Martha O'Bryan Center’s Post

We have a story in the latest issue of Neighbourhood Media detailing all the work we do via Addison Road Food Pantry Camperdown, our low-cost grocery store which makes use of rescued, donated and purchased food to support the local community and its needs. The story (link below) shows how we help feed people from Mission Australia's Common Ground housing project and the nearby Johanna O’Dea Court, a multi-storey NSW Family and Community Services apartment block. It also explains how we serve people living on a tight budget in Camperdown and Glebe, as well as people who come to the pantry from right across the City of Sydney LGA. Most of all, the story is a celebration of our monthly Addi Road 'Let's Get Cooking' sessions (AKA "the Cook-Up"), which offers 260 free hot meals for Mission Australia and Joanna O'Dea residents, as well as those shopping at our Addi Road Food Pantry Camperdown. These sessions involve a monthly cooking demo inside the Common Ground building. Food literacy is the ultimate goal behind Addi Road's Let's Get Cooking program. As well as simply providing a free hot meal (and dessert) each month, we look at helping people to shop AND cook with often very limited funds. Each month there are easy recipes on offer (and ready to be tasted) along extra tips for stocking people's kitchen cupboards; a list of essentials to facilitate simple, inexpensive and nutritious recipes that will match whatever Addi Road Food Pantry might have in stock. It's about building an integrated food ecology for people battling. With a few extra special ingredients over a shared meal as the community comes together: camaraderie and connection. + #Addiroad #cityofsydney #foodrelief #foodjustice #housing #inequality #Camperdown #Glebe #MissionAustralia #homeless #battling #costofliving #poverty #resilience #mentalhealth #wellbeing #nutrition #diet #charity #community #freemeals #cookingworkshop #volunteers #caring #education #connection #letsgetcooking #neighbourhoodmedia https://lnkd.in/gs7vVEvM

Tackling food insecurity requires a multi pronged approach. So great to see CFBNJ’s forward thinking in action with a focus on health and nutrition, innovative food distribution and wrap around services!

Did you know that food insecurity affects rural America in the following ways: *In 2021, 11% of rural households were food insecure. *9 out of 10 counties with the highest food insecurity rates are rural. *Rural communities make up 63% of all U.S counties, but 87% of counties with the highest food insecurity rates. *Food insecurity is linked to a wide range of negative health outcomes, and rural Americans are at higher risk for poor health outcomes than their urban counterparts. *Although food security is slightly higher in rural areas than in urban areas, 12.5% of individuals living in rural communities were food insecure in 2019. Your dollars make a difference. Every $1 = 2 meals. Start your new year off right and donate today!

It's hard to find the words when you read a post like this ... 😔 In a time saturated with health advice on all kinds of foods, we must never forget there are people struggling to get even the basics of nutrition. Rickets causes weak soft bones and is a completely preventable bone disease. When a mother is able to eat Vitamin D rich foods during pregnancy, as well as her child when young and growing, bones are able to become dense and strong. We all help in our own ways, independently and through brilliant non-profit organisations like The Feed. If you can help them in any way, please read the article below and get in touch with them 🙏 #thankyouforyoursupport #ourfoodmakesadifference

"Remember -- your love for bacon can make a big difference!" Funny, but true. There is a serious side to this too. The Walworth County Food and Diaper Bank is a great organization, and symbolic of many which are responding to food insecurity in our communities. In our particular case our Bank serves, at some point during the year, about 5 percent of our county's population - distributing $5M of food across 16,000+ guest encounters. All of this is made possible by roughly 120 volunteers whose work seems never ending. Those we serve are primarily referred to as ALICE (asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed). In other words, neighbors in situations where one car repair, medical bill, or unexpected expense can force a difficult decision about food. A full 40 percent of those we serve in a year come only once. 70 percent receive food from us four times or less in a year. In our county, and probably yours too, up to 35 percent of our residents fall into the ALICE classification. Those are really staggering numbers when you think about them. And food for thought as well (sorry). If all those numbers seem daunting, come and celebrate some bacon with us! 😁 #foodinsecurity #foodbank #neighborshelpingneighbors

McDonald’s for decades has exerted outsize influence on Americans’ meals. Now the Golden Arches are playing a growing role in politics, as the company and its franchisees spend millions of dollars on donations to candidates for public office and political action groups, and have engaged in lobbying in at least 10 states, an analysis of filings shows. McDonald’s lobbying spend last year in California, one of the states in which it is playing a growing role in politics, was $5.7 million. The burger giant’s 2023 total was more than 23 times the amount it spent in California from 1999 to the end of 2022, state records show. McDonald’s realized around 2022, when it started engaging more in California, that it was years behind other companies in influencing local policymaking, said Michael Gonda, who oversees the chain’s domestic-government relations efforts. Over the past decade, progressive forces in several states have been advocating for legislative and regulatory measures to improve worker conditions and compensation. Unions and worker advocacy groups helped push for a new law to raise fast-food wages in California and create more oversight of the industry. Political spending from McDonald’s, the world’s largest fast-food chain by sales, has ballooned since the wage law was debated and enacted, campaign filings and company records show. “California was a watershed moment,” Gonda said. Following the 2022 wage law backed by union and worker groups, industry players eventually helped negotiate a $20-an-hour compromise with the California bill’s backers. It took effect in April. McDonald’s and other restaurant chains have said the higher California wages have rapidly increased their costs and cut into profits, with operators increasing their menu prices or slashing workers’ hours to try to compensate. The higher restaurant prices in California have depressed restaurant visits more than national averages, industry analysts said. Earlier this year, California McDonald’s operators helped form the California Alliance of Family-Owned Businesses political-action committee. The group of McDonald’s operators said the PAC plans to spend $1.5 million on local political contests this year. PAC founder and board member Scott Rodrick, who owns around a dozen Northern California McDonald’s restaurants, said the PAC has been involved in around half a dozen primary races so far. The group also intends to shovel at least a million dollars into California general election races in the fall. “We will continue to get very aggressive and be proactive in identifying politicians that understand and will stand by small-business owners in California,” said Rodrick. In Los Angeles County, more than $625,000 of the PAC’s funds went toward mailers and attack ads targeting state Assemblyman Chris Holden, a sponsor of the 2022 fast-food minimum wage bill who ran for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. 

At Denver Food Rescue, we believe that acknowledging the inherent dignity of our program participants is just as important as the food we provide. Our No Cost Grocery Programs, like the one pictured at Thomas Bean Towers, operate using a ‘choice model.’ This means that families get to decide what foods to take home based on what best suits their needs, rather than being handed a box of food that they may be unfamiliar with. We also require no ID or proof of income to get food at our No Cost Grocery Programs. We believe that everyone deserves fresh food, no matter their situation. Lastly, we break away from the traditional ‘food pantry’ model by delivering the food we rescue directly to a No Cost Grocery Program within 2 hours. This means we are able to provide the freshest quality food to our participants, and it enables us to rescue mostly fresh produce. Learn more about our mission at our website, DenverFoodRescue.org. #foodaccess #foodrescue #foodjustice#foodsecurity #healthequity #healthequitynow #healthequityjustice #healthequityforall #denvervolunteers #volunteer #denverfood #denver

Your organization can make a meaningful difference today fighting hunger in our community. You may have seen The Ottawa Mission's food trucks in neighborhoods like Westboro, Carlington, and Little Italy, bringing vital support far beyond our downtown shelter. These trucks aren’t just about meals—they’re about hope. With grocery prices soaring by 22% and rent increasing 20% since 2020, many people in our city are being forced to make the impossible choice between shelter and food. The Ottawa Mission’s food truck program is helping to ease that burden, serving thousands of meals weekly in 38 underserved communities across Ottawa. One grateful food truck client shared, “The price of everything is going up. I’m 70 and retired...I need these meals to get by.” Your support today can directly impact the neighborhoods where your employees and clients live, work, and thrive. By partnering with The Ottawa Mission, you’re not just providing meals—you’re investing in the well-being of our community. Learn more about how your organization can get involved. Together, we can nourish our city. #CorporateResponsibility #OttawaCommunity #SupportLocal #TheOttawaMission #MoreThanAShelter

As you do your weekly, don't forget to #CheckOutHunger at the register! Adding $5 to your grocery trip at Giant Eagle, Inc. or Dave's Supermarkets can help feed a child or senior for nearly a week! #WeFeedCLE Learn more about our annual #HarvestForHunger campaign here: HarvestForHunger.org