunch with vanilla yogurt

Lunch

Turkey and Cheddar on 1/2 Wheat English muffin

Carrots & Celery

Dried plums

Dinner

Bowtie Pasta with Chicken Meatballs and Chard in Olive Oil

Salad with tomato and avocado with Balsamic dressing

Total Daily Expenditure: $8.16

 

JAMIE

Breakfast

Smashed avocado on Wheat Toast with tomato

Lunch

Turkey and Swiss on ½ a Bagel

Carrots & Cherry Tomato

Dried plums

Hard-boiled egg

Dinner

Bowtie Pasta with Chicken Meatballs and Chard in Olive Oil

Salad with tomato and avocado with Balsamic dressing

Total Daily Expenditure: $10.00

 

CELIA

Breakfast

Go Lean Crunch with Milk

Banana

Lunch

Turkey and Swiss on ½ a Bagel

Carrots & Cherry Tomato

Dried plums

2 hard-boiled eggs

Dinner

Bowtie Pasta with Chicken Meatballs and Chard in Olive Oil

Salad with tomato and avocado with Balsamic dressing

Total Daily Expenditure: $9.45

You can look at the graphs of the nutrional tallies here. On this day they did well. However, there was still a shortfall in the whole grain and milk categories.

On other days, they didn't do as well. Birthday parties, lunches out and skipped meals compromised their goals--all of which are part of everyday life.

It is apparent from the Eating in 3D experiment that it is possible to eat well on a small amount. However, it does appear to be quite difficult at times. And as the author notes, many of the working poor simply don't have enough information regarding nutrition to make Eating in 3D work. It is not their fault--eating and nutrition in the US is confusing due to corporate influence, fast food frenzy and tons and tons of mixed signals.

If nothing else, this look at "Eating in 3D" may give you pause about how much you spend on food. Or perhaps it will make you think about your own level of nutrition. Either way, it is a fascinating peek into what it is like to try to be healthy and stay within budget--something millions of Americans struggle with.

Read more about Eating in 3D at the blog.

Feel Good Friday: Most People are Awesome

A feel-good Friday post today straight out of Clayton, Missouri where a Panera-based cafe exists wherein customers don't have to pay for what they order. But most of them do.

It is a nonprofit restaurant meant to raise money for those in need through the donations of its patrons. There are suggested donation amounts, but how much guests leave is entirely up to them. And owners of the unique establishment say the vast majority of people do "the right thing":

Company executives say they are pleased to find that customers have been paying about 85 percent of the retail price of menu items since Richmond Heights, Mo.-based Panera Bread Co. turned this cafe in May into its first nonprofit community cafe. The store is run through the company's charitable foundation.

Ron Shaich, Panera's executive chairman, admits that he was skeptical at first, too, unsure if people would pay when not required to. But four months into the experiment, he says the results have renewed his faith in humanity.

"Are people responsible?" he asked. "My answer is in sum — on total — most people have stepped up."

It's been a roller-coaster ride to be sure, he said. He recalled his rage early on when he saw a group of teenagers put $3 on a credit card for $40 worth of sandwiches.

"You have those moments that beat you down," he said. "There are people who game it ... But most people are fundamentally good."

And isn't that nice to hear?

"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty." ~Gandhi

Holland, Michigan, Have We Got a Deal for You

Attention Holland, Michigan!

I have a special Modest Needs event to announce in your fair city coming up on Monday, August 9th. 

The lovely and charming Fawn Volkert, the Director of Operations for Modest Needs Foundation, will be hosting a fundraising "Dinner for a Cause," wherein you enjoy a delicious meal with other philanthropy-minded individuals in your community. A portion of proceeds from the "Dinner for a Cause" will go directly to help Modest Needs applicants--hardworking people with one-time financial emergencies.

Considering the spread, the $35 cost for the meal is a steal. There are chicken, beef and vegetarian options alongside fresh farmer's market vegetables. Um, yum!

If you'd like to attend this special event where you'll get to mingle as well as meet the fantastic Fawn, all while raising money for Modest Needs. It's win-win. Please contact Fawn at [email protected] if you are interested in attending. And we hope you are.

More details below (click to enlarge):