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Hunger and Higher Education: The Campus Kitchens Project

Elyssa J. Salinas

​August 27, 2015

Last night I went to the grocery store near closing, and I noticed how much food was still out in the produce section. There was an abundance of avocados, a plethora of pears and a bounty of bananas. There was no way that this would sell out by closing, so I wondered, what will happen to this food?

When we throw out our garbage, how much is food waste? We throw away leftovers, excess food that goes bad and remnants from our cooking. In larger settings like restaurants and schools, much of the food prepared for large groups may go unused. Food waste is astronomical in the United States, but how does that compare to the multitudes of people who go hungry every day? The Campus Kitchens Project, based in Washington, D.C., is working to raise awareness about food waste and hunger and to help college and university students do something about both.

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The project makes use of the leftover, quality food from schools and grocery stores that would otherwise be wasted and uses it for meals in the community. Students run Campus Kitchens at their university or college and are able to have hands-on experience in running a non-profit initiative while working with partners in their local communities. There are currently 45 schools that are part of this initiative, which spans the country from coast to coast. The project’s mission is to strengthen bodies, empower minds and build communities through empowering and educating students about what they can do to combat food insecurity in this country.

Every Campus Kitchen has the same general model to combat food insecurity in its community. Waste is curbed with food recovery that takes uneaten, quality food from places like campus dining services or local grocery stores. There is meal preparation, which trains volunteers to use the donations to create balanced and healthy meals. Meals are delivered to organizations or families in the area where the students make connections with the recipients. These connections enable the students to get a better understanding of the issue of hunger through relationships and conversations. These Campus Kitchens also provide education and empowerment to families in the community, including culinary training with unemployed adults and children’s programs on nutrition.

Through an Education and Networking Grant, ELCA World Hunger has helped support The Campus Kitchens Project’s work to promote opportunity and raise awareness about food insecurity.  ELCA World Hunger and the project agree that hunger cannot be solved by food alone. Education, advocacy and, especially, building relationships within communities are key parts in stopping hunger for good. At Campus Kitchens, as at many ELCA World Hunger-supported ministry sites, food is an entry point for a deeper, long-lasting relationship with neighbors.

To learn more about The Campus Kitchens Project please visit http://www.campuskitchens.org/start-a-kitchen/ or email Matt Schnarr, the Expansion and Partnerships Manager at mschnarr@campuskitchens.org.

To learn more about ELCA World Hunger Education and Networking grants, visit http://elca.org/News-and-Events/blogs/ELCAWorldHunger/646.

Elyssa Salinas is program assistant for hunger education with ELCA World Hunger.  Please direct comments or questions to Hunger@ELCA.org.

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10 years after Hurricane Katrina

Megan Brandsrud

​On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast of the United States. Damage and destruction sprawled from Florida’s panhandle to western Louisiana. 1,833 people died and many more were injured. With approximately 90,000-square miles of federally-declared disaster areas and one million homes and building destroyed, Hurricane Katrina is in the books as the most destructive and costliest disaster in U.S. history.

Lutherans around the world watched as news reports displayed images of the destruction and aired interviews with people who had lost so much due to the storm, and they turned to their church to respond. Immediately after Katrina hit, people started offering to volunteer in the affected areas and giving to Lutheran Disaster Response. More than $27 million was given to Lutheran Disaster Response to directly assist families that had been affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Lutheran Disaster Response started recovery efforts by working with its social ministry organization affiliates that were located in the affected area or had networks in the area. Lutheran Disaster Response also became involved with Katrina Aid Today (KAT) National Consortium, a coalition of secular and faith-based organizations that helped provide disaster case management, which provided $8 million to Lutheran Disaster Response for case management. In the end, Lutheran Disaster Response was able to provide case management to 11,000 households with the support from KAT.

A major component of our Hurricane Katrina response was volunteer coordination. With an unprecedented number of people who wanted to volunteer, local congregations in the affected areas started serving as volunteer hosting centers or setting up volunteer camps that would end up running for years after Katrina hit as volunteers continued to pour in from around the country. One example is Christus Victor Lutheran Church in Ocean Springs, Miss., that started Camp Victor, a volunteer camp that housed 50,000 volunteers from all 50 states and 20 countries. In total, these volunteers provided 1 million service hours as they helped to gut, repair and rebuild more than 2,000 homes.

In addition, “What a Relief!” formed as an alternative Spring Break volunteer program with Lutheran Disaster Response. During the program’s first year, more than 800 college and university students from 34 U.S schools participated in Spring Break service projects in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. For the next four years, Lutheran Disaster Response continued to coordinate more than 50,000 volunteers through “What a Relief!” as it expanded beyond the alternative Spring Break program.

katrina blog post

Students from Valparaiso University help clean out a house damaged by Hurricane Katrina as part of the What a Relief! alternative spring break program.

Throughout the Hurricane Katrina response, special attention was paid to providing emotional and spiritual care for those who were affected by Katrina.

Hurricane Katrina is Lutheran Disaster Response’s largest disaster response to date, and it helped shape the way Lutheran Disaster Response does its work, in addition to connecting people from around the country together to do disaster work with their church.

Follow Lutheran Disaster Response on Facebook for more Hurricane Katrina anniversary information this week.

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Cleaner Cooking in Bangladesh

Ryan P. Cumming

August 20, 2015

Ramoni Rani and her husband, Nor Uttam Hawlader, live in the village of Rajakhali in Bangladesh with their two sons. Like many Bangladeshi farmers, Ramoni and Nor use wood-burning stoves to cook food in their homes. The cost for fuel for the stoves can be very high for families with limited incomes, around 4,000-4,500 takas (about $50-57 per month). Wood-burning cookstoves also produce a lot of smoke, a key culprit in many health problems. In fact, a 2009 profile of Bangladesh from the World Health Organization found that indoor air pollution contributes to nearly 50,000 deaths every year. Ramoni, Nor and their children suffered from respiratory illnesses and eye problems because of the smoke in their homes.

Case Story on Improved Stove

Because of problems related to health, the cost of fuel and the risk of indoor fires, the Bangladesh Science and Industry Research Council developed an improved cookstove called “bondhu chula.” Yet, a Yale University study published in 2009 found that many Bangladeshis are reluctant to use improved cookstoves for a variety of reasons. Some of the Bangladeshis they surveyed didn’t know how to use the new stoves. Many had never even seen an improved cookstove. Nearly all worried about the cost.

Addressing some of these difficulties, Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh, supported in part by ELCA World Hunger, introduced bondhu chula stoves to 256 women, with significant, far-reaching goals:

  • reduce cost of fuel for cooking;
  • reduce the rate of respiratory infections and eye problems;
  • reduce the time women spent cooking;
  • reduce the number of trees cut down for cooking fuel; and
  • reduce carbon emissions from stoves.

By giving women in the Dumki Upazilla region of Bangladesh the improved cookstoves and offering training in using them, Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh helped many women provide a safer, cleaner and more affordable way to cook for their families. Ramoni and Nor, who participated in the program, found that the new stoves cut their costs and the time they spent cooking in half. Now the health problems they and their sons had are all but gone, and Ramoni and Nor can spend the extra money on taking care of their children.

The use of more efficient cookstoves is also a step toward better care of creation in Bangladesh.  According to a 2009 report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, nearly 2,000 hectares of forest are lost in the country every year. This results in a “serious imbalance in the environment of Bangladesh,” according to representatives of Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh. This makes the increased use of improved cookstoves – and the country’s growing emphasis on planting trees – even more important.

By providing clean, efficient cookstoves to Ramoni, Nor and more than 250 other people, Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh is meeting the significant goals of its program. Slowing the deforestation of rural Bangladesh, improving the air quality in homes, and freeing time and money for other activities are made possible in part because of gifts to ELCA World Hunger. This sustainable solution to deforestation, indoor air pollution, and high costs for fuel is an innovative way Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh is making an impact, while demonstrating how care of creation can make good economic sense for families.

Ryan P. Cumming, Ph.D., is program director for hunger education with ELCA World Hunger.  He can be reached at Ryan.Cumming@ELCA.org.

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Connecting Mental Health and Hunger

Leah Shelton, ELCA Advocacy

One in five  children in the United States experience a mental disorder each year. That’s nearly 16 million children every year. Mental disorders can be extremely debilitating, leading to isolation, self-harm, and a life-long stigma of weakness and danger. These effects, if not treated in childhood, can affect the child’s entire life.

With that statistic in mind, now consider that only 20% of childhood mental disorders are treated. This is the 20-20 effect: 20% of children have a mental disorder and 20% are treated. Treatment exists for such a small number for many reasons, including a scarcity of pediatric and adolescent psychiatrists and the cost of treatment. Childhood mental health awareness and treatment in the United States is detrimentally dismal.

We have a problem.

What is causing mental illness in children? There is an innumerable set of influences, but among the many risk factors is poverty. Recent evidence points specifically to poor nutrition. While there is not yet evidence of a causal relationship (lack of/poor nutrition causing mental disorders), it is evident that there is a definite relationship between child nutrition and mental health. The grips of poverty force families to go hungry, and without proper nutrition children may have an increased risk of developing a mental disorder or worsening a pre-existing one.

Childhood nutrition in the U.S. is as bleak as mental illness: 1 in 5 children in the U.S. do not know where their next meal will come from. Approximately 16 million U.S. children are food-insecure.  Although I have never experienced the kind of anxiety that comes from searching for food, during my time interning at the ELCA’s Advocacy Office in Washington D.C., I’ve witnessed advocates from across the country telling their members of Congress stories about the constant anxiety they and their friends suffer because of food insecurity. Their stories opened my eyes to both the desperation of hunger and the vital role that public policy must play to keep them from starvation.

The federally funded National School Lunch Program makes possible school breakfasts and lunches, which these children depend on as a consistently reliable source of nutrition. While it may appear as if these hungry children will receive at least one meal a day for the rest of their school years, Congress has the power to change this, for better or worse. The National School Lunch Program and other programs, such as The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), are set to expire at the end of September. ELCA Advocacy is calling upon Congress to reauthorize  these programs in order to continue providing nutrition for low-income families and children. So far, Congress has not reauthorized these programs, leaving 16 million children with food-insecurity.

By defunding programs such as the National School Lunch program, Congress is essentially sweeping the carpet out from under the feet of these children and telling them that their lives are not worth the $16 billion school breakfasts and lunch cost, combined. Even in terms of money, compared to the $247 billion childhood mental healthcare costs each year, funding nutrition programs is much more fiscally feasible and responsible. Even if the programs are reauthorized, special interest groups are lobbying Congress to neutralize federal nutrition standards for these programs. Students, some of whom find school lunch to be their only meal of the day, could find lower health standards in their food and continue this long term problem.

Why would Congress remove a program which is so closely linked to a risk factor for mental illness when the rates for both child nutrition and mental illness are oppressive? This  would be detrimental, not only for children like the ones I met, but also for the federal budget. It is moral, fiscal, rational, and imperative that Congress fund child nutrition programs.

ELCA Advocacy has long supported child nutrition programs and intervening in the cycle of hunger and poverty which mental illness is so frighteningly connected to. As Lutherans, we must raise our voices to this injustice and ask Congress to stand by Matthew 23:35: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” By doing this, we stand by our challenge to ourselves to “become good stewards of … physical and mental health by attending to preventive care, personal health habits, diet, exercise, and recreation” (ELCA Health Care Statement).

*Check out  how Lutherans are getting involved in healthcare initiatives at Lutheran Services in America.

**For more information on other public policy initiatives for preventing common mental disorders click here.

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ELCA Advocacy Update- August 2015

ELCA Advocacy

Lutherans are taking action across the country! Below you will find our monthly State Advocacy Newsletter. Share with your friends!

​​​Washington, D.C.

Mary Minette,

Interim Director of Advocacy

www.elca.org/advocacy

 

LOGUMEPA CLEAN POWER PLAN ANNOUNCED: This week, President Obama unveiled details about a new EPA Clean Power Plan. The plan will work with states and industries to reduce carbon emissions, improve air quality, and help combat climate change. Following the release of the rule, ELCA Advocacy’s new interim director, Mary Minette, released the following statement applauding the announcement:

“Reducing carbon emissions from power plants must be a top priority for the U.S. and the world if we hope to prevent the worst impacts of climate change and protect communities around the world.

The rule released today by the Environmental Protection Agency is a critical step in reaching that goal. It provides individual states the flexibility to implement the rule in ways that make the most sense for their economies and power needs while still reducing overall emissions and demonstrating our country’s leadership in combating climate change.

Climate change is already affecting all of us. Most importantly, it will cause countless problems for our children, our grandchildren, and our most vulnerable neighbors if we fail to take bold action now to curb its worst impacts. We have a moral obligation to leave our children a healthy and safe world, and to care for our neighbors. The rule released today is an important step on the path to meeting that obligation.” 

youthADVOCACY AT THE ELCA YOUTH GATHERING: ELCA Advocacy joined with ELCA Young Adult Ministry for engagement and action at the ELCA Youth Gathering this July in Detroit. Youth took action in support of Child Nutrition reauthorization, called on the United States to lead in addressing climate change, and learned about how to continue connecting with the ELCA as young adults. We are excited to build our partnership with ELCA Young Adult Ministry by supporting efforts to foster connections and engage on important issues in our communities. Watch for important social media conversations by following @elcayoungadults and #elcayoungjustice!.

RESTORING RELATIONS WITH CUBA: On July 23, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved three amendments on Cuba. The first amendment lifts the travel ban to Cuba for one year. The second amendment repeals the costly and outdated requirement that any ship entering Cuban ports shall not load/unload cargo anywhere in the United States within 180 days without a license from the secretary of the treasury. Lastly, the committee voted to allow the private sector to provide financial services to Americans for sales of permitted agricultural goods to Cuba. While these amendments have yet to pass the full Senate, it is indicative of the growing bipartisan consensus in Congress and around the country for our government to normalize relations with Cuba. Through advocacy and high-level dialogue, the ELCA continues to support all efforts to fully restore relations with Cuba.

childCHILD NUTRITION REAUTHORIZATION: The Senate Finance committee will consider child nutrition program legislation starting Thursday, Sept. 17. This legislation will determine the continuation of cost-effective federal programs that are critical to the wellbeing of children in schools across the nation. Take action today to support these programs at the Advocacy Action center. NOTE: For advocates who collected and shared ELCA child nutrition postcards on this issue, please send in all signed postcards to the ELCA Advocacy office as soon as possible! (Mail to: 122 C Street NW, Suite 125, Washington, D.C. 20001).

U.S. MIGRATION:  In late July, Judge Dolly Gee ruled that the U.S. government must stop detaining families because it violates a 1997 agreement that upholds the best interest of children. The U.S. government has until the week of Aug. 10 to appeal the decision. However, in a move signaling their willingness to appeal, the Department of Justice has already asked the judge to reconsider her decision. The faith community has stood together asking the administration to release families as soon as possible and not appeal the decision.

CENTRAL AMERICA/MEXICO: The Senate released their version last month of the funding bill that would address migration from Central America. Their version focuses on addressing poverty, violence and corruption. This stands in contrast to the House version, which incentivizes stopping children and families at all costs by releasing funding only if Central American and Mexican governments increase border security and stop migrants. Although neither bill is expected to be approved, the ELCA is advocating for the continuous resolution, which keeps funding levels the same as the previous fiscal year, to contain the provisions in the Senate version of the bill.

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New York, NY

Dennis Frado​, Lutheran Office for World Community

lwfTRAINING WORKSHOP ON ADVOCACY FOR FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS: The Lutheran World Federation Women in Church and Society program organized a training workshop from July 6 to July 11 in Geneva on women’s human rights advocacy.  It was held jointly with the World Council of Churches, Finn Church Aid, the ACT (Action by Churches Together) Alliance, and the World YWCA. The  workshop’s aim was to help participants from member churches or other faith-based organizations to better understand and use U.N. mechanisms and treaties, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Universal Periodic Review, and the U.N.  Commission on the Status of Women to advance gender quality. Submitting “shadow” reports is one of the avenues faith-based organizations can report on human rights situations in the countries being reviewed. The Lutheran Office for World Community’s Christine Mangale presented and moderated a workshop that explored the linkages between Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Universal Periodic Review and the proposed U.N. Post-2015 Development Agenda, including the proposed Sustainable Development Goals.

LUTHERAN WORLD FEDERATION GENERAL SECRETARY VISITS LOWC: In early July, the general secretary of The Lutheran World Federation, the Rev. Dr. Martin Junge, visited the Lutheran Office for World Community.  The primary purpose of his visit was to attend a donor-faith-based organizations-U.N.  consultation and reflect together in depth on three areas: governance and democratization, peace and security, and gender equality and women’s empowerment. They will be included in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. While in New York, he also visited the offices of U.N. Women, UNICEF, the U.N. Development Program, and the U.N. Population Fund to discuss possible future areas of collaboration. LOWC staff accompanied him to all of the meetings.

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California

Mark Carlson

Lutheran Office of Public Policy

www.loppca.org​

 

STATE LEGISLATURE: The California Legislature is on summer recess until Aug. 17, when it will reconvene for three weeks of final activity for the year. Before recess, LOPP-CA expressed support in the Assembly Human Services Committee for a bill, SB 23, to repeal the Maximum Family Grant rule that prohibits additional cash assistance for a new pregnancy and birth in a family already enrolled in CalWORKS/Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, except for reported rape and incest, or specified, medically documented contraceptive failure. Ending this harsh, “thin the soup” policy based on demeaning stereotypes, which contributes to one-quarter of California’s children living in poverty, is a high priority for women’s advocates.  A coalition is planning a “Stronger Together” action day at the Capitol on Aug. 26.

CA1Director Mark Carlson’s activities included a half-day briefing by the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network (focus on health access for undocumented immigrants); attendance at the funeral of the Rev.  Richard Bowley, a leader in justice and anti-racism ministry; anti-racism training offered by Faith Lutheran, Meadow Vista, and Bethlehem Lutheran, Auburn; panelist at a forum on police-community relations at Our Redeemer, Sacramento; and hosting a Day at the Capitol for participants in the Lutheran Episcopal Volunteer Network, sponsored by Lutheran Episcopal Campus Ministry at UC Davis (see photo with legislative director for Senate majority leader).  A highlight was viewing a Senate hallway press conference by about eight senators who condemned the anti-immigrant rhetoric of Donald Trump.

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Colorado

Peter Severson, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – Colorado 

www.lam-co.org

Co2ELCA YOUTH GATHERING: Director Peter Severson was present at the Youth Gathering in Detroit to raise the profile of advocacy, partnering with ELCA Young Adult Ministry and ELCA World Hunger to create action stations in the Interaction Center. The advocacy offices in Colorado, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., were represented. Hundreds of youth and group leaders filled out child nutrition postcards for members of Congress and signed the Interfaith Climate Petition, and even Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton came to visit us!

You can see more pictures and updates from the Youth Gathering by searching for #RiseUpELCA and #ELCAYoungJustice on Twitter and Facebook. Follow us @LutheranAdvoCO and like us on facebook.com/LutheranAdvocacyCO to hear more about what we’re up to.

CHILD NUTRITION: LAM-CO has been deeply involved in raising the profile of child nutrition issues in Colorado this summer. As Congress looks ahead to working on the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act this fall, LAM-CO has joined members of the anti-hunger coalition in planning events for the Colorado delegation during the August recess to highlight the importance of summer meal programs, especially for low-income households.

In addition, pastors and lay leaders in rural counties are preparing to attend town hall meetings this month hosted by the Colorado Department of Human Services in order to speak out on hunger issues.

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​Minnesota
Tammy Walhof, Lutheran Advocacy – Minnesota
tammy@lcppm.org  

KIDS COUNT: The new KIDS COUNT report ranks Minnesota No.1 for well-being of children, based on education, economic well-being, health, and family and community. However, significant concerns still exist for Minnesota children: 14 percent live in poverty; one-third live in households with overly high housing costs; more than 3,500 (half  under age 6) are homeless with their parents on any given night. The report confirms that “children in low-income families that have limited access to affordable housing are more likely to live in crowded housing or become homeless, and are more likely to be food insecure and have to postpone accessing health care.” [Emphasis added.]

MN KIDS Count report

National KIDS COUNT Data Center

National website and links to report(s)

AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS: The Homes for All Coalition has started the process to determine priorities for the 2016 legislative focus. Over several previous months, more studies on housing and homelessness have shown the importance housing stability plays for families, especially in hunger and health (reaffirmed in the new KIDS COUNT). Also, senior homelessness is increasing at dramatic rates. LA-MN will push to address these concerns.

CLEAN ENERGY: Analysis following the difficult 2015 session suggests a significant lack of knowledge around clean energy and the damage coal burning causes to people and the environment. LA-MN fall education will try to address this deficit.

Director Tammy Walhof also fulfilled her civic responsibility of jury duty this month, serving on one trial and jury pools for two others.

Twitter: @LuthAdvocacyMN   Facebook

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​New Mexico

Ruth Hoffman, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – New Mexico 

www.lutheranadvocacynm.org

NM1Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-New Mexico joined with many other groups and individuals to urge that new work requirements not be imposed for families receiving SNAP benefits. The Martinez administration through the New Mexico Human Services Department intends to institute work requirements for recipients from the age of 16 to 60 and for families with children over the age of 5. LAM-NM Director Ruth Hoffman was member of a panel that presented to the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee on July 16 in Las Cruces.  Ruth emphasized that over 30 percent of New Mexico’s children live in poverty and that our economy is lagging far behind in the recovery from the great recession. She also stated that there is little or no evidence that the Human Services Department is prepared to or able to administer such a new program that will involve tens of thousands of recipients. Because LAM-NM now is in a covenant advocacy relationship with the NM Conference of Churches, LAM-NM spoke on behalf of that ecumenical organization as well.  Here is a link to an interview that Ruth did (along with our advocacy partner, the NM Conference of Catholic Bishops) with KUNM radio about the proposed requirements.

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​Ohio

Nick Bates, The Faith Coalition for the Common Good 

nick@oneohionow.org

 

Happy fiscal new year from the state of Ohio! On July 1, 2015, fiscal year 2016 began with Ohio’s new budget. It’s a month into the new fiscal year, and advocates and faith leaders continue to scratch their heads at missed opportunities to expand food access, help low-income families through a refundable earned-income tax credit, and help rural poverty-stricken school districts. Recent reports continue to show Ohio’s unacceptable infant mortality rate and child poverty rates. While Capitol Square has quieted down this month, faith advocates continue to ask what does it mean for us to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.

If you would like to get involved with faith-based advocacy in Ohio, contact Diaconal Minister Nick Bates atBatesyep@gmail.com.

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Pennsylvania

Amy Reumann, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania 

Tracey DePasquale, Associate Director

www.lutheranadvocacypa.org

The state budget is now more than a month overdue. Rank-and-file lawmakers are in summer recess as their leadership and the Wolf administration negotiate in the wake of last month’s vetoed spending plan.  The budget impasse has begun tohurt nonprofits and ministries.

LAMPa continues to help Lutherans connect with Harrisburg lawmakers through email advocacy, editorial writing and congregational postcard campaigns on the key issues of housing trust fund expansion and fair education funding. LAMPa acted with PA175 other organizations to urge the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to address loopholes in its draft payday lending rules.

Tracey joined advocacy colleagues at the Youth Gathering, engaging Pennsylvania youth in advocacy on the Interfaith Climate Petition, federal Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill and the ELCA Day of Service and inviting them to connect with LAMPa upon their return. LAMPa is inviting youth to bring their #Proclaim Justice Day activities home with resources for youth to combat blight and act on clean water in Pennsylvania.

PA2LAMPa connected the State Education Association with the state’s food security coalition, resulting in training more than 100 teacher leaders on poverty and hunger and their connection to learning. That partnership, which will be ongoing, has also yielded the association’s August newsletter devoted to child hunger and nutrition.

Check out our resources for preachers during Six Weeks of Bread Texts: Preaching on John 6.

We bid a fond farewell to Pastor Paul Lubold as he leaves LAMPa staff – but not Lutheran advocacy! We are grateful for his friendship and his entire ministry.

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Virginia

Charles Swadley

Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy     

www.virginiainterfaithcenter.org

The Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy (VICPP) provided support for an ELCA Hunger Summit with Bishop Jim Mauney on July 25. It was well attended by interdenominational partners from across Virginia.  At the summit, presentations on feeding programs were provided by state government representatives. With lively discussion, strategizing, and a focus on the future, a follow-up meeting will be held in Charlottesville on Nov. 18 to include interfaith leaders.

VA1Seminary student and Public Policy Fellow Lana Heath de Martinez is leading VICPP’s organizing efforts to expand ethnic, age and faith diversity through the statewide chapters. VICPP is partnering with a new coalition of agencies called RISE for Youth with the intention of closing juvenile prisons in Virginia. A partnership with the Center for American Progress continues and will culminate with the co-hosting of a Poverty Summit in Hampton Roads in September.

VICPP and its health care program, Virginia Consumer Voices for Healthcare, met with Ben O’Dell, a representative of the White House Faith and Community Relations Office, to discuss working together on advocating for Medicaid expansion during the forthcoming General Assembly session. The health care program supported two events on July 29 and 30 in the Hampton Roads area to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid. The regional director for the Department of Health and Human Services presented at both events, noting the impact of these programs on improving Americans’ lives. VICPP is assisting the Chesapeake Foundation in organizing an interfaith conference focused on the environment at the Living Waters retreat center in Hampton Roads this September.

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Washington

Paul Benz, Faith Action Network 

www.fanwa.org

POLICY UPDATE: Washington’s Legislature, after three special sessions and 176 days, finally adjourned on July 7, with its final decision being the suspension of a class-size reduction initiative approved by voters last November. All three budgets (operating, transportation and capital) were signed just before midnight on June 30 by the governor to avoid state layoffs. (The 2015-2017 biennium began July 1.) A summary of the issues we worked on this past legislative session can be viewed at http://fanwa.org/2015-end-of-session-report/.

CONGRESSIONAL UPDATE: FAN’s goal every year is to meet with as many of our congressional delegation (12) as possible. Our latest meeting was with key staff of Sen. Maria Cantwell in her Seattle office, where we discussed the Green Climate Fund, I-VAWA, Child nutrition/summer hunger bills, and recognition for the Duwamish tribe (first peoples of Seattle).

PROGRAMMING AND ORGANIZING: FAN is now in its third programmatic season of the year, convening our 17 geographic clusters that make up our Network of Advocating Faith Communities, which now numbers 101 faith communities around the state. The purpose is to deepen relationships and discuss ways to better advocate individually and collectively on issues FAN is working on. FAN is planning two forums on taxation called “What Kind of State Do You Want to Live In? A conversation and mobilization about our state’s regressive tax structure.”  Washington state has the most regressive tax structure in the nation.

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Wisconsin

Cindy Crane, Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin 

www.loppw.org

PAY DAY LENDING:  LOPPW has a history of trying to protect Wisconsinites, especially those living in poverty, from predatory lending.  Recently our constituents responded to the sudden state budget addition to allow payday lenders to provide more services, such as insurance, annuities and financial advice. The proposed addition created bipartisan resistance.  We are pleased that Gov. Scott Walker responded to the advocacy against the measure and vetoed it.

LIVING WAGE COALITION:  The coalition initiated by Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice is made up of faith-based and secular partners.  We recently met for a second time and explored broader issues  beyond raising the minimum wage, including predictable, stable hours (Hours that Work); paid sick leave; paid family leave; affordable, quality child care; access to public transportation; and pension protection.

ANTI-HUMAN TRAFFICKING CONSORTIUM: At the most recent statewide meeting we discussed the newly formed Safe Harbor Bill; consensus is that this bill will have more of a chance of passing than previous bills related to Safe Harbor.

DIALOGUE WITH BISHOPS:  The director contacted all the Wisconsin bishops to introduce the idea of creating a project that would focus on one of the root causes of hunger – money in politics impacting public policies.  She will and all six bishops will meet at a Region 5 gathering at the end of August to discuss the project further. LOPPW’s director also participated in two half-day trainings for our advocacy office’s new database.

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What advocacy efforts are going on in your synod or state? We want to hear about it!

Contact us at washingtonoffice@elca.org ​​

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Hunger and Higher Education

Elyssa Salinas

I never thought that I would use a food pantry, but my first year in seminary changed that. I came to campus with barely enough money for a few school supplies and a meager pantry. It was embarrassing and I honestly thought I was the only one who needed help. My family was unable to help and I was anxious how I would survive the school year. On the day of orientation there was a bunch of announcements, but one in particular gave me a sense of belonging. There was an announcement about a food pantry on campus, where everyone was welcome. At first I was embarrassed as I walked toward the empty gym, but then I saw my classmates smiling and asking if I had enough for the week. There was no shame or stigma, just the honesty of our situation as students.

In recent years, college and graduate students are becoming the new face of food insecurity in the United States. The stigma usually associated with food and higher education is the weight gain associated with the glibly titled “freshman fifteen” (a fact in my experience), but now students have a different worry: how am I going to pay for food this week?

A study done at Western Oregon University found that 59% of students were categorized as food insecure. Food insecurity is defined by the United States Department of Agriculture as, “limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.” There could be many reasons for students to be vulnerable to food insecurity for instance, rising tuition costs, not qualifying for food stamps, cost of living, or the shifting demographic of students that come from low income groups or are first generation children of immigrants.  The 2008 recession was also a significant factor for many students.

The consequences for students facing food insecurity are steep. They include links to depression and lower academic performance, because how can you focus on a test when you are unsure of where your next meal is coming from?

Many campuses have started to respond to this reality through relief programs. According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, there were nearly 200 food pantries or banks for students across the country by August 2015.  Yet there is also a great deal of stigma surrounding hunger, so students are hesitant to talk about it. Although I had a great deal of support from my school and I confided in close family, this is the first time I am publically acknowledging my food insecurity.  Aware of this, some campuses have developed new models of pantries to alleviate stigma.  There are also programs that allow students to donate unused “swipes” of their meal cards to fellow students or other members of the community.

In a parable from Matthew 25, Jesus reminds us that when we feed one another, we are also feeding him. “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Matt. 25:40b). When I was given that first handful of food from one of my peers, I was overjoyed that I would be fed and I was comforted that my community was helping to feed me.

To learn more about starting a campus food pantry, see this handy guide from the Oregon Food Bank.

To learn more about swipe programs, see Swipe Out Hunger.

Look for a post on our blog next week about the Campus Kitchens Project, a partner of ELCA World Hunger!

Elyssa Salinas is the program assistant for hunger education with ELCA World Hunger.  She can be reached at Hunger@ELCA.org.

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Devastating floods in Arauca, Colombia

Megan Brandsrud

​The 2015 rainy season took its toll on Colombia. Heavy rains caused rivers to overflow in the Arauca Department of Colombia in late May. Approximately 30,000 people were affected. Houses, schools and health clinics, which were also being used as evacuation shelters, were flooded, leaving communities without shelter.

The flooding wiped out most of the crops and livestock pastures, which devastated the rural areas where most families depend on small-scale farming and livestock farming for livelihoods. The effects of the floods on farming also produced food insecurity situations that mostly affected women, children and elderly people who have a hard time traveling outside of their communities. Municipal water structures, as well as household and community wells were also damaged or destroyed by the severe weather.

Lutheran Disaster Response has committed $80,000 and is working with The Lutheran World Federation to respond to the humanitarian needs of the people who were affected by the flooding in Colombia. With The Lutheran World Federation, we have been distributing food vouchers to 2,730 families. In addition, water filters, buckets and tank cleaning kits will be distributed to 934 families. Approximately 860 families will receive vouchers for non-food items that can be used to purchase items such as mosquito nets, mattresses, kitchen utensils and household repair kits. Providing vouchers gives families the chance to decide what items they acquire based on their own individual needs.

Please remember in your prayers the people who have been affected by this flooding and who not only have lost their homes but also their livelihoods. Lutheran Disaster Response will continue to work with our partners to help those who were affected rebuild and recover.

Please consider supporting the response in Colombia by visiting the Lutheran Disaster Response giving page.

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Hungry. And surrounded by food

Jenny Sharrick

August 3, 2015

I have a very complex relationship with food. I absolutely love it. My favorite food changes almost daily because there are so many incredible ones from which to choose. So many flavors to experience within a short life. But often food does not love me. Or perhaps, a better way to explain it is that my body does not love food. You see, I have an intestinal disorder called Crohn’s disease. It means that portions of my 22 feet of small intestines can become ulcerated (like a bunch of open sores, but on the inside) and inflamed. Crohn’s disease, along with ulcerative colitis, is part of a group of diseases known as Inflammatory Bowel Disorders (IBD), which affect 1.6 million Americans.1

Personally, I don’t like to draw attention to my illness and generally I give a non-committal non-answer when people ask how it affects me: “I have good days and bad days; but I’m always hopeful for more good than bad.” It’s hard to talk about an illness that is invisible to everyone else. It’s even harder to talk about an illness when it presents with the symptoms of Crohn’s. And sometimes, I would just rather pretend that my body is healthy and that nothing is wrong. But the reality is that it always affects my body and sometimes it means I’m in excruciating pain when I eat.

But the worst part of all is not the lack of food. It’s the lack of fellowship. We encounter Christ at The Table. And we encounter Christ around our tables at home with friends, family, and new acquaintances. When we want to “catch up” with others, the first instinct is to grab lunch, ice cream or go for coffee. Without the ability to eat, it becomes nearly impossible for fellowship, communion, and emotional support.

Crohn’s can be so isolating. I can find ways to sneak in enough calories to survive until tomorrow with easily digested foods such as pureed baby food or nutritional shakes, but it’s harder to find ways to sneak in authentic time and experiences with friends that don’t end up exhausting me further. It’s hard to find those moments to say “I really need to be in fellowship with you, but I can’t continue to pretend like going out for Indian food isn’t the worst idea I’ve had all week. Can we just sit here on my couch and chat without any refreshments?”

I spend a lot of my life thinking about various aspects food. My favorite de-stressing activity is to bake any and all desserts (I’d be lying if I didn’t say I also love eating desserts, too!). I’m always in search of a good recipe on Pinterest. I am on my synod’s “(anti-) hunger team” within the ELCA. My congregation is involved in anti-hunger ministries including a food pantry and a food co-op. My research focus for my Masters in Public Health (MPH) is rural food insecurity. I even come from a long line of food-growers. Some day I will inherit one and a half farms in Nebraska (although truthfully I know very little about the actual process of growing food other than what I’ve gleaned from my unsuccessful ventures in gardening and what I’ve heard about the process of farming around the dinner table growing up). The thing I’m most looking forward to when I return home to Nebraska is my weekly bag of vegetables, fruits, cheeses, eggs, honey and freshly baked bread from local farmers and producers.

Even after all that thinking and reflecting on different aspects of food, I still struggle daily with what it means to come to the T(t)able and not be able to eat, regardless of the reason.

Food is everywhere. It’s engrained in my life and also in yours. It’s in the news (the newest fad diets, research about what we should or should not eat, advertising campaigns about food), and it’s in our homes and most places we visit. It makes sense. Food is literally life-sustaining. But now, more than ever, I can recognize how much fear and anxiety food can cause for people.

I have never been without access to enough food. I’ve been lucky enough to be food secure my whole life. I’ve always known that I can find food. But I can resonate with the 49 million people in the United States who are food insecure.2 Even more so with those who are food insecure and have IBD, an eating disorder or a food allergy.

I am often also hungry for the communion with others that comes from breaking bread, salad and casserole around the table.

Sometimes “feeding the hungry” also includes those of us who would give anything to be seated with you, but can’t. Can’t because of allergies. Can’t because our psychological relationship with food is disordered, for example, by anorexia, bulimia, or other eating disorders. Or can’t because of tiny pockets of inflammation that we don’t like talking about.

We are often surrounded by a sea of food but still drowning in our inability to eat any of it.

Jenny Sharrick is the 2015 summer intern with Constituent Engagement with ELCA World Hunger.

 

1 http://online.ccfa.org/site/PageServer?pagename=TS_homepage

2http://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/our-research/map-the-meal-gap/child-food-insecurity-executive-summary.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/

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30,000 Lutherans – the ELCA Youth Gathering was art!

How do you define art? A painting? A sculpture? A fine piece of music? A moving play?

Seth Godin, one of my favorite bloggers, defines art as “a human act, a generous contribution, something that might not work, and it is intended to change the recipient for the better, often causing a connection to happen.” According to Seth’s definition, the 2015 ELCA Youth Gathering was art.

30,000 Lutheran humans acted on behalf of a city that needs champions.

30,000 Lutherans contributed generously – 1 million diapers and counting!

30,000 Lutherans risked meeting in a city emerging from economic collapse.

30,000 Lutherans were changed for the better because they gave of themselves in service to others.

30,000 Lutherans connected with Detroiters who were, for the most part, amazed that we showed up with, as one Detroit blogger described, our “insufferably cheerful” energy, colored T-shirts and high-fives!

30,000 Lutherans left a mark on Detroit that will long be remembered, not just for our economic impact, but for our witness through service, through the attitude and behavior of our young people and, yes, through our sheer volume that had some people on social media asking, “What’s going on in Detroit?” One Detroiter commented, tongue ‘n cheek, on social media, “They are singing, ‘Don’t stop believing!’ Make it stop.” Another Detroiter wrote, “I have been to other cities for big conventions, typically [people] would blend in but I have never seen a group so colorful that it actually makes their presence known. I hope they enjoy themselves and when they are done that they go home and preach the Gospel of Detroit, Preach the good news that Detroit is Alive :).”

Well, the Gospel of Detroit isn’t exactly what we had planned would be the proclamation when young people returned home, but it certainly is part of the message. Too often we make snap judgments about people and places and situations. Even though no one has granted us the authority to play judge and jury, most of us make snap judgments all the time declaring our approval or disapproval of whatever and whomever we are observing or experiencing. The problem is that these snap judgments forgo careful consideration, or humility, and are typically merely the automatic expression of our personal fears, prejudices and pet peeves. They happen so fast that we often have trouble distinguishing between our judgments and reality, and sometimes we are not even aware of the fact that we are judging ourselves or others. These little judgments, whether we say them out loud or not, are often extremely damaging to those we judge.

In Mark’s Gospel, we read that Jesus didn’t denigrate the people who were being judged valueless by the political and religious authorities of the time. In fact, Jesus elevated them. Jesus stated that he did not come to minister to those who are well but to those who need healing (Mark 2:17).

Mennonite pastor and professor Ted Grimsrud reminds us that “Jesus plays the central role in the biblical story of God’s healing strategy. Jesus understood himself (and was confessed thus by early Christians) to fulfill the message of Torah. He makes the call to love neighbors, to bring healing into broken contexts, and to offer forgiveness and restoration in face of wrongdoing central.” http://peacetheology.net/restorative-justice/6-jesus-and-justice/

THAT is the gospel – the gospel of God’s healing strategy – I hope young people will proclaim (and practice) as they return home. During their Proclaim Story day at the Gathering, young people learned and proclaimed that Jesus is Good News! Holy Spirit, give us the faith to proclaim to ourselves and to the world that Jesus is Good News for those who judge and those who are judged. That Jesus is Good News for those who are deemed to have no value and those who assign value. Jesus is Good News for Detroit … and Chicago, and New York, and Des Moines, and Anchorage, and Juarez, and San Juan, and Beruit, and Aleppo, and Sarajevo, and …. add your own town/city. May it be so!

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