And “three-quarters of Americans support a nationwide program to double the value of SNAP benefits (formerly food stamps) when used at farmers markets,” aka Double Up Food Bucks in Michigan.

That kind of overwhelming support sounds like a mandate for making healthy food a human right. But even in relatively wealthy Washtenaw County, one out of every seven adult residents and one out of every six children doesn’t have enough to eat, let alone food that supports robust health.

In fact, a 2008 study by Food Gatherers demonstrated that, for people using emergency food assistance, “less than 13 percent of the people served by our emergency food network ate the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables.” Chronic diet-related disease, like obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes can result and exacerbate an already difficult situation.

Food Gatherers, Washtenaw County’s food bank and food rescue organization “exists to alleviate hunger and eliminate its causes.” They deliver more than 5 million pounds of food a year to people in need, and, over the past few years, they have embarked on innovative strategies to do more than just fill hungry bellies. They are working on new distribution approaches, growing initiatives and purchase agreements with local farms to provide the most nutritionally valuable food to our most vulnerable populations.

Food Gatherers Executive Director Eileen Spring says, “Poverty is really the root cause of hunger, and there are multiple reasons for that.” For the past 20 years, Food Gatherers has consistently and strategically partnered and innovated to find ways to beat both hunger and poverty. Their latest initiatives to attack the root causes of hunger are focused on providing the most nutritionally valuable food — produce and protein — in order to support health and give people in need more than just one more day of survival.

Food Gatherers background

In Portland, you’re supposed to put a bird on it; in Ann Arbor, it’s probably got a carrot on it. And when there’s a carrot, there’s likely a connection to Food Gatherers. Their trucks, hats, posters, building entrance — even baby onesies — are emblazoned with carrots.

They say, “Carrots are Food Gatherers’ unofficial logo. Can you think of an item of food that lasts longer, is as nutritious, or is anywhere near as cute as a carrot?” Carrots are handsome, long-lasting and deep-rooted. But I suspect that Food Gatherers’ beloved carrot emblem has just as much to do with (Zingerman’s founder) Paul Saginaw dressing up in a carrot suit to recruit executive director Eileen Spring almost 20 years ago than with any of those other attributes.

In the 1980s, Zingerman’s founded (and has since been a major supporter of) Food Gatherers. Led for the past 18 years by Eileen Spring, Food Gatherers’ has grown into a food rescue and innovation powerhouse, whose more than 20 employees and 6,000 volunteers work to procure and then distribute food either for free or very inexpensively to more than 150 nonprofit partners in Washtenaw County. Starting with 2,400 pounds of food a year in 1988, to more than 5 million pounds a year now, Food Gatherers helps provide meals to nearly 45,000 hungry people each year.

Hunger in Washtenaw County

According to a 2010 Hunger in America report, among Michigan’s 1.3 million people facing hunger 75 percent have incomes below the federal poverty level and 15 percent are homeless, although 34 percent of households include at least one employed adult. And 38 percent of the people in households facing hunger are children under 18 years old.

For many, circumstances in the economic downturn have become dire. Rather than using food assistance on just an emergency basis, Spring observes that “people are accessing pantries as part of basic, ongoing survival.” And over the past several years, Food Gatherers and their partners have seen staggering increases in the number of people needing food assistance.

Seeing their mission as larger than just providing boxes of shelf-stable food out of their warehouse, they also run a job training program for at-risk youth and a community kitchen. And recognizing that climbing out of poverty is all but impossible without health, they have embarked on a multi-faceted approach to change the make-up of the food they deliver so that it now includes nearly 2 million pounds of fresh produce.

Food Gatherers Food Security Plan – increase fresh produce and protein

Commodity crop subsidies for wheat but not vegetables mean that “often people can afford to buy bread, but not produce.”

Spring says, “It makes a difference for Food Gatherers if what we’re doing is a daily part of people’s diet. It doesn’t mean we rescue every bagel… If we could figure out a way to make bagels into structures, we could probably end homelessness. We could triple the poundage but still not be addressing opportunities to make sure people get not just food, but food that is nutritionally valuable to them.”

So in 2009 Food Gatherers began work on a new Food Security Plan and a main strategic priority to increase the quantity and quality of nutrient dense food available for people in need.

Describing the 2009 Food Gatherers’ Food Security Plan Spring says “Our goal is for 50 percent of our food annually to be produce (fruits and vegetables) or protein (including dairy).”

A month before their fiscal year closes in 2012, Food Gatherers has reached its goal of 1,900,000 pounds of produce and protein, which turns out to be a “72 percent increase in pounds of produce and 86 percent increase in pounds of protein distributed since the Food Security Plan was put in action.”

Spring says their focus on increasing the amount of produce and protein “is more expensive, harder, and the traditional network doesn’t have the capacity for refrigeration that’s needed. Our new priorities mean we have to change our processes strategically, invest in the capacity for distribution and raise more funds to purchase or procure more nutritionally valuable food differently.”

Making additional tons of fresh produce available has meant a number of changes in Food Gatherers’ procurement and distribution processes, which now include several “growing initiatives” and pilot projects for produce-only distributions.

Growing initiatives

In 2009 Food Gatherers plowed its first “Gathering Farm” field, using a little less than an acre of its own property to grow mostly sturdy, long-keeping vegetables. Between 2009-2011 the Gathering Farm produced nearly 58,000 pounds of food. This year, farmer Dan Calderone will grow kale, collards, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, beets, melons, leeks, peppers, squash and tomatoes.

For the past several years, Food Gatherers has been the recipient of beautiful, just-picked produce grown by inmates in the horticulture program at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti. Although the prisoners themselves don’t have access to fresh produce in their own meals, last year, the women in the program donated more than 12,000 pounds of freshest vegetables imaginable from their half-acre of raised bed gardens.

The Faith and Food initiative, a “planned growing” partnership with the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice also launched four years ago. The project now counts 30 congregations tending gardens growing what Food Gatherers needs. Between 2009-2011 those 30 gardens produced about 25,000 pounds of food.

In addition, Edible Avalon gardens for Avalon Housing residents, funded in part by Food Gatherers, have grown nearly 6,500 pounds of food. And any member of the community can participate in the Plant-a-Row project to donate fresh vegetables from the garden.

Eileen Spring notes that “moving the community from random acts of gardening to more thoughtful and intentional food donation” greatly helps in both their planning and resource allocation.

Planned purchasing and procurement – Supporting local farms

In addition to their growing initiatives to increase the amount of produce, Food Gatherers also works to contract with and purchase directly from local farms.

Among the newest of these planned procurement projects, Food Gatherers is working with the Tilian Farm Development Center, which currently houses six new farmers starting up their own businesses.

Eileen Spring says, “We have budgeted approximately $3,000 to purchase veggies from Tilian, most likely via their hoop houses later in the fall. We do as much local purchasing as we can, because Food Gatherers understands that a vibrant local food system is critical to our community’s well-being. Since Tilian is a start-up and is a nonprofit committed to helping expand local farms, we felt it was both a good short term and long term investment to support their program. And of course, they are just down the road from us.”

Participating in the Michigan Farm to Food Bank project, Food Gatherers’ contracts with Ruhlig’s Farm in Carleton to grow large-scale quantities of things like carrots, of course, as well as potatoes, collards and squash. The program uses private funding via the the Food Bank Council of Michigan to match with Food Gatherers’ dollars to pay the farmer an agreed upon price per pound. Eileen Spring notes that Food Gatherers has had difficulty finding farms close by with the scale and diversity to be able to ramp up the supply of produce they need.

New distribution models – Food Gatherers’ produce distribution

To get more produce to the people, Food Gatherers is changing some of their distribution strategies. In addition to their traditional drop-offs at partner agencies, they are piloting what they call “choice model” produce distribution. Coming with staff and a truck loaded with mountains of produce, Food Gatherers sets up what amounts to a small grocery at one of their partner locations, for example at Catholic Social Services. People come and fill their own grocery bags with what they want, rather than being given a box of items that they may or may not use.

Once a week from May through October, the Food Gatherers truck rolls into Catholic Social Services around 2:30 p.m. Outside on a sunny day, people have been lining up since two o’clock for a food distribution that won’t start until 4 p.m.. When I arrive at 3:30, Food Gatherers staff member and dietician Nicole Miller is handing out numbers as people arrive to take their place and receive grocery bags to fill. Nearly all the food is fruits and vegetables, and all of it is free.

Food Gatherers’ produce distribution at Catholic Social Services

Photo | Kim Bayer

Miller says the truck is always loaded with the “Hard Seven,” food bank speak for a list of sturdy, desired items always in stock: carrots, apples, potatoes, cabbages, onions, sweet potatoes and oranges. Much of the food is donated by area grocery stores, such as Plum Market, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Kroger and Busch’s. Along with huge quantities of the “Hard Seven,” today there also things like strawberries or raspberries, tomatoes, mushrooms, greens and plenty of bread.

Seven or eight family groups at a time are invited to come in to choose what they would like. One woman I talk to, Mary, says that although she is on disability and her husband works, they don’t have enough income to cover their expenses. She says what’s happening in the economy reminds her of the Great Depression “where people in the middle class don’t make enough to afford to eat without a food bank.”

She says she felt “shamed to begin with, but here they treat you with dignity, love and kindness.” She says, “Nicole and the people here are awesome. I feel blessed to have found a place like this.”

Nicole Miller says they have been seeing increased numbers of people coming to the produce distributions every week. At Catholic Social Services, they are up to more than 100 households per week at the regular distribution, and every week there have been five to 10 additional households.

While I am there I see people in every age range and from many different backgrounds represented, from toddlers with their mothers to elderly people in wheelchairs. They are people I see passing by every day. And it reminds me of something else Mary said: “I am your neighbor.”

What to do?

Most of us do not directly confront the pain of hunger and poverty. But it says something about who we are as a society that our culture with so much allows so many to live with so little. As Americans, we have the right to bear arms but not the right to adequate, healthy food. When I ask Eileen Spring what motivates people to take action in solving an overwhelmingly complex issue like hunger she replies:

“I’m thinking that what we need to do is find the things that people doing food system work can all agree on…I think that in places like the charitable food system, stakeholders such as economic development, farmers, and institutions that serve people — there are a couple things that all of those folks could hone in on. Like:

- Food as a basic human right.

- Acknowledging there is a deep connection between food and health. The charitable food system has been a little slow to take action on that, in school lunch, and other government programs, but we’re catching up to that realization finally.

- One of the ironies I see is that often the people who produce food not are not able to afford to buy it. For example, the employees of some of the largest food chain stores are often likely to be people going to food pantries, and their kids to free and reduced lunch. How we grow, produce, and sell food matter for the environment and the economic health of our community.”

With 93 percent of us saying “it’s important that all Americans have equal access to fresh fruits and vegetables,” that seems like a pretty good start on establishing common ground. Even in a society as polarized as ours seems at this moment, there are things on which we can all agree and out of which to implement change toward a society where people do not want for food.

Healthy food for all as a basic human right, connecting food and health and ensuring that people are paid a living wage all seem like simple common sense.

Until then

Until we as a society develop the moral outrage that leads to the political will to elect representatives who will institute those changes, there are many ways to contribute food, time and money to Food Gatherers:

For example, their largest annual fundraiser is coming up: Grillin’ is “a picnic with a purpose!” Sunday, June 10, 3-8 p.m. at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds. Delicious food donated by a huge roster of local chefs, gigantic silent auction, and great live music — fun for the whole family.

Purchase tickets online or call: 734-761-2796. Additional ticket sale locations: Zingerman’s Deli, Bakehouse or Roadhouse; Saline Picture Frame Co. and Dexter Picture Frame Co.

Food Gatherers accepts drop off donations of any fresh garden produce at the Food Gatherers’ warehouse Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. From July through September, there are extended drop off hours on Wednesday until 7 p.m.

There is also a drop-off site at the English Gardens Store – 155 N. Maple Road, Ann Arbor Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

Items most needed include: collards, cauliflower, cabbage, cantaloupe, broccoli, carrots, potatoes, Roma tomatoes, peppers, winter squash.

They say: “Donations of any freshly picked fruits, vegetables and herbs are welcome. The fresher the better!”

Kim Bayer is a freelance writer and culinary researcher. Email her at kimbayer at gmail dot com.

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There are two types of people in the world: those who answer email on the toilet and those who don’t. Multi-tasking does come with risks — it only takes one slip to learn that holding the phone above the water is a bad idea — but the payoffs are big.

Some call ADHD a disorder; I call it a gift.

A new client recently emailed our wellness director, Kori Propst, asking why she had to track her food. Being an exercise physiologist and a Ph.D. candidate in health psychology, Kori isn’t just smart; she can be downright stealthy. She answered the question by starting in the brain and ended at the drive-thru:

1. Let’s look at the process of meeting your goals. You want to lose weight, be fit and feel great. You want it to be permanent, but 95 percent of people gain all weight lost within a year. Lesson one: Define your goals.

2. Studies show that to lose weight with permanent success, you have to track your food. It won’t happen without it. Lesson two: Be objective.

3. It will get easier; you’ll learn what is in the food you like and you’ll never be caught off guard. It’s like learning how to use the remote control for your TV. Lesson three: Knowledge is power … and success.

4. It doesn’t have to be difficult. It can be as simple as a note card in your pocket and a cheat sheet. Or, there are thousands of food-count resources online, including food-tracking apps for your phone. Lesson four: Make it work for you — use technology or simplicity.

5. You can eat the same foods as often as you like, but be wary of feeling restricted. That is a telltale sign of future failure. You have to be able to branch out and eat foods you like or you’re dead in the water. That’s what we’re here to help you with, but it takes knowing where you are to do that. Lesson five: Balance structure and flexibility. The plan has to be sound, but it has to allow for variety and foods you like.

You’ve probably heard the cliché that if you want something done, give it to the busiest person. A doer doesn’t waste time thinking about all the reasons something can’t be done, they’re too busy doing it.

Successfully losing and maintaining your weight is no different; there’s a little upfront work and then you’re home free. You just have to remember which hand has the toilet paper and which has the Droid.

Evansville resident Joe Klemczewski is the founder of The Diet Doc Permanent Weight-Loss Center. He explains long-term weight loss strategies in his upcoming book, “Metabolic Inferno.”

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Psychologists will work with retired miners in north Queensland to attempt to change the bad habits and health problems associated with a lifetime in the mines.

The Wesley Research Institute is undertaking a three-year research program which aims to improve the wellbeing of retired and injured Xstrata Copper miners in Mt Isa.

The mining giant is funding the $900,000 research.

Wesley Research Institute director Julie Campbell says miners often retire with bad habits and a low quality of life.

“It’s not just poor muscular strength and hearing, it’s also things like increased obesity,” she told AAP.

“Workers in these sorts of industries often have bad nutrition because they work funny hours and a lot of them are fly in, fly out, so they live on a diet of junk food.

“While they’re working they’re fairly physically active, but when they retire they still have the bad nutritional habits.”

She says miners who are injured on the job often have to deal with “invisible injuries” such as depression and reduced self esteem.

“Workers in these situations often have to cope with very little emotional support,” she said.

Researchers plan to conduct a base audit of miners to canvas their problems before crafting interventions.

Counselling, rehabilitation, case management and advice on exercise and nutrition are among the initiatives planned.

It is estimated about 50 retired and between 50 and 100 injured miners will take part in the program.

Xstrata Copper North Queensland chief operating officer Steve de Kruijff says the health and wellbeing of the workforce is of utmost importance to the company.

“We hope that these projects can help to improve the capabilities of mine workers to successfully transition through sometimes difficult periods of change,” he said in a statement.

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Jared Bears, left, and wife Jenni can’t see each other, but they have learned to cook together. Photo by Emily Etheredge.

Cooking up a life together

May 27, 2012 – By Emily Etheredge, Staff Writer

Blind couple finds love and unity in the kitchen

Jared Bears has never seen his wife.

But he thinks she is pretty, even beautiful, and amazing.

He gushes over her every move and knows without question that she is one of the best things that has ever happened to him.

Jenni Bears says her husband is her best friend and laughs at his jokes as if she is his biggest fan.

Both Jenni and Jared are legally blind and have never seen one another. They married Aug. 30, 2008.

In their Riverton apartment that is modestly decorated but homey and welcoming, the two bantered with an inspiring admiration and love of one another.

When asked what Jared loves about Jenni, he had a quick answer.

“I love her because she is always around when no one else is.”

They share a zest for life as they reside at the Rendezvous Apartments, an apartment complex in Riverton for anyone disabled or 62 years and older.

Jared, 29, and Jenni, 26, met after moving into the same apartment complex and quickly fell in love after meeting one another.

“She lived two apartments down. Once I met her, I thought she was beautiful, and we hit it right off,” Jared said.

Jenni has partial vision in one eye and if she holds things directly up to her face, but everything looks blurry. On a cloudy day struggles seeing anything at all.

“Lighting is really important to me,” Jenni said. “If it is cloudy outside, I can’t read anything. I really can only see some things if the sunlight is a certain way.”

The two understand they have limitations, such as not being able to travel everywhere they would like to or easily watch a movie together, but they do not let blindness hinder them.

They watch movies together, with Jenni looking at the television screen from close up and describing what she can see to Jared.

“If the movie has a lot of audio I don’t have to describe a whole lot to him,” Jenni said. “Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of movies that are solely audio, so I try to describe everything that is happening as best as I can.”

Setting goals

After eating pre-packaged, processed foods when they first got married, Jenni wanted to better the couple’s eating habits due to recognizing they had a long life ahead of them.

She wanted to spend as much time as possible with her husband, so she set a goal to learn how to cook. Now the two share an extraordinary bond from learning how to cook with one another everyday.

“Jared cuts up all the onions and peppers for me because he doesn’t want me to accidentally get hurt,” Jenni said.

One of their favorite meals to cook together is tacos although it is a tossup for Jared on whether he enjoys making beef stew just as well.

The University of Wyoming Extension’s Cent$sible Nutrition Program helps families improve nutrition and food safety practices for complete, safe nutrition, plan and shop for adequate food, and increase physical activity for well-being. The program allows the Bears to try different recipes and enjoy spending time together over home-cooked meals.

Cent$ible Nutrition program coordinator Marilu Vaughn helps the the couple in selecting a recipe and preparing the food on a weekly basis. Vaughn helps them learn different methods to creating enjoyable cuisine.

“Part of the Cent$ible Nutrition program is aimed at teaching people about nutrition, and both Jared and Jenni have been so enthusiastic about learning to cook,” Vaughn said.

“They have set a goal for themselves and have worked really hard to ensure that they are not only eating healthy but learning something they thought they might never be able to learn.”

Kitchen techniques

Jenni relies solely on details of temperature settings and cooking time that must be included in a recipe for her to try.

“I rely a lot on how long something takes to cook and know how to set my timer for a specific amount of time, so that really helps me,” Jenni said.

Jenni has mastered scrambled eggs. Knowing the temperature setting for the skillet that has Braille temperature gauge, Jenni knows an egg cooks for three minutes at the right temperature.

“I crack the egg, set my timer for three minutes, walk away from the stove, and know when the timer goes off that the egg is finished,” Jenni said.

Many of the utensils in the Bears’ kitchen have Braille markings to help with the cooking process.

Jenni orders from a company in New York City, but there is not a lot of kitchen equipment made for the blind.

“I rely a lot on my crock pot, which is wonderful because I know I can set the timer for a certain period of time and it will cook in the crock pot,” Jenni said.

When Jenni set the goal to cook, she transcribed many of the Cent$ible Nutrition recipes by typing them into a Braille machine. Although it took her a long time to type out all the recipes, she was determined. Now she approaches a new recipe with confidence. (Cent$ible Nutrition will release a Braille cookbook this summer.)

Although the two enjoy cooking together Jenni says Jared’s tastes are particular, making it somewhat harder to find things he will like to eat.

“Yeah, he is a bit picky, so getting him to eat three meals a day is a bit tricky,” Jenni said. “He does like meat, though. He is pretty much a big carnivore.”

The two are hooked up with a program through a home health that helps them shop for groceries weekly.

“If I had to go to buy my groceries alone, it would take me a long time, because a lot of the stores are not easily accessible for someone who is visually impaired,” Jenni said.

Setting goals

Jenni said she enjoys cooking because it gives her more variety in her diet as well as having fresh alternatives to foods that aren’t healthy.

“I am the one who occasionally suggests we go eat fast food,” Jared added.

The Bears have enjoyed accomplishing a goal they didn’t think was possible. They want continue setting goals for themselves.

“I would love to be able to rock climb in South Dakota. but I would have to talk Jared into letting me do that because he would be afraid something bad would happen to me,” Jenni said.

Jared and Jenni Bear continue to enjoy life and count every day spent with one a blessing.

“I honestly love spending time with her,” Jared said.

Jenni says being blind can be difficult, because a lot of people think if you are blind then you aren’t successful.

“We live in a sight-dominated society that caters to people who are able to see,” Jenni said. “Just because you have limitations you shouldn’t let them stop you. People shouldn’t focus on the handicap but the person. I can now do things I never even thought I could do.”

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