Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Food for Thought—A Look at Food Banks in the U.S.A. Part 3:
John van Hengel : The Founder of the First Food Bank
Who Started Food Banks and How?
The third part in this series introduces how food banking started in the United States and later to spread to the world.
John van Hengel, founder of first food bank in the world (Photo courtesy of St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance)
The very first food bank in the world was started in 1967, in Arizona, by John van Hengel. When John learned that a local supermarket was throwing away large amounts of food every day, he talked to the store manager into donating the wasted food to a local soup kitchen that he was involved with. Soon, the amount of donated food grew and the soup kitchen had a surplus of food. Seeing this, John was inspired to create a system of collecting and saving food, much the same way a bank collects and saves money. This was the birth of the very first food bank in the world. This food bank, now operating as St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance, continues to distribute food to people with low-income in Arizona.
Ten years after John started the first food bank in the world, more and more organizations started food banking activities. John became a consultant on food banking to many of these organizations. As a nationwide network to serve these food banks across the nation, America’s Second Harvest was organized in 1976. Later renamed to Feeding America, its mission is “providing food to Americans living with hunger.”
John explaining the mission of America’s Second Harvest (Photo courtesy of St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance)
John then started consulting organizations in Canada and Europe about food banking, and established International Food Banking Services, Inc., in 1986. The firm changed its name to Global Foodbanking Network (GFN) in 2006.
GFN supports local food banks in 18 countries in locations including South America and Africa. Second Harvest Japan has been a member of GFN as a representative of Japan since 2007.¹
2HJ Executive Director Charles McJilton sitting with John at the America’s Second Harvest annual meeting in Hollywood in September 2003
John’s message (see the following paragraph) is written on the board (Photo courtesy of St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance)
John passed away in 2005, but the spirit of his message that “The poor we will always have among us, but why the hungry?” lives on here in Japan, with us at Second Harvest Japan.
We also welcome your comments and thoughts. Mail us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and follow us on Twitter for the latest news about food banking in Japan (@2HJ_en in English, @2ndharvestjapan in Japanese).
References
All quotation and data come from St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance’s website unless otherwise specified.
¹ Global Foodbanking Network’s website.
If you like this story, you might also enjoy:
Office Manager Masahiro Otake’s U.S. Food Bank Travelogue Vol. 1
Food for Thought—Part 2: “Stamp Out Hunger”—The Largest Single-Day Food Drive in the U.S.
2HJ’s new video - Thank you very much for your support!
Link to News story »
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Voice from our clients - No.1: Asian People’s Friendship Society
Second Harvest Japan (2HJ) supports a wide variety of nonprofit organizations and individuals as our clients. We would like to bring their voice to you so that you know how your support to 2HJ make difference in our clients’ lives. This time, we introduce Asian People’s Friendship Society (APFS) to you. APFS supports foreign residents in Tokyo.
Food aid for foreign families
Global economy crisis after “Lehman shock” has damaged the financial condition of undocumented foreign residents who are working for their legal status of residence. Among them, several fathers of the families have been detained in the Tokyo immigration office since August 2009, which made the condition even more difficult. Families have lost income.
In order not to starve them, APFS started food aid project since end of October, 2009, with support from “Second harvest Japan”. “Second harvest Japan” is the organization that collects surplus food from the companies and distributes them to the person in need.
“Instead of our Japanese staff deciding how we give food to foreign recipients, our foreign recipients took an initiative and sorted food among themselves” (quoted from APFS’s blog)
Those families whose fathers had been detained in the immigration office received package of the rice and vegetables twice in a month. Children of the families were able to obtain enough nutrition.We also receive the food packages at the APFS office twice a month and distribute them to the foreign families on the occasion such as share meeting. The preparation of distribution of the food is helped not only by APFS Japanese staff but by everyone including foreign members as shown in the picture.
In 2010, among families who had been supported by this food aid, some family obtained special permission.
The voice from Ms. A who had been supported by food support project, and obtained special permission:
“We are so happy to see rice and vegetable in the package. The support is really helpful by finding new job. Please continue this support for people who still do not get the special permission for residence.”
Ms. A got a job and he does not need food aid any more.
Foreign families strongly wish to be self-supported. However it is not possible to do so in hunger. For now, APFS continues to support them so that they can solve their financial condition as well as their visa problem.
Comment from APFS’s staff member:
“Every month, (Second Harvest Japan) sends seven packages to our clients and delivers food to our office twice. Many of our clients don’t even know if they will have something to eat for the next day. We are very grateful to the lifeline provided by Second Harvest Japan.”
What did you think about it? Your generous support delivers food to those in need through our member organizations and groups. We would like to thank you sincerely on behalf of our clients. If you are interested in supporting 2HJ, please click the links below. Thank you very much for your continued support!
・Volunteer
・Make a donation
Now online donation is available!
We also welcome your comments and thoughts. Mail us at info@2hj.org and follow us on Twitter for the latest news about food banking in Japan (@2HJ_en in English, @2ndharvestjapan in Japanese).
If you like this story, you might also enjoy:
2HJ’s new video - Thank you very much for your support!
Volunteer interview No.3: Kanoko Uegaki
Food for Thought—Part 2: “Stamp Out Hunger”—The Largest Single-Day Food Drive in the U.S.
Link to News story »
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Food for Thought—A Look at Food Banks in the U.S.A. Part 2:
“Stamp Out Hunger”—The Largest Single-Day Food Drive in the U.S.
A postcard sent out to families across the United States as a reminder of the nationwide food drive. The woman pictured is a United States Postal Service mail carrier. (From the Stamp Out Hunger website)
Stamp Out Hunger, a nationwide food drive in the U.S., took place Saturday, May 8. It is the largest single-day food drive in the country and is organized through a collaborative effort of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) and the United States Postal Service (USPS). Hence, the play on words, to literally “stamp” out hunger in America. On May 8th each year across all 50 states, people can leave non-perishable food (canned foods, juice, rice, cereal, etc.) outside their homes for letter carriers to pick up on their regular mail delivery route. The donated food are gathered at the post office and delivered to local food banks, food pantries and other hunger relief organizations.
This year marked the 18th year of this food drive. The goal for 2010 was to surpass last year’s record of 73.4 million pounds (approximately 33,000 tons) of food collected. It is also estimated that this year, the total amount of food collected by Stamp Out Hunger in the last 18 years will reach over one billion pounds (approximately 450,000 tons).
Currently in the United States, where an estimated 49 million people live without food security, the dependency for food banks and food pantries of low income families and individuals is rising. NALC President Fredric Rolando said that “… food banks, pantries and shelters need our help more than ever this year. As families [of low income] count on them for support, they’re counting on us, and we will not back off on our commitment.”
To promote the food drive, more than 125 million postcards (pictured above) was mailed to families all over the nation.
The postcard is a very interesting idea, and the power and determination to make this food drive happen all across the country is inspiring. The dedication and creative problem-solving in the U.S. to address poverty never ceases to amaze, and is something that Second Harvest Japan can learn greatly from.
We also welcome your comments and thoughts. Mail us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and follow us on Twitter for the latest news about food banking in Japan (@2HJ_en in English, @2ndharvestjapan in Japanese).
References
All quotes and data in this article come from this Feeding America website.
If you like this story, you might also enjoy:
Food for Thought—A Look at Food Banks in the U.S.A. Part 1: From Farm to Family
Office Manager Masahiro Otake’s U.S. Food Bank Travelogue Vol. 1
What is a food drive and how can you be a part of one?
Link to News story »
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Food for Thought—A Look at Food Banks in the U.S.A.
Part 1: From Farm to Family
In this series we take a look at food banks in the United States of America, where there are many programs distributing food stuffs to people in need. For the first part in this series, we take a look at a food bank program in California and its successes in distributing fresh produce across the golden state.
Food banks in California have come to together to create a stable distribution system for fresh vegetables and fruit, in a program called the California Association of Food Banks (CAFB). This association and its Farm to Family program distribute fresh produce from farmers to people in need of food throughout California. Its distribution network effectively moves fresh produce from farms to urban areas, often far from agricultural areas where the food is grown.
California Association of Food Banks estimates 80 million pounds (about 36,000 tons) of produce distribution in 2009. (Photo courtesy of California Association of Food Banks)
The program started in response to the sharp rise in food prices and an increase in unemployment, as well as the decrease in the total amount of canned food and cereal available for donation from food manufacturers; this decrease was due to increased efficiency in supply chain management, thereby decreasing surplus food available for food banks. In our recent economic environment, the gap between the amount of food available to food banks and the amount food needed by working-poor families has been widening. In efforts to mend this gap, food banks across the country moved to collect excess fruit and vegetables from farms and distribute them to the hungry. In California, where there was an abundance of agriculture yet still the hungry were still not receiving enough food, the CAFB started the Farm to Family program in 2006.
Food collection for the program begins at farms with excess produce that otherwise might be dumped. Product that is not marketable is separated at the packinghouses, with expenses covered either by the farm or by CAFB, and is donated or sold to CAFB for a few cents per kilogram. Farmers are happy to help those in need through food banks. Dan Van Groningen, Van Groningen & Sons, Inc. recalls leaving some produce in the field, rather than harvesting it. With the Farm to Family program, he says, “now we know there is a home for this product, then we will actually harvest it. We like the feeling that this product is gonna go to needy families.” ¹
The Farm to Family program then ships roughly 50 truckloads of produce per week to food banks across the state in large bins, which are repackaged to smaller bags in the food bank warehouses by volunteers. These are then distributed through food pantries, soup kitchens and other means. While the idea seems simple enough, the program could not work without the support of many people. Gary Maxworthy, the Farm to Family founder and a board member of SF Food Bank, describes the main requirements for a program distributing perishable foods: “you need a refrigerated space, you need volunteers to be able to sort it, you need to be able to distribute it within a few days.”
Through the efforts of CAFB, fruit and vegetables now make up roughly 60% of all foodstuffs distributed by the San Francisco Food Bank. This figure is roughly 50% at the Alameda County Community Food Bank. Both are truly impressive figures, considering that only 5 years ago, the percentage of fresh produce distributed was less than 10%.
Fresh vegetables and fruit are handed out at pantries like this. Leaflets on maintaining a healthy diet are also handed out at pantries. (Photo courtesy of California Association of Food Banks)
Research shows that poor diet is leading to a higher rate of obesity among low-income families including young children.² The Farm to Family program not only helps families facing economic hardships, but also helps individuals adopt a nutritious diet of fruit and vegetables. Michael Flood, the executive director of LA Regional Food Bank, says that the program is important for bringing in nutritious products for clients who “may not have access to these items, or can’t really afford them, given their food budgets.” A mother interviewed at a distribution site echoes that statement: “It means more healthy food for my kids.”
Vicki Escarra, the president of Feeding America, says that there is “an almost unlimited supply of produce that’s not being adequately distributed,” and praises the Farm to Family program as an innovative solution.³
In Japan, 2HJ does not have an extensive network like CAFB at the moment. But the CAFB’s program inspires us to establish a similar program in Japan in the future.
We also welcome your comments and thoughts. Mail us at info@2hj.org and follow us on Twitter for the latest news about food banking in Japan (@2HJ_en in English, @2ndharvestjapan in Japanese).
References
¹ All quotations come from a video on the Farm to Family program, linked to from the California Association of Food Banks website unless otherwise specified.
² American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 79, No. 1, 6-16, January 2004
³ The New York Times, California’s Food Banks Go Locavore
If you like this story, you might also enjoy:
Office Manager Masahiro Otake’s U.S. Food Bank Travelogue Vol. 1
2HJ’s new video - Thank you very much for your support!
Link to News story »
Monday, April 21, 2008
2HJ daikon harvesting event: Straight from the fields to 2HJ recipients
Pull, cut head, turn over, cut tail, set down. Pull, cut head, turn over, cut tail, set down.
What sounds like a streamlined slaughtering ritual, in reality is the daikon (i.e., Japanese white radish) harvesting routine of the 20 or so volunteers that answered 2HJ’s call to Okabe on Sunday February 24. They collected over 2 metric tons of daikon (from about 10 tons available on the field), all of which had been delivered to 2HJ’s recipients by February 27, only three days after the volunteers harvested them!
The following Sunday, March 2, a team of children (and their caretakers), aged from elementary to high school, took their turn and pitched in to harvest over 1.5 additional tons of daikon from the field. Coming from several of the homes to which 2HJ provides food, the children enjoyed the rare opportunity of harvesting their own food and eating it fresh from the field. The staff from the various participating children’s homes brought back a bounty of daikon to supplement meals at their agencies.
For 2HJ, it was the first time in its history that the organization literally lived up to its name by harvesting a field of donated vegetables. Due to this year’s early frosts, the usual daikon harvest period was cut short, leaving entire fields of the vegetable to the plough. Fortunately, one field of high-quality, mouth-watering daikon remained for 2HJ to gather.
Looking back, 2HJ’s Executive Director Charles McJilton stated: “I always wanted to bring such an event to life.” But the idea only gained momentum when 2HJ’s staff member Haijima-san revived the connection he had made with Mr. Karasawa (the main driver of this event on the Okabe community’s side) while working for a farmer in Miyazaki, Kyushu, before joining 2HJ. When the two met again after Haijima-san’s return to Tokyo, conversations about the details of vegetable cultivation eventually lead to reflections on if and how there might be opportunities for farming communities to contribute in their own way to 2HJ’s activities.
Farmers invest a tremendous amount of time and effort in growing crops and vegetables, “much like parents raising and educating their kids,” as Mr. Karasawa explains. It gives them a rather nauseous feeling watching the results of their efforts go to waste, be it because there are not enough hands available for harvesting all of it, or due to some follies of the change in season. Consequently, joining forces with 2HJ seemed like an optimal way to kill two birds with one stone: Not only did some of the yet unharvested daikon get harvested, but also there were people happily looking forward to such a highly valued addition to their menu.
Tired, cold, excited, covered from head to toe in soil blown upon us by the marrow-chilling wind and looking forward to dropping by the nearby onsen (i.e., local hot spring) before returning to Tokyo, all volunteers agreed that working in the fields and harvesting daikon with our own hands had taken the stress of city-life, at least temporarily, away from us. And, if only for a few hours, we had made the somewhat surprising discovery that country life was not all about sweet strawberries and gorgeous green meadows. The life of a farmer can be tough—and the strong winds, blinding us at times, forcing us to swallow more than the odd grain of soil and sand, served as a good example of how tough that life can be.
As the first time ran so smoothly and was a positive, educational and last but not least fun experience for all participants, 2HJ hopes to continue this newly set up collaboration with the Okabe agricultural community, and maybe even set up links to other communities in the future.
And, as 2HJ is now looking into converting this originally one-off event into a regular, maybe twice-a-year activity, I am looking forward to another of those rare opportunities where I get to work with my hands. Maybe I will be allowed once more the occasional glimpse to the panorama of the snow-covered Northern Alps rising at the horizon. No doubt at the end of another such day I will again fall into my bed with a rare but soothing, satisfactory feeling of having accomplished a truly productive day.
Writer/Photographer: Pamela Ravasio
Link to News story »RSS
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