How can you help? Please pass on this important information!

To find free meals, visit the following websites or call the numbers listed below:

Washington, D.C.
www.dcsummerfun.dc.gov
311 or 202-737-4404

Maryland
www.mdsummermeals.org
1-877-731-9300

Virginia
1-800-448-USDA (1-800-448-8732)

To find out more about SFSP, visit the USDA’s website.

Please use this flyer to pass along the message. Help children in our community have a fun, hunger-free summer vacation.

My Pyramid Salsa is a basic mixture 2, 24 ounce jars of salsa, 1 can of corn (drained and rinsed), 1 can of diced peaches (drained and rinsed), 1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed), and 1 ½ cups of cheese. Eaten with whole grain crackers, the recipe covers FOUR food groups from My Pyramid including grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy, and beans.

This “recipe” is really not set in stone, rather, it is a Cooking By Looking recipe, which means, add what you like, and if it looks right to you, then it will taste good. We also encourage adding fresh seasonal ingredients such as cilantro, corn, or fruit when available.

My Pyramid Salsa has been offered in a variety of settings to many different audiences: board members, Brown Bag site leaders, Kids Cafe site leaders, ServSafe participants, and kids in our Kids Cook classes, to name a few. Across the board, the response to My Pyramid Salsa has been quite consistent: initial apprehension at first (the peaches are the source of apprehension), followed by two enthusiastic thumbs up after the tasting!

So how did the recipe go over at Whole Foods 5% Day? First, we had to replace the canned peaches with crushed pineapple, an ingredient readily available at Whole Foods stores. Nutrition Ed’s cooking demo volunteer helped assemble samples and the vote was unanimous: shoppers who sampled the recipe LOVED it!

Nutrition Education was thrilled to serve My Pyramid Salsa at Whole Foods 5% Day. This recipe represents nutrition education at CAFB: using basic ingredients in healthy and economical ways, adding fresh flare when and if you can, and eating a variety of foods from the Food Pyramid.

Cucumber Salad with Fresh Grated Coconut
Tamales World Tour Show; c. 1997, M.S. Milliken & S. Feniger

Serves 6

Kaila was our resident cucumber expert last year!

4 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced
3 tomatoes, cored, seeded and diced
2 carrots, peeled and grated
1 serrano chile, finely chopped
2/3 c. fresh grated coconut
1/2 c. finely chopped, lightly toasted peanuts
1/2 – 1 teaspoon sugar
1 – 2  tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Cilantro leaves for garnish

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Spoon onto individual plates.  Garnish with cilantro and serve.  This also tastes good with a dollop of strained yogurt.

We sent out 266 bags to 6 sites in Northern Virginia. NOVA Kids Cafe serves approximately 800 children weekly at 23 sites throughout the region. We appreciate this donation which will provide new snack items to the children and are thankful for such generous support from the community.

What’s the Issue?

• 43% of students enrolled in city public schools are overweight or obese — one of the highest rates in the nation
• The District Government spends more than $400 million annually to treat obesity
• Childhood obesity causes diabetes, hypertension, liver disease, sleep apnea, heart disease and is linked with higher rates of cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer, and can lead to an early death
• For children, each extra can or glass of sugar-sweetened beverage consumed per day increases their chance of becoming obese by 60 percent

What’s a Solution?
On May 4, 2010 the DC City Council unanimously passed a groundbreaking piece of legislation called the ‘DC Healthy Schools Act’  to do more to ensure the health and wellness of District school children. This legislation:

• Increases access to healthier food in schools – the act raises nutritional standards for school meals to include more whole grains, a wider variety of fruits and vegetables including those that are locally grown. It eliminates the reduced-price co-payment for lunch, and provides free breakfast in all schools with breakfast served in the classroom in schools with high poverty rates;
•  Raises the bar for physical, health, and nutrition education – sets a goal of 60 minutes of physical activity for students each day and triples the amount of physical and health education; 
• Establishes school-based environmental and gardening programs – recycling, energy-reduction, lead water and paint testing, and other environmental programs.

Given the current budgetary constraints, Councilmember Mary Cheh has proposed funding the Healthy Schools Act with a penny-per-ounce soda tax. Revenue from this tax would raise enough money to fund the Healthy Schools Act and will support:

• Food access initiatives,
• Community and faith-based anti-obesity programs, and
• Nutritional programs for seniors

Tax Myths
This tax is nothing new.  Currently, 33 states, including Maryland and Virginia, tax sugar-sweetened beverages. Recent polls have demonstrated that over 70 percent of the city’s population supports implementing the soda tax.  Beverages that would not be taxed include:

• Diet drinks and other non-caloric beverages would not be taxed
• Beverages containing milk, milk alternatives, and greater than 70 percent fruit or vegetable juice would not be taxed

How You Can Make A Difference

We need your help to convince DC’s Council to fund the Healthy Schools Act and other community initiatives.  

Stand for healthy children and healthy communities by contacting your Councilmember and signing our petition at www.supporthealthyschools.org.  Support healthy kids now!

Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Arlington opens its doors each month so that these families can benefit from food provided by The Emergency Food Assistance Program, or TEFAP, a program of the United States Department of Agriculture.  The supplemental food items are available for people who live in Virginia and qualify by receiving one of various forms of assistance or meeting an income guideline.  Individuals who do not qualify for the TEFAP food can still receive bread, produce and snack items provided by the food bank.

Each month the food bank serves close to 100 families through this distribution.  Many families return month after month to receive food for their families that helps to ease the strain on their monthly household budgets.  A group of five to ten committed volunteers helps out at the distribution, always serving clients with a smile and treating them with courtesy and respect. If you would like to be part in this great effort and volunteer please contact us. We’ll be glad to have some extra help.

Marian Peele, director of Agency Relations

 I’m growing 15 different types of herbs (all legal), cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini and lots of perennials!  So talk to JuJu or Susan, they’ll give you lots of information and inspiration for you to start your own garden.    

I had the good fortune to run into the Mayor a few weeks ago as he campaigned in my neighborhood.  When I asked Mayor Fenty if he would pass the Healthy Schools Act, he claimed enthusiastically that as a champion for the District’s schoolchildren he “couldn’t wait to sign the Healthy Schools Act.” Let’s hope he keeps his word and moves the legislation forward!

The next step is to be sure that this bill is funded.  The Council is holding a Healthy Schools Act Revenue Hearing on May 12^th – watch for the details here.  We need to be at the Wilson Building in full force testifying about the importance of fully funding this bill.  On May 26^th, the Budget Support Act will be finalized.  The BSA houses the Council’s amendments to the Mayor’s proposed budget, including revenues for legislation like the Healthy Schools Act.

But let’s go back to the long, involved process that led to this piece of legislation.  As an advocate for more healthy, local and sustainable food in D.C. schools, my role was to reach out to the real experts here in the District who know school food.  I talked with food service providers, producers and distributors, parents, teachers, kids, and other stakeholders along the chain from seed to cafeteria tray.  I reached out to school food policy experts in other states, and on the national scale.  I asked them all the same question – how can state-level policy help us get more healthy, local, sustainable foods into Washington, DC schools?

I had conversations, emails, meetings, and conference calls.  And I wasn’t the only one – advocates and activists across the District gathered ideas, comments and concerns from their constituent bases.  Councilmember Cheh’s staff pulled these ideas together in an inclusive, transparent and quite commendable way.

This is an important piece of legislation for many reasons.  Like I said, creating the bill was transparent, open and inclusive. Second, the bill acknowledges that child hunger, obesity and environmental degradation are complex issues, and it tackles those issues from a number of different angles.  And third, Councilmember Cheh is dedicated to funding this bill.  Whether through a “soda tax,” or other means, she assures us that her office will not rest until the bill is fully funded and implemented.

And we as advocates won’t rest until the issues of child hunger, obesity, and environmental degradation are at bay.  We have a long road ahead, but this bill is one small step in a long, slow journey.

Co-taught by JuJu Harris and Susan Topping, the class is part of a three part series covering the basics of site assessment and garden planning and construction.  Information is also dispensed regarding local resources for free and low cost seeds and construction materials, vegetable planting schedules, and contacts for community gardening grants.  Interest and energy were high as folks shared their stories regarding their recently germinated seeds and techniques they’d already applied from what they’d learned in last week’s class.  Several plan to begin a gardening program with children at their sites, while others looked forward to sharing the seedlings and harvest with members of their congregations. 

Those who attended the workshop at a co-worker’s urging, or who seemed initially unsure about their “green thumb” were some of the most effusive by the class’ end.   Carrying pots of newly sown swiss chard, chives, and mesclun mix, the participants left with smiles on their faces, ready to share their nascent enthusiasm for gardening with staff and clients at their sites.

1. Our dedicated staff.  A lot of people work for a paycheck.  These people work for a cause, and one they truly believe in.
2. Our board of directors.  I am often amazed at the time, effort and energy these folks spend on assisting with the work of the food bank, and the personal commitment they make to the success of our mission. 
3. Our mission, which is to feed those who suffer from hunger in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area by acquiring food and distributing it through our network of member agencies; and to educate, empower and enlighten the community about the issues of hunger and nutrition.
4. That our cause is hunger, a basic human need, not a want or a luxury.
5. Our regional approach to hunger, addressing not only DC but also MD and VA.
6. We support 700 feeding organizations, many of which couldn’t survive without the food bank.
7. That the food bank brings together fierce grocery competitors like Safeway, Giant, Harris Teeter, Shoppers and Whole Foods.  All these companies support the food bank and all are represented on our board. 
8. The food bank was founded on faith-based principles.  In fact, it’s based on the practice of gleaning, which is a Biblical concept.



9. That we do more than just provide food, but as our mission states, we educate, empower and enlighten the community on the issue of hunger.
10. Our volunteers.  Last year we had over 12,000 people volunteer at the food bank.
11. We focus not only on providing food, but nutritious food. 
12. Fresh produce.  Of the 25 million pounds of food we distributed last year, nearly 7 million pounds were fresh produce.
13. Much of the fresh produce is from the Claggett Farm in Maryland, where we work with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to bring sustainably grown fresh produce to underserved communities



14. Broad base of our support.  It comes from companies and individuals, many of whom are sending small amounts to us weekly or monthly.
15. Despite the dire economy, people have recognized the need and our contributions have actually increased as the economy has become worse.  It restores my faith in human generosity.
16. That we were named the best food bank operating on the east coast by Feeding America, the national organization for over 200 food banks.
17. We have a warehouse in Northern Virginia to better meet the needs of our agencies there. 
18. Blue Jeans Ball, our annual fundraising event.
19. The Bountiful Harvest Breakfast.
20. That our mission is to feed people, but our goal is that we will no longer be needed.
21. That three US Presidents visited the food bank – both Presidents Bush and Bill Clinton — AND one of our recent volunteers, Michelle Obama, promised to bring her husband next time she comes.



22. Hunger is a bi-partisan, non-partisan issue.  Republicans, Democrats and Independents agree.  Food banks are an indispensable part of the community and need our support.
23. That our Capital Campaign that has been, although frustrating at times, ultimately uplifting because of the support we’ve received.  Fingers crossed we may be breaking ground again, this time for real, in a couple of months.
24. The support of Don Graham, one of our Capital Campaign co-chairs, and the support of the Graham Foundation, as well as the Washington Post. 
25. The support of Bill Marriott, one of our Capital Campaign co-chairs, and the wonderful support of the Marriott Foundation and Marriott Hotels.
26. The support of Abe Pollin, one of our Capital Campaign co chairs, and a very active supporter of the food bank.  He loved us, and we loved him.  He will be missed.
27. Despite the limitations and challenges of our small, out-dated, one-dock warehouse and cramped office conditions, our staff still gets it done every day!
28. We fill a need in this city and region that could not be replaced if we did not exist.
29. That the food bank has survived for 30 years!
30. Last but not least, I love Lynn Brantley.