Fund-raise for the Food Bank!

Online social networking is fun and all, but wouldn't it be great if you could use it to really make a positive impact in your community? Well now you can! Whether you have five, fifty, or five hundred Facebook friends, you can become a Food Bank Fundraiser and make it easy for them to donate! Did you know that every dollar donated to North County Community Services Food Bank provides three complete meals to a children or adults that are unsure where there next meal is coming from? So $25 provides 75 meals, $50 provides 150 meals, $100 provides 300 meals... you get the point. So why not get started? Here is a step-by-step guide to get started! Oh, and don't forget to update your status to let all your friends know how easy you have made

it for them to donate!

1. Login to Facebook.

2. In the Search bar at the the top of the screen, type "Active Giving" and click the search icon.

3. Click on the "Active Giving" logo.

4. Under the picture on the left, click on the blue square that says "Go to Application".

5. Click the "Allow" box.

6. Click on "Settings" near the top of the application

7. Type in "www.active.com/donate/foodbankteam" and click "Submit"

8. Click on "Profile" in the upper right corner

9. Click the "+" button to add a new tab, and select the Active Giving application by clicking on the icon if you see it, or begin typing "active giving" to search available tabs and it should pop up.

All set! Now your friends can donate to North County's Food Bank directly from your profile.

Overwhelmed? If this seems all around to complicated, you can direct your friends to donating by going to http://www.active.com/donate/foodbankteam and clicking on "Share this page". Either way, please let all your Facebook friends know how easy it is to donate to North County's Food Bank!

Thanks for being a Food Bank fundraiser through Facebook!

~Abby Weglarz, NCCS Volunteer Coordinator~

Improving Health within North County’s Food Bank

I am Kelly Shaughnessy, a current intern at North County’s Food Bank. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Foods and Nutrition, I am presently fulfilling my Community Nutrition rotation for my dietetic internship - on my way to becoming a Registered Dietitian.  Over the past 20 years, North County’s Food Bank has grown from a small cooperative serving 5 agencies to a full-blown food banking system serving over 75 agency partners and their clients.  Food distribution through the program has increased a remarkable 1,275% since its inception, and today serves every community in Northern San Diego County.  Working with our agency partners in addition to direct food distribution sites, senior outreach initiatives and our other emergency food relief services, North County’s Food Bank now serves over 18,000 individuals each month.

During my time spent in this organization, I have discovered nutritional needs that should be addressed within the service population of North County’s Food Bank.  For instance, it is documented that low-income individuals are more overweight or obese than individuals with a median-income or above.  This occurrence may be due to many factors: limited or no knowledge of nutrition, limited access to healthy foods, and no safe locations for physical activity.

In light of this, the goal of North County’s Food Bank is two-fold: 1. Reduce food insecurity in the community by providing food to those who need it, and 2. Meeting this need by providing well-balanced and nutritional provisions of food. With this in mind, I have developed a program (described below) that has been recently implemented at North County’s Food Bank with the specific objective of reducing overweight and obesity rates and their related diseases within the community. The Assisting Low-Income Families with Nutritious Foods Program  will include interventions related to decreasing obesity rates in the community and increasing awareness on how to improve the health of low-income families’ diets.

Temporary Food Assistance boxes (TFA boxes) are food boxes filled with perishable and non-perishable food items, given to low-income families and individuals in need of food. With the implementation of this program, the TFA boxes were transformed into a more nutritiously balanced box of food for those who are eligible.  Before the program was put into place, a typical TFA box was too high in saturated fats and cholesterol due to too much meat and processed grains, and there were insufficient amounts of fresh produce. Now, there is more fresh produce, less processed grains and less meat (therefore a more healthful box).

Also, Spend Light, Eat Right brochures on how to eat healthy when on a budget are provided with each TFA box, along with SNAP (Food Stamp) brochures and resource lists for additional support. 

With overweight and obesity rates still on the rise, even in low-income populations, there is a dire need for help. It is hopeful, that as this Assisting Low-Income Families with Nutritious Foods Program continues, the health of the North San Diego County residents will improve.



Nutritional Analysis- Food Stamp Challenge

As many of you may know, Stan Miller, Executive Director of North County Community Services, recently participated in a Food Stamp Challenge and documented each of the meals he consumed (he input all recipes into nutritiondata.com in order to have them analyzed). After analyzing each day of Stan’s Food Stamp Challenge meals for nutritional content, it is evident that total calories were insufficient for a man of his physique. Or for any man for that matter.  He averaged a total of 1,430 calories per day; the lowest day was 540 calories and the highest 2,587 calories.  To put this in perspective, Stan would need a total of 2,280 calories per day just to maintain normal body functions if he were to be resting 24 hours a day.  He only met this calorie need one of the days.

He did very well in using limited fresh produce creatively throughout the week, but was missing several vital elements in his diet.  There were no fruits in his diet, unless you count tomatoes as fruits.  He was also very low on vegetables; the average adult should consume about 2 ½ cups of vegetables per day, and most days he did not come close.  Due to the lack of fruits, vegetables, oils and nuts in his diet, he was also low on key vitamins and minerals like Vitamin E, most of the B vitamins, and most minerals, according to the Daily Recommended Intakes.  Six out of seven days he did not meet the recommended amount of protein for an adult male of his physique which is about 90 grams.

Even though he was insufficient at consuming many vital components of a diet, he did do well in other areas.  He had low levels of cholesterol (less than 300mg per day), saturated fat (less than 10% of total fat), and sodium (less than 2300mg per day).

The fact that he - as with many others who rely on food stamps in their daily lives - had such a low intake of nutrients and total calories is due to the fact that Food Stamps only allow an individual $32 per week for food purchases.  According to the statistics from the nutrition analysis, such a stipend is clearly insufficient in order to provide a healthy, well-nourishing diet.  To underscore this point, four days of the week Stan consumed less than half of the calories he would need even if he were completely at rest during this time.

Hypothetically, though the objective of the Food Stamp Challenge was not to lose weight, (but rather, to experience and learn from the tough choices and difficult circumstances that are required of food stamp recipients) if Stan did happen to want to lose weight and get down to his ideal weight of 178 pounds, he could do so in a quick six months by following this “diet”.  Though, based on his daily needs to maintain normal body functions, this would not be considered a safe rate.

The only foods he had left at the end of the week were two tortillas, two tablespoons of cream cheese, a lime and three cloves of garlic - just barely enough ingredients for one meal.  He practically used all of the food he had purchased with his $32, and it was just not enough. (It is possible, however, to get the recommended calorie and protein intake for an adult if frozen pizzas are bought on-sale for $1 a piece.) The cost of healthy eating is truly unfortunate.

Kelly Shaughnessy

Nutritionist Intern

Support the Food Bank effortlessly!

North County Community Service's Food Bank is vital to the food security system of San Diego North County. Every month, we distribute food that helps feed 18,000 individuals in need throughout North County, in addition to the 20-25 individuals we serve directly each day with our Temporary Food Assistant (TFA) program.

We rely on a variety of sources of financial support to cover the cost of staff and operations. Fundraising, grants, donations, and agency fees all play an important role in keeping our doors open. Now, with a little bit of effort (okay, I stretched the truth in the title) you can support us every time you grocery shop! Please take a moment to help us "Take a Bite out of Hunger"!

If you are a Ralphs customer, you can sign up for their Community Contributions Program, and through August 31, 2011, they will automatically donate up to 4% of your purchases to North County's Food Bank!

To enroll, please go to www.ralphs.com, click on Community Contributions under the Services tab, and then near the bottom of the page under the section "Participant," click "enroll." To find North County's Food Bank, search by our number 80136. If you haven't signed up online yet, you will have to do so. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us!

Thank you for your Support!

Abby Weglarz

Food Stamp Challenge Day Seven

Last Day!

This morning I had my last two pieces of bread toasted with cream cheese (gave one to my wife), and my left over linguine for breakfast (it's not just for dinner when you're hungry).

Vegetable garden for NCCS
We left early to go a volunteer project to install raised vegetable beds at one of NCCS's child development sites. About 15 volunteers met up to install 12 raised beds and weed the garden plot that will become NCCS's largest food producing space to date.



Final 12 beds at our latest garden

 Midway through the work, we took a break. That's when I slipped again and had a donut with my water.

After three hours of hard work, I was famished and ended up going to lunch with my wife and her sister at a local resturant. The final slip. The challenge got the best of me.

Tonight I had the final bowl of the soup I prepared last night and took an inventory of what was left of my original purchase of food:
2 flour tortillas (may not last the night)
2 tablespoons of cream cheese
1 lime
3 cloves of garlic

I'll be making a key lime garlic cheese cake later with these ingredients - something I learned from Martha Stewart. (kidding)

Everything else was consumed.

Next week I will post the results of a nutrtitional analysis of what I consumed, and some final reflections on what I learned during the week.

Thanks for follwing my experiences.

Stan

Food Stamp Challenge Day Six

I forgot my lunch today...

I am not used to taking a lunch to work with me and with my wacked schedule this week, I walked out the door without my left over linguine this morning.

Surprisingly I made it through the day on just my my morning cup of coffee and a little bit of water.

About 3:30 this afternoon I left the office to visit the site of tomorrow's garden installation volunteer project with Abby Weglarz, our AmeriCorps VIP member. She commented that when you fast, you eventually lose your appetite. That was happening to me today.

I think about moms and dads that go without a meal so their children can have something to eat and it makes me sad. There are too many in San Diego County that do without when they are surrounded by abundance. Ours is not a supply issue but one of access.

This morning I had a meeting with Michael Lawson and Paul Hammans, my food bank team. Paul told me a story about a small agency that began coming to the food bank a few months back. They serve a very low income community with a weekly food distribution. The organizers told him that many of the items they take with them would never be purchased by the recipients if they were to enter the stores that donated them to the food bank - Salmon from Trader Joe's, cheeses from Albertson's, raspberries, blueberries, and other fruit that carry a premium price tag.

I am very grateful we have such generous grocers, produce wholesalers, farmers, and donors in North County. Without them many more would be skipping meals.

Chicken soup for my soul.
When I made it home tonight I began the final meal on my meal plan (chicken soup). Basically, I am using up all the leftovers from my original shopping trip. Here is what went in the pot:
I took my bunch of celery and cut off the bottom end, you know the end you usually cut off and throw away? There is a ton of flavor in the root end of the celery, as well as in the leafy green tops that usually make their way into the rubbish bin. I also cut off the tops and tips of the pound of carrots I purchased. This is another thing that most cooks do and simply toss or compost (gardners). Again, they are full of flavor. Finally, I added the final third of one of my onions with the roots still attached, and three garlic cloves I roasted on the grill the first night.

I went to my garden and picked a bunch of tarragon and thyme and rinsed and threw it all in to the stock pot along with two bay leaves from the pantry, covered it with water and let it boil then simmer for about an hour.

After the veggies have given up their flavor to the broth, I strained it and added chopped celery, carrot, onion, and cubes of my last remaining grilled chicken thigh. About 15 minutes later I added broken pieces of the rest of my linguine.

This soup (and most other multi-ingredient dishes) get better the second day when the flavors have more of a chance to get to know one another and "get happy" as Emeril would say.

I have just enough to last me through tomorrow - two slices of bread, a pot of soup, a few dolips of cream cheese, my left over linguine and tomato sauce, and enough coffee for half a pot.

I hope some of you can join me tomorrow between 9 and 12 at 4510 North River Road in Oceanside to help install the final 12 raised beds in our largest vegetable garden to date. My hope is that soon, we will be growing a great deal of food to benefit the hungry in North County.

Here is one final shot of tonight's dish:

Comfort in a bowl

Thanks for sharing my experience.

Till tomorrow,

Stan

Food Stamp Challenge Day Five

Day Five - back to a workday full of meetings and temptation.
The rules for the food stamp challenge said that I could not accept any food from anyone and had to use only those items that were a part of my original purchase. Meetings where snacks and food are present were a big temptation today, but I made it.

Basic needs before education
I began the day at an Educational Forum sponsored by our friends at San Diego United Way. I sat next to a Homeless Student Services representative for the Vista Unified School District who talked about how basic needs have to be met before students can even think about learning. There are thousands of children that live in conditions where they do not have enough to eat, or a roof over their heads.

Those that are able to attend school on a regular basis have an opportunity to get breakfast and a hot lunch. The trouble is there is often nothing to eat when they go home.

Sadly, children enrolled in state funded preschool programs that have had to close due to the state budget impasse will not have the breakfast, lunch, and snack that made up an important part of their day and helped families stretch their food budgets. Proper nutrition is critical to learning.

"You should be eating more"
Over lunch (left over roasted veggies and grilled chicken) I met with NCCS Nutritionist Intern Superstar Kelly Shaughnessy, who after reviewing my menus and diet over the past four days told me I needed to be eating more. While the meals I had prepared and consumed during the first few days of the challenge were very healthy, the calorie count was too low, even dangerous (her words) if continued indefinitely. Someone needs to hire Kelly as soon as she finishes her work in school - send me a comment if you would like her resume, buy me a cheeseburger and I'll send it to you (next week of course)- she's great! As I mentioned a few days ago, Kelly will help with an analysis of my consumption and post it when the challenge is over.

Comparing notes
Late in the afternoon, inspired by the news I was slowly wasting away, I went to my next meeting - a planning meeting with a group brought together by the San Diego Hunger Coalition. As I entered the room, I noticed John Criswell and Scody Hage (Executive Directors for San Diego Hunger Coalition and San Diego Food Bank and co-participants in the food stamp challenge). John was munching on a carrot, some seeds and dried fruits from his garden. There was an assortment of fruits and other snacks on the table at the head of the room and I moved past them commenting I wanted to sit as far away from the food as possible. John said, "these are allowed because they are from my garden".

I sat at the table across from Scody and the meeting facilitator asked how much weight I had lost since taking up the challenge. "Nine pounds", I replied. "Scody's lost seven", she said.

After the meeting we commented on some of the things we all had noticed during the challenge so far - how much food we really had in our pantries and how the exercise had heightened our awareness of food in a variety of ways.

Last meeting of the day - 5:30 - 7:30 at a Starbucks inside of an Albertsons grocery store. That's right, I sat and discussed a social venture idea with a good friend surrounded by food (I was good and had tap water).

End of a long day...
I got home about 8pm and in 20 minutes was inhaling a large plate of linguine with home made tomato sauce. That and a small lunch of leftovers was all I had today.

It's hard to get the story of the homeless students out of my head tonight. I also worry about the 500 children that until the first of the month were receiving preschool services in NCCS facilities (complete with snacks and meals). I'm going to bed tonight feeling very blessed and frustrated at the same time.

Sorry for such a long post.

Stan

Food Stamp Challenge Day Four

Day Four!

After I posted last night I spent a few hours at North County's Food Bank assisting employees that had been laid off due to the state budget impasse. The lack of a state budget is having far reaching impacts that are really hurting people. If you have a minute, pick up the phone and call your local state representative and ask them to get it done!

I'm starting to get used to the gnawing pain in my tummy at certain times of the day. My wife can tell you (as will my staff) that I tend to get cranky when I'm hungry. I got home about 8pm and I was really hungry (probably working around all that food). I made a quick pot of vegetable soup (carrot, onion, celery, potato) and used a couple slices of bread as croutons. That did the trick and I slept well.

Along with coffee this morning, I had a chicken club sandwich (toasted bread with cream cheese, chicken, tomato and basil). It was good and lasted until about 11am. I finished the vegetable soup and a straggler grilled chicken burrito that I was over joyed to find in the fridge tucked behind my stash.

About 4pm today I started day dreaming about dinner. I'm actually glad that I am furloughed a few days this week. Having food on the brain constantly is a big distraction and would definitely interfere with getting work done. We'll see how I do tomorrow and Friday when I go back to work. I suppose I could get used to this, thousands do it every day. My hope is that I will be able to help some of them grow a bit of their own food in the future.

I guess I was day dreaming today because I really like the meal I planned for this evening - baked fish, roasted veggies, salad greens and garlic bread.

Dinner!
Here is how it came together:
I rinsed and patted dry two Swai fillets (Swai is a fresh water catfish that lives in fast moving rivers in Vietnam - it does not have the musty taste often associated with catfish however).
In a roasting pan, I coated the fillets with a thin film of olive oil (I cheated with that - about a teaspoon). Next, I dusted them with lime zest from one of the limes I purchased. For a top coat, I cheated again and went to the pantry for some seasoned bread crumbs (I only have two slices of bread left and I need them for tomorrow).

For the roasted veggies, I diced my three remaining potatoes, half a white onion, and sliced three carrots. I threw in three cloves of garlic, tore up some rosemary leaves, added fresh thyme and tossed the whole thing in a bit more olive oil just to keep it from sticking to the clay roaster, then added a pinch of salt and ground pepper.

Into the oven with the veggies for one hour at 400 degrees.

When the veggies have about 20 minutes left, put the fish in along side and prepare your garlic bread as follows:
2 slices of wheat bread, 2 pats of butter -each cut into 5 pieces, thyme, minced garlic, minced parsley...and I cheated again - a few shavings of pecorino romano cheese (it was in the fridge and needed to be used).

When the timer says you have 2 minutes, turn on the top broiler in the oven - it will brown the bread crumbs and give the veggies a bit more color. Remove when the timer goes off and put in the bread.

Plate your fish, veggies and salad greens (arugula, green onion, tomatoes) while the bread cooks.

Put it all together and enjoy! (I had veggies left over for tomorrow's lunch)


Baked fish with roasted root vegetables, arugula salad and garlic bread



Food Stamp Challenge Day Three

I'm hungry.

I eating alright, but I miss lots of things that I didn't think I would - corn chips and salsa, guacamole, eggs, bacon, beverages other than water or coffee.

Today my wife and I finished off the grilled chicken burritos and I made two tomato and basil sandwiches. I also used some of the left over cream cheese and sliced and stuffed four small ripe (red) jalapenos from my garden. They were great. I set two slices of bread out on the counter to dry for bread crumbs for tomorrow nights fish. Tonight I will probably have another tomato sandwich and snack on some celery and carrots.

I attended a hearing this morning for work and sat with a co-worker before it started and discussed the food stamp challenge and how it was going. One thing led to another and we began discussing our family's traditions around food  (holidays, special occasions etc). We discussed roasted duck, turkey at thanksgiving, chicken and dumplings, all our favorite comfort foods...By the time we were called into our hearing, both our stomachs were growling.

No matter who you are, food plays a central role in our lives.

When you are hungry, little else matters.

Thousands of San Diego County residents live in what we call perpetual food insecurity. That is, they are unsure about how they will put food on the table and feed their families.

Food Stamps or (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - SNAP)
Thousands of San Diego County residents are eligible for the SNAP program, yet San Diego has one of the lowest (if not the lowest) utilization rates in the nation. It has been reported that because the application process is so cumbersome and it takes multiple trips to the program office to qualify, many just give up. I decided to test just how difficult the process was today.

First I visited the website of the San Diego Hunger Coalition - the guys that asked me to take the challenge in the first place. They have a great website with a lot of information about hunger and the benefits of food stamps (SNAP) in particular. There was a link on their site that took me to a prescreening page to help determine if I should apply for the SNAP program. It was easy enough to follow, and ask simple questions like how many are in your household, are all of you citizens, is anyone receiving SSI benefits, etc. Then it came to this question: Do you have assets of $2,000 or more (bank accounts, savings, etc). I answered yes and was told by the system I would not qualify.

Although I am currently furloughed and have not been paid since June due to the State Budget impasse (that's a whole other blog), I would not qualify because I have means to pay for food. I guess I would have to drain my savings completely before SNAP would be of assistance in my case. But I am glad it is available for the thousands in our communities that really need it.

Next I spoke briefly with a friend that works for San Diego 211, the social services referral network. The 211 system is very easy to use (simply dial 211 from any phone) and they have trained operators that will make referrals to all kinds of services you might need when you need a hand getting back on your feet. Recently they began prescreening individuals over the phone for the SNAP program. That is a huge improvement over the days when you had to make four of five trips to the program office only to be ultimately denied benefits.

Help for those that do not qualify.
For those that do not qualify for SNAP, area food banks can refer individuals to agencies in their areas that can help. These may include churches with congregant meals certain nights of the week, food box programs run by area nonprofits, and periodic food distributions administered directly by food banks in various neighborhoods (tonight and every Tuesday from 5:30-7:30 North County's Food Bank is open for any employee that has been laid off due to the state budget impasse - I'll be there tonight to help out).

North County Community Services Food Bank (North County's Food Bank) works with around 75 nonprofit agencies in Northern San Diego County that together provide food benefiting 18,000 individuals each month.

Want to help?
There are a number of ways that you can get involved in taking a bite out of hunger for those in need.

• You can start a food drive at your church, school or place of work and donate that food to your local food bank. If you are interested in starting a drive for North County's Food Bank, e-mail Michael Lawson at mlawson@sdnccs.org
• You can volunteer to help sort or distribute food at your local food bank, or to install gardens that will benefit families in North County. To volunteer in one of these ways e-mail Abby Weglarz at aweglarz@sdnccs.org (PS. there is a garden installation project this Saturday that I will be a part of and I hope to see you there)
• Finally, you can make a financial gift. Every dollar North County's Food Bank program raises provides enough food for three meals.You can help others stretch their food budgets by making a gift today. Follow this link to make your gift. www.active.com/donate/ncfoodbank10

Day Four Preview
Tomorrow I get to eat baked swai fillets with seasoned breadcrumbs, lime zest, roasted potatoes, carrots, onion and garlic, and garlic bread. YUM!

Till tomorrow.

Stan

Food Stamp Challenge Day Two

Greetings.

I survived today quite nicely.

You may recall my menu plan for the day was grilled chicken burritos. I prepared them as follows:

I took 1 can of black beans drained and rinsed, combined it with 2 cups of chopped grilled onion, peppers, and corn on the cob (kernels removed), and 2 cups of chopped grilled chicken.

I added 1/2 my can of chicken broth and reserved the rest for another use later in the week.

I warmed up the mixture on the stove top and heated my flour tortillas in a dry skillet.

I added one quarter cup filling to each tortilla along with one of the 20 equal portions of cream cheese (I was shooting for 20 burritos).

Lunch and dinner for today and tomorrow - 16 burritos!

I was surprised how well the cream cheese worked in the burritos. With all the grilled peppers they had quite a bit of heat - something I would normally tone down with sour cream. The cream cheese worked great and had the same effect. I ended up eating 4 for lunch  and my wife had a few as well. We will make them last through tomorrow.

Though I was disappointed I did not get the full 20 I had hoped for, the upside is I have 4 flour tortillas and 4 portions of cream cheese left. They will make for great snacks - warmed tortillas for breakfast and fresh jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese, maybe even a grilled chicken club on wheat with cream cheese with fresh tomatoes.

These recipes are Chico tested and approved. (Chico is my sou chef).

Food Stamp Challenge Day One

Today is the first day of my food stamp challenge. I will be spending the week trying to get by on $34 for my food budget.

My Plan
Yesterday I made a list and planned at least one good meal for each of the next seven days. At the end of my week, I will ask Kelly - NCCS Food Bank intern and nutritionist to review the meals I consumed and see just how healthy one can eat on $34 per week.

Here is my meal plan:
Day One - Grilled Chicken Thighs, salad greens, grilled peppers and onions
Day Two - Burritos - chicken, onion, corn, black beans, peppers, cheese
Day Three - Burritos - chicken, onion, corn, black beans, peppers, cheese
Day Four - Baked Swai (fish) with roasted potatoes, carrots and onions
Day Five - Dry pasta with homemade tomato sauce
Day Six - Chicken soup
Day Seven - Chicken soup with dry pasta

Here is my grocery receipt and my shopping list:

Bread

Flour tortillas

Some kind of cheese (cream cheese was the cheapest)

Corn on the cob

Onions

Potatoes

Carrots

Celery

Limes

Coffee

Black Beans

Dry pasta (linguine)

Boneless skinless chicken thighs

Swai fillets (fish)

Butter

The only item I did not purchase was butter. It was on sale two pounds for six dollars. I have some in the fridge and I will use one stick of unsalted butter at a cost of 75 cents.

When added to my total that brings me up to $33.85, just fifteen cents short of the $34 budget.

So What Was Day One Like?

I was surprised by how hungry I was when I woke up this morning. I think its because I've had food on the brain for the past few days while preparing for this experiment.

I began my day as always with a pot of coffee. I had to buy a brand I am not used to because I forgot my coffee coupon for my regular brand and it would have cost me an extra fifty cents and taken me over budget... The best part of waking up is cheap coffee in my cup.

About an hour after that first cup of Joe, I realized that I had not included any breakfast type foods on my list. I usually do not eat breakfast - just a couple of cups of coffee and then wait till lunch. This morning however, I was famished (probably because I ate too much the day before). I went to the kitchen and looked over the foods I had purchased for the week. It's amazing to me how much food my wife and I have lying around - left over biscuits from yesterdays breakfast, a box of triscuits, bananas, avocado, cereal, chips, etc.etc. But none of those foods were on my list and so are off limits to me this week.

 I had a tomato sandwich for breakfast. I was really glad I spotted the loaf of wheat bread on the manager's special rack for just 69 cents. Something tells me the bread may not last through the week.

Just so you know, my wife has been fighting a nasty cold for the past week and will not be joining me in my experiment so she can keep up her strength. She will be partaking of the food that I prepare, just not the other way around. I suspect that in most households, the weekly food stamp allotment for one is rarely really just for one.

The Garden

I'm not sure how I would get through this if I did not have a container garden on my patio. I was blessed to grow up on a farm. My dad taught me to grow things and my mom taught me to can, preserve, and prepare great foods that we grew ourselves.

Now some may say that using items from a garden is "cheating" because most receiving assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP - formerly food stamps) do not have gardens. I hope to change that. Unless you live in a cave, there is no reason you could not grow at least something in a container.

I live in a condo with a patio. In a 12x12 space I have 19 containers and since March of this year have grown: potatoes, onions, tarragon, parsley, cilantro, thyme, rosemary, lavender, three varieties of tomatoes, radishes, arugula, spinach, kale, squash, cucumbers, Anaheim chiles, salsa chiles, cayenne chiles, pasilla chiles, jalepenos and bell peppers, and garlic. I planted carrots and turnips in my potato bags but cut worms took them before I could.

Here is what the patio garden looks like today and what I harvested this morning to add to my menu for the week:

Cayenne and chile peppers

Tarragon and onions

Salad greens, basil, tomatoes

9.12.10 harvest for the table

Tonight's menu:
Grilled chicken thighs, roasted peppers, corn on the cob, arugula salad with fresh tomatoes and cayenne peppers.

I purchased a three pound bag of frozen boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I grilled it all tonight and will use the grilled meat for other meals during the week. I also grilled/smoked some tomatoes with garlic, tarragon, and thyme for use in a tomato sauce with the pasta I will eat later this week. I grilled one of the onions I purchased and both ears of corn.

Here is the grill as I began my cooking tonight:

Here is the finished product:

 Tomorrow - grilled chicken burritos...and more cheap coffee.

Food Stamp Challenge

Greetings.

I am Stan Miller, executive director for North County Community Services which operates North County's Food Bank. For the next seven days (September 12-18th), I will be taking the food stamp challenge - using $34 (the average food stamp allotment for an individual in California) to purchase all food and drink I consume for the week. I will be using items from my patio garden to supplement my food supply, but will not accept food or drink from any other sources this week.

I was asked to take the challenge by John Lucero Criswell, the executive director for the San Diego Hunger Coalition. Two others will be joining us in chronicling their experiences during the week as well - Jennifer Gilmore, executive director for Feeding America San Diego and Scody Hage, executive director for San Diego Food Bank.

I will be using this blog to let you know what I purchased and eat, how I prepare it, what challenges I encounter, and to share insights into the world of food insecurity with you. I look forward to the challenge and sharing what I learn with you.

The First Five...

For me, it is an everyday experience to be amazed, impressed, awed, or educated by something in San Diego North County. You see, I’m new here. Let me introduce myself. My name is Abby Weglarz, and I am the Volunteer Coordinator for North County Community Services. This is a year long AmeriCorps position, made possible through Volunteer San Diego’s Volunteer Infrastructure Program. I relocated to North San Diego County for this position, having spent most of my life in the Midwest. This brings me back to my original point: the wonder, amazement, and new knowledge I am encountering here.

I attribute this awe etc. as happening because Southern California is so entirely new to me. I have to stop when I see a plant in someone’s yard that I have only known to grow in pots inside. Not to mention the lizards, the ocean, the weather, the landscape. I am awed by the natural and manmade wonders; growing up on a dirt road, I never imagined my adult self navigating freeways on a daily basis. I am soaking up every tidbit of knowledge I can about the culture, climate, my job, the dangers and rewards of this place. But I’m in my fifth week here, and can notice my level of engagement with my surroundings normalizing to a regular adult level; I don’t have to stop and inspect every flower, because I saw some just like them last week.

I love the experience of newness. I can only imagine, and try to remember, what the newness of a human’s first five years is like, compared the newness I have experienced the past five weeks. In this time in a person’s development, there are no new flowers; flowers are new. I’m learning new nonprofit related acronyms and jargon, but for a child under five, language and the physical ability to form words is being developed. No wonder longing for the ability to see through a child’s eyes is such a cliché sentiment. No wonder so many adults get a kick out of seeing a child play, or raising children themselves.

It is also no wonder why this time is so important in a person’s development. Early childhood is when children learn the basis of their lifelong development. Adults enrolled in preschool as children are statistically save more money, have higher employment, are more likely to graduate from high school, and are less likely to be arrested. That is why it is so important to offer affordable preschool to families in need. Early childhood development is an essential part of creating successful adults, who can break the cycle of poverty. That is why North County Community Services offers quality childhood development to income qualified families living or working in North San Diego County.

What a relief to know that as exciting as my first five weeks in San Diego North County has been, it’s not as big of a deal as my first five years. I’m glad to have gotten that over with… in that “I wish I could go back” sort of way.

Abby Weglarz

Volunteer Coordinator

North County Community Services

Calling All Volunteers...

Looking for an opportunity to get your hands dirty while giving back to the community?

For over 40 years, North County Community Services has been providing vitally needed services to residents of San Diego North County, including the operation of nine Child Development Centers and North County Food Bank, established in 1989. In order to further our mission of supporting working families and feeding the hungry, we are created a community garden in Oceanside. Raised beds will soon be available for individuals and families to rent at a reasonable rate; additionally, beds will be designated to grow produce that supports NCCS preschools and Food Bank.

We are looking for volunteers to help install the last 12 raised beds and need your help! We also need volunteers to help weed the existing beds and pathways. Once the raised beds are installed, the site will be ready for an irrigation system, a fence, and finally we will be ready to plant! Whether you would like to rent a bed for yourself or your family, or volunteer to help with vegetable beds for North County Community Services, we can't wait to do some cool crop gardening with you soon!

Join us on Saturday, September 18th from 9am-noon at 4510 North River Road, Oceanside CA. To register, please e-mail your name and phone number to volunteer@sdnccs.org. You can also use this e-mail if you have questions, or call Abby at 760-471-5483.

Thanks for volunteering!

~Abby Weglarz~

~North County Community Services Volunteer Coordinator~

~AmeriCorps VIP~