Hunger Action Los Angeles | Headlines

South Central Farm Hosts Fundraiser Dinners

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:32:59 GMT

The South Central Farm is working to purchase the land they were evicted from four years ago. They are hosting a series of community fundraiser dinners to help raise awareness and spread the word, while eating fresh from the farm meals -- for only $10.

Please feel free to spread the word and plan to attend a dinner. Bring your family, friends and those who support the farm in their efforts not only to purchase the farm back, but, to support them as they continue to grow affordable, organic produce on 110 acres in Bakersfield and bring it back to Los Angeles for all communities to enjoy.

Constance DePaepe-Layton
310-439-4009
::VEGGIE-FRIENDLY DINNER!::All you can eat fundraiser!::Come support South Central Farmers!::

Friday, July 30th! 6:30pm
more info=> http://hungeractionla.org/news_content.htm#scf072210

Food Pantries Address Dual Issues of Hunger and Obesity in Kids

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:29:35 GMT

Children are going hungry in America. It's becoming irrefutable based on recent studies by government agencies and anti-hunger groups. These groups estimate that 3.5 million children under the age of five are "food insecure" at some point during a given year.
::
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/20/food-pantries-offering-nu_n_652713.html

Proyecto Jardin Sponsors Garden Blessing Event, July 25

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:29:04 GMT

From Proyecto Jardin in Boyle Heights: “This month, Proyecto Jardin offers you an opportunity to fulfill your personal and organizational aspirations to create a healthy and sustainable urban ecology in Los Angeles. Our Sol-a-Sol Garden Blessing welcomes the return of the sun’s energy to Proyecto Jardin via our refurbished electricity-producing solar system, which will be up and running after 9 months of deferred maintenance and disrepair. Thank you Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative for your generous support to repair our solar power system.”

New Policy Brief: Promoting Grocery Store Development in South LA

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:28:02 GMT

Ready access to healthy food is taken for granted in most neighborhoods. But that is not the case in South Los Angeles, where many residents must travel outside the community to find fresh and nutritious food or accept expired meat and brown bananas. Food Desert to Food Oasis: Promoting Grocery Store Development in South Los Angeles, released today by Community Health Councils and available at http://www.chc-inc.org/policy-briefs/ , examines policy and systems changes the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County can adopt to attract full-service grocery stores and improve access to affordable healthy foods in what is now a food desert.

Town Hall Meeting August 12: Zoning Out Unhealthy Food

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:26:20 GMT

Community Health Councils and Food Policy Roundtable are sponsoring a town hall to address the upcoming expiration of the South LA interim ordinance. Let’s stop fast food restaurants from taking over our community! Let your voice be heard!
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Thursday, August 12th, 2010

6:00-8:00 p.m.

Light Refreshments and Children’s Play Area Provided

Second African Methodist Episcopal Church

5500 South Hoover Street

Los Angeles, CA 90037
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Help to protect the health of our community by coming to the town hall meeting and sharing your concerns with elected officials and community leaders. Please contact Tanishia Wright at (323) 295-9372 or Tanishia@chc-inc.org to RSVP and if you have any questions.

California State Budget Actions: Fight To Prevent More Poverty in California

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:25:36 GMT

Please call your State legislators today - and all week-long - and remind them that millions of California seniors, working families, people with disabilities and children are counting on them to pass a timely budget that:

1) Creates and maintains jobs,

2) Protects our state’s vital health and human services, and

3) Includes targeted revenue solutions at the State and Federal levels, to get our economy, our State, and all families back on track!

A simple call takes just five minutes – and can have a HUGE impact on millions of California families threatened by devastating budget cuts!

Click here to find your Assemblymember and State Senator and call them today!

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html

Hunger Action LA Meeting July 30 Focuses On New Food Stamp Procedures, Farm Bill

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:24:16 GMT

Friday July 30, 10 am, 464 S. Lucas Ave. Los Angeles (90012)

Special guest speakers at the Hunger Action LA monthly meeting include Alexis Fernandez of California Food Policy Advocates who will walk us through new phone-in food stamp procedures that should make the program easier to access for thousands of Californians: and Patty Lovera of Food and Water Watch who will give us an overview of the Farm Bill—what it is, the timeline, and what the issues are. HALA will use this as a starting point to begin to engage the broader community in action . Call 213 388 8228 or frank@hungeractionla.org for more information or to RSVP.

LA City Council Passes Food Surplus Ordinance

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:23:33 GMT

The Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance today that strongly encourages city departments to donate extra food they might waste. The ordinance was proposed by Hunger Action Los Angeles in June 2009 and championed by Councilman Jose Huizar, who then crafted legislation for a citywide surplus food policy.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/07/21/la-city-council-approves-adoption-of-citywide-surp/
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/07/la-council-wants-city-departments-to-donate-more-surplus-food-to-the-needy.html

Vote on the ordinance for the city to create a citywide policy for all its departments to donate surplus food.

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:06:05 GMT

All are invited to attend. We are finally getting a vote on the ordinance for the city to create a citywide policy for all its departments to donate surplus food. 9:30 AM on the City Hall south steps.

* * * PRESS ADVISORY * * *
CONTACT: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Rick Coca, (213) 473-5807, (213) 200-9974 cell
rick.coca@lacity.org

City to Vote on New Surplus Food Policy with 1 in 10 Angelenos in Need
Council-member José Huizar will host a press conference on steps of City Hall prior to Wednesday’s Council Vote on CLA report that asks departments to create policy to donate surplus food amid news that nearly 1 million Angelenos receive emergency food assistance

LOS ANGELES (July 20, 2010) — Council-member José Huizar, hoping to create City policy that makes donating surplus food akin to City’s recycling program, will host a press conference with Andy Bales from the Union Rescue Mission and Frank Tamborello of Hunger Action L.A. before Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

The Council is slated to vote Wednesday on CLA’s report, which recommends supporting Huizar’s motion to create a citywide policy for departments – as well as elected offices – to give away surplus food whenever possible. An estimated 5 million tons of food is wasted each year in the state of California. Federal “Good Samaritan” and state law protects those who donate food in good faith from prosecution.

Part of Council-member Huizar’s plan includes the creation of a City database where 311 operators can now refer callers to nearest food bank/pantry for donation or service. Huizar is also hoping to create a campaign to reach out to businesses to boost participation in food surplus donation programs. With Los Angeles’ unemployment figures 3 points higher than the national average, 1 in 6 people receiving emergency food aid in Los Angeles have never received assistance in the past, creating rising need for food banks and pantries.

WHO: Council-member José Huizar
Andy Bales, Union Rescue Mission
Frank Tamborello, Hunger Action Los Angeles

WHAT: Vote on new City Surplus Food Policy

WHEN: Wednesday, July 21, 2010
9:30 a.m.

WHERE: City Hall South Steps (Main and First)
Los Angeles, 90012
# # #

It’s Time to STAND UP to the OIL LOBBY!

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 00:20:18 GMT

REBUILD CALIFORNIA…….. BIG OIL DO YOUR PART! Balance the State Budget…

With the governor threatening to cut programs for families and children, it’s time for the big oil companies to do their part to REBUILD CALIFORNIA. California is the only major oil-producing state that does not tax oil companies drilling here or off our coast. Both the Assembly and Senate budget proposals include a tax on Big Oil that will raise at least $1.2 billion, to help balance the budget without devastating cuts. While the rest of the California economy is suffering Occidental Petroleum’s profits nearly tripled in the first quarter of this year -- and big oil is spending millions to weaken California’s environmental laws. It’s Time to STAND UP to the OIL LOBBY!

Hunger Action L.A. Monthly Meeting July 30th 2010

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 03:39:05 GMT

NOTE THE NEW DAY---FRIDAY!!

Friday July 30, 2010
10 am to 12 Noon

::Location::
Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy --- Dolores Huerta Room
464 S. Lucas St. LA CA 90017

(Just west of downtown, on Lucas btw. 6th and 3rd st.: Free parking! )

::Agenda::
Phoning In The Food Stamp Interview

Alexis Fernandez of California Food Policy Advocates will help guide us through the new rules allowing phone interviews to replace office visits for the food stamp program. Help spread the word ---this new process will help thousands especially seniors and disabled obtain needed help!

::Getting a Head Start on Farm Bill 2012::
The Farm Bill governs not just anti-hunger programs, but our country’s agriculture in general. If we want to shift to healthier and more environmentally sound food growing practices, the Farm Bill is the place to make it heard! Patty Lovera, Policy Director of Food and Water Watch, will give us background but especially wants to hear from those working and living “on the ground” what are the big food issues in Los Angeles?

::Updates::
State Budget and actions around it: LA City Food Surplus Ordinance: Federal Child Nutrition Re-authorization: Much More!!
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Please RSVP: frank@hungeractionla.org or (213) 388 8228
SPONSORED BY HUNGER ACTION LOS ANGELES http://hungeractionla.org/mtngs.htm

Summer Meals Participation Down, But Program Widely Available in L.A.

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:24:17 GMT

Alexandra Zavis in LA Times: “Participation in federal summer meals programs for low-income children dropped 10% in California last year, despite an increase in eligibility due to the recession, according to a new report by California Food Policy Advocates. A total of 481,339 California children received free meals at schools, parks, recreation centers and other sites in July 2009, more than 60,000 fewer than the previous year, the report said. That is just 21% of the number who receive subsidized meals during the school year.”

Slavery Still Happening In U.S. Agriculture

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:23:07 GMT

The Department of Justice has announced the eighth prosecution for forced labor in Florida’s fields since 1997. This time Haitians are being exploited. According to the Gainesville Sun newspaper, “"... Federal prosecutors allege in the indictment that once the Haitian workers arrived in Miami they were denied access to their own passports and visas, effectively preventing them from going anywhere other than the farms where they were to work.

Debating Food Stamp Policy for Seniors and Disabled

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:22:45 GMT

The LA Times did a piece about the quandary of many of California’s low income seniors and disabled, who can’t get food stamps in spite of being poor.

Wall Street Journal Reports That Boosting Soda Prices 35% Cuts Consumption

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:22:21 GMT

From their health blog: “a study show(s) that a 35% — or $0.45 — increase in the price of non-diet sodas cut unit sales by 26%, at least in one Boston hospital cafeteria.

Proyecto Jardin Sponsors Garden Blessing Event, July 25

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:21:55 GMT

We Need More Government Investment for Local Food to Succeed

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:20:53 GMT

With the next Farm Bill coming up in 2012, advocates should begin discussions about creating strong unified positions on the direction of America’s food system. In the last farm bill, specialty crops (fruits and vegetables) and organic farming (farming that doesn’t use chemical fertilizers or pesticides) got more support than before, but woefully inadequate to make a significant difference in the ratio of organic agriculture to industrial agriculture.

Federal Government May Be Ready For Crackdown on Junk Food Marketing

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:20:15 GMT

For the past five years, the FTC has kept a watchful eye on the many sugary and highly processed products the food industry markets to kids. Now the agency appears poised to crack down — and the food industry could face an ugly scenario should the proposed rules survive in final form.

South LA Fast Food Restrictions Expiring: Constituents Should Call their City Officials

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:19:54 GMT

From Community Health Councils: “The Fast Food Interim Control Ordinance (ICO) is set to expire September 14, 2010 and is ineligible for an extension. Currently, there are no alternative regulations in place to control fast food permits which could lead to an influx of fast food development after the ICO expires. Let’s continue to protect the health of our communities by joining CHC in our phone calling campaign.

Hunger Action L.A. July 4th News Update

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 08:35:34 GMT

news about hunger, nutrition, food prices and a host of other issues, focusing on things you can become involved in!

Robin Hood, the G20, and What That Has To Do With Social Security

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 08:33:36 GMT

The G20 group that just met in Toronto has plenty to do with world hunger, with hunger in the United States and probably with your retirement. The decisions they recently made will no doubt cause more hunger here and may affect your Social Security benefits in the future.

Lawmakers Struggling To Extend Help To the Jobless

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 08:33:01 GMT

More than 1.3 million laid-off workers won't get their unemployment benefits reinstated before Congress goes on a weeklong vacation for Independence Day.

An additional 200,000 people who have been without a job for at least six months stand to lose their benefits each week, unless Congress acts.

Summer Food Program 2010

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 08:32:09 GMT

Now that school’s out, the California Dept. of Education has updated their summer food website, which provides parents and referral agencies with a list of locations where children may receive free nutritious meals during school vacation and off-track periods. It’s an interactive map: just click on your county. Please call site contact to confirm participation. The data is current as of June 28, 2010;

Could you live on a $20 food stamp budget for a week?

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 08:31:27 GMT

In an effort to help raise hunger awareness in the face of a state budget crisis, Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada is taking on the "Food Stamp Challenge" for the 3rd year in a row - her second as a state legislator.

The Challenge asks participants to live for one week on the nation's average weekly food stamp benefit of $4 per day or $1.33 per meal. Yamada will also blog about her experiences while taking the Challenge.

Health Advocacy Organization Pushes Back Against Fast Food Marketing To Kids

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 08:30:38 GMT

A nutrition watchdog group will sue McDonald’s if the fast-food chain continues to use toys to promote Happy Meals. According to the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, using toys to lure small children into that chain is unfair and deceptive marketing and is illegal under various state consumer protection laws. CSPI today served McDonald’s a notice of its intent to sue, fulfilling a legal requirement of several states in which CSPI might bring the lawsuit.

FDA Has Its Hands Full: Food Safety Issues

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 08:29:48 GMT

“The Food and Drug Administration is seriously considering whether to approve the first genetically engineered animal that people would eat — salmon that can grow at twice the normal rate.” We’ve been eating genetically modified corn, soy and other plant based products for years now, many of them not labeled. This salmon would be the first animal product on the market that’s genetically engineered.

You Can Submit Comments on Federal Dietary Guidelines

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 08:29:05 GMT

Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee's ReportOn June 15, 2010, a Federal Register notice (PDF / TXT) announced the release of the Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010, the solicitation of written comments on the Report, and an invitation for oral testimony at a public meeting.

The Community’s Doing Something About Food Stamp Underenrollment

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 08:27:42 GMT

On Friday, June 25th, USDA’s Deputy Administrator for Food Stamps, Lisa Pino, assembled a fabulous panel of top administrators from the state (CDSS Director John Wagner), county (DPSS director Phillip Browning) and federal government (USDA regional administrator Allen Ng), as well as UFW co-founder Delores Huerta, to hear comments about ways to strengthen participation in nutrition safety net programs. The California Endowment hosted the forum at their headquarters in downtown LA. $90 billion in federal funds are available across the nation for individuals and households to improve nutrition, through school meals and food stamps. Underuse of food stamps in LA county alone might be worth $1.5 billion.

a timely editorial

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 22:29:54 GMT

Hi all: The LA Times printed this timely editorial yesterday urging the Governor and Legislature not to nullify the $30 million they’re getting for food stamp improvements. How are they “nullifying” it? They’re planning on putting that money into the state’s current food stamp funds and then removing an equal amount from the food stamp money they already have and putting that into the General Fund.

In other words, they’re shooting the whole idea in the foot. With California’s current hunger crisis we need this $30 million and the odds are it won’t ever come again.

Please read the editorial below and more importantly, fax the attached PDF version to the legislators on the Budget Conference Committee. Their numbers are at the bottom of this message.

Thanks to California Food Policy Advocates

Calls Needed Today to Tell Senate: Don't Cut SNAP/Food Stamps

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:50:15 GMT

Last night, seeking ways to pay for the pending American Jobs, Closing Tax Loopholes and Preventing Outsourcing Act (H.R. 4213) ("extenders bill"), Senate leaders included a proposal to cut billions from future SNAP benefits. Message/Action: Call your Senators today and tell them to oppose the SNAP offset in the American Jobs, Closing Tax Loopholes and Preventing Outsourcing Act (H.R. 4213), and to fix the package immediately so needed Medicaid and Unemployment benefits can pass without harming SNAP/Food Stamp beneficiaries.