Kim Read Curran on LinkedIn: Great article featuring Dulles South Soup Kitchen! (2024)

We are proud to be featured in Middleburg Life Magazine for our Race Against Hunger at the MIDDLEBURG SPRING RACE ASSOCIATION, INC. event! 🌟 Dive into the article to discover how Dulles South Soup Kitchen is making a meaningful impact in the community.Tour days a week, you can find a team of dedicated and talented cooks preparing hot, nutritious meals for those in need at the Dulles South Soup Kitchen (DSSK) Unlike traditional soup kitchens, where meals are served on-site, DSSK takes their generosity to the streets, distributing prepared meals free of cost, no questions asked. Their impact is significant, with 850 to 900 meals distributed weekly at Stone Springs Hospital and through community partnerships. DSSK founder Devina Mahapatra's vision has always been to "supplement the good work of the food pantries and other organizations in the community. Food pantries are a wonderful way to help our neighbors." Mahapatra shares, "but they provide packaged provisions. For people who are homeless, who live out of their car, who don't have a kitchen they don't have the ability to transform these items into a hot meal" Th is is where Dulles South Soup Kitchen bridges the gapMahapatra's journey began in her native In- dia, where her family instilled in her a profound empathy for the underprivileged and an under- standing of the transformative power of a warm meal. This ignited her lifelong mission: No one should ever go to bed hungry. Driven by this foundational principle, Mahapatra opened her heart and her home during the pandemic, pre- paring meals and serving them to those most in need. As the de- mand for meals grew, so did her vision, Mahapatra built a team of advisors, including board mern- ber Chef Kumar Iyer, owner of Manassas-based Rangoli, to as- sist in moving DSSK to a com mercial kitchen capable of sup- porting larger volumes..The sad truth is that in Amer- ica's wealthiest county, too many still experience food insecurity. Defined by the United States De- partment of Agriculture as the lack of access to enough food for an active, healthy life, food in- security impacts around 16,000 people in Loudoun County, with 49% of these residents ineligible for federal nutrition programs.Despite being named the wealth- iest county in America, the child food insecurity rate in Loudoun County is 9.5%, or approximate- ly 9,660 children, and of these children, 66% are likely ineligible for federal nutrition programs due to income lirnitations.#CommunitySpotlight #DullesSouthSoupKitchen #MakingADifference

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Cleveland’s Central and Kinsman neighborhoods have been awarded a $300,000 grant from The BUILD Health Challenge to create a community-owned food co-op, healthy foods cafe, farmers market network and other solutions that would improve food access in the area, according to a news release issued today. The Central community has been without a full-service grocery store since Dave’s Market pulled out of Arbor Park Plaza in 2019.Cleveland was one of 13 communities across the U.S. to get awards from the BUILD Health Challenge, which has so far funded 55 initiatives across 25 states and Washington, D.C. Now in its fourth year, BUILD is funded by philanthropies, including The Kresge Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Locally, the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland is providing a $300,000 match to help support the work.Cleveland public health director Dave Margolius told The Land he expects the funding to be the catalyst for getting a new food co-op and other projects going in Central and Kinsman, and that in three years the city will see the fruits of this labor start to take shape. “This is about food justice,” Margolius told The Land. “We know these wide disparities in food access are from structural racism, and that this leads to generational wealth gaps and health disparities. What this grant does is help create tools to help create a local food supply, so that these communities aren’t reliant on international food supply chains. It puts power into people’s hands who live here and that leads to better health.”https://lnkd.in/gQbF39pZ #cleveland #theland #thelandcle #cle #clevelandfoodaccess #foodaccess #thebuildhealthchallenge #buildhealthchallenge #BUILD #clevelandfood #foodcoop #foodcooperative #central #kinsman #centralneighborhood #kinsmanneighborhood #clevelandhealthyfood #foodaccessibility #foodaccessibilitycleveland #arborparkplace #grocerystore #clevelandgrocerystore #davesmarket #foodesert #foodapartheid #centralneighborhoodgrocerystore #freshfood #health #clevelandhealth

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Check out this beautiful produce that ourHealthy Choice Food Box participants received this month!Every month, we deliver a box of fresh food to 600 Denver families. What makes this program unique is that participants will get to choose between two different box arrangements, which provides them with greater autonomy and flexibility in choosing the fruits and vegetables that best suit their needs.#foodaccess #foodrescue #foodjustice #foodsecurity #healthequity #healthequitynow #healthequityjustice #healthequityforall #denvervolunteers #volunteer #denverfood #denver #nowaste #zerowaste #foodrescuers

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“Teaching people how to grow food has the potential to lift people out of illness, toward health and happiness, and it gives power back to the people to choose for themselves the quality with which they want to nourish themselves, their families and communities.” Amanda, The GardenWorks Project staff The GardenWorks Project is proud to offer a unique, sustainable solution to fight food insecurity. We empower our community to take control of their health and nutrition, make nutritious, fresh food accessible to all, and create a more equitable, sustainable local food system. September is HUNGER ACTION MONTH, a campaign raising awareness of hunger in our community through volunteerism, education and advocacy. Food insecurity is a lack of consistent access to enough food for every person in a household to live an active, healthy life. This leads to hunger and can be temporary or ongoing. Access to nutrient-rich, healthy food is critical to fighting hunger for long-term health and wellness and GardenWorks’ community-based food growing model fills a critical gap in DuPage County.Join us this month - and all season long - as we collaborate with businesses, social service organizations, and people like YOU to grow a more food secure future, with fresh produce accessible to all. TAKE ACTION TODAY: Become a more informed advocate for food security and equity. Sign up for our monthly email newsletter at https://lnkd.in/ghcQXYk7If you’re already signed up (thank you!) make a commitment to share the newsletter with friends and family. Together, we can fight hunger from the ground up. #EveryoneDeservesFreshProduce #gardenworksproject #foodsecurity #foodaccess #ActionMattersMost #HungerActionMonth #TogetherWeAreSolvingHunger #EndHunger #NeighborsEmpowered #nourishingourcommunity #freshfoodconnect #dupagecounty #dupage

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Have to tell you all about an amazing movement that is happening…upcycling food…food rescuing...it has many names. For those who know me, they know I have been on this bandwagon for years. While there are many amazing people that are doing wonderful work in this space (shout out to Megha, Food Connect Group!), I want to shine a light on my friend Evan and his company Sharing Excess, who is killing it down at the Philadelphia Whole Sale Produce Market (over 10 MM pounds saved…and given away!). Here I am w/ Evan and Alex from his team.Upcycling food refers to using edible food that would otherwise have been thrown away. For example, many companies use imperfect fruits and vegetables to produce new food products like veggie chips. Restaurants and cafeterias upcycle food by ensuring that all purchased food is used.Sharing Excess mission is to bridge the gap between excess and scarcity by partnering with grocery stores, restaurants, wholesalers, and farmers to deliver surplus food to a network of nonprofits, food banks, and community organizations to alleviate local food insecurity....#restaurants #sharingexcess #philanthropy #farmers #foodinsecurity

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𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝟐𝟎% 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡. (Unfortunately, cannot share due to restrictions but please see full article from todocanada.ca below)Canada’s largest food rescue organization, Second Harvest says food insecurity will only worsen in the country in 2023.Second Harvest today released the report,Canada Needs a New Year’s Resolution for Food Insecurity, which details the result of the survey of 1300 organizations on the extent of their charitable food programs and how they must adapt to changes in demand in the coming year.The report finds that non-profit food programs that hand out food to vulnerable Canadians forecast the number of people they serve to grow by 60% in 2023, on top of 134% growth in 2022.CNW Group/Second HarvestThis works out to 8,208,679 people per month in 2023, up from 5,141,481 to in 2022. This is equivalent to 20% of the country’s population. As per Statistics Canada’s estimate, Canada’s population is now over39 millionup from36,991,981 in the 2021 census.Last November, Daily Bread Food Bank said there were over2 million visits to Toronto food banksover the past year, and food bank clients have only $8 left for the month after rent and utilities.Food wasted in Canada can feed every single Canadian for 5 monthsSecond Harvest says the end of Covid supports, food inflation and flat wages contribute to increased reliance on food charity. Not-for-profit organizations expect a total budget shortfall of $94 million to meet the demand in 2023, an average of $70K per organization.Charities say they need to add 30% more food programs this year, increasing the average number of days per week they hand out free food from 3.7 to 4.2.According to this year’sCanada’s Food Report, food prices are expected to rise up to 7% this year, an increase of up to $1,065.60 from the total annual cost in 2022 for a family of four. Ottawa Public Health says an individual needs$392 to eat healthyby including healthy food from the Nutritious Food Basket.Lori Nikkel, CEO of Second Harvest said, “Without systemic change, food insecurity will only get worse in Canada.”

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https://lnkd.in/eJgQ43DpCome for the Free Meals, Stay for the CompanyFoodCycle’s pop-up cafes are tackling not just hunger and food waste, but loneliness, too.By: MaryLou CostaNovember 24, 2023..." The pop-up cafe at a church hall in Chelmsford, England is one of 80 held across the country throughout the week. They’re an initiative of FoodCycle, the UK’s largest community dining organization, which turns produce that supermarkets would otherwise throw out into a free meal for anyone who wants to attend. In 2022, FoodCycle’s pop-up cafes served nearly 500,000 meals to 62 communities across the UK, saving 209 tonnes of food from going to waste. It might be a small dent in the 9.5 million tonnes of food waste the UK as a whole throws out each year, but FoodCycle’s impact is much bigger than this. Forty-three percent of people who attend FoodCycle meals, like Jackie and Julie, live on their own, with 68 percent of them feeling lonely, according to a survey of 910 FoodCycle guests in 2022. Loneliness is considered to be a significant mental and public health issue in the country, affecting over half the population, with the Mental Health Foundation linking it to depression and declining physical health....Venues — typically church halls or community centers, as they are most likely to have the space and kitchen facilities — are facing their own financial pressures and are becoming more reluctant to offer their spaces for free. For supermarkets, of course, it’s a no-brainer to donate produce that would otherwise be wasted, but FoodCycle still needs to purchase ingredients like herbs, spices, eggs, cheese and pasta to stock its “pantry” to turn those donations into proper meals (all vegetarian, for health, safety and inclusivity reasons). That’s where corporate partners come in, making up over 40 percent of the £1.8 million (around $2.2 million) in income FoodCycle generated last year to cover its operating costs. Companies like Goldman Sachs have even taken part in FoodCycle Food Invention challenges, with teams creating meals from donated produce to donate to communities in need....As a community dining initiative above all, Tebbetts says FoodCycle is different from other charities, which often say their ambition is to one day not exist. “Even if we solved hunger, food waste and loneliness, we still think there should be spaces where people can gather and connect,” she says."

One of our biggest challenges as humans is having the mindset of, if it’s not happening to me then it’s not happening. Access to life essential is critical:Good education, good jobs, business loans, housing, transportation,healthcare,water, and the most critical and should be easy to achieve - food and water. Most of the population take these life essentials for granted, including me. In 2020, I woke up and started seeing what I had overlooked because it was not happening to me. Food inequity and food deserts should NEVER be a topic of discussion when we as a country have so much and waste so much. Below is a wonderful WDET podcast about food inequity in Detroit where approximately 78% of its residents are Black, the median income is approximately $32,000 and poverty is assigned to children and seniors. I’ve never gone without not one day in my life and I am grateful, but I am humble enough to know that it didn’t have to be that way.And being that none of us are better than another human, we need to be mindful everyday of ways we can help others directly and by actively dismantling minsets (starting with our own), unnecessary processes, policies and laws that challenge the access to all life essentials, but most importantly, access to healthy food, clean water and capital. ****Click image to listen to WDET podcast.****Podcast summary:Food insecurity continues to be a problem in Detroit, with roughly 69% of households identified as food insecure in 2021, according to the Detroit Food Policy Council’s latest Food Metrics Report.The report, released in 2020 and updated with data from 2021, found that Detroit lost 10 grocery stores since 2017. While the city gained two more grocery stores in 2021, two others have since closed, leaving a total of 64 “full-line” grocery stores in the 142-square-mile city.Local efforts in urban agriculture aim to stem those statistics, however, with the advocacy group’s report showing significant growth in local community gardens and Detroit-based growers at Eastern Market. Additionally, the city recently named its first urban agriculture director to help urban farmers buy land and obtain permits in the city.So what does all this mean for the broad state of food security in Detroit? Malik Yakini, co-founder and executive director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, and Winona Bynum, executive director at the Detroit Food Policy Council, joined Detroit Today on Monday to discuss what’s behind the falling number of grocery stores and the efforts to reverse the trend.#foodinequity#fooddessert#wdet#accesstocapital #kornrstore

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#DYK 1 in 10 Americans experience food insecurity. People experiencing food insecurity are forced to make tough tradeoff decisions day in and day out. Do they purchase the food they need or fill the car with gas? Do they pay the utilities payment or get enough groceries for the month? Furthermore, these people often do not meet the criteria for federally funded resource programs that could help them access and afford adequate nutrition. Without adequate nutrition, optimal health is compromised. Increasing access to nutrient-rich foods is a key priority area of work at Dairy West. By partnering with like-minded organizations, such as Saint Alphonsus Health System, we can bridge this gap and catalyze positive change together. Saint Alphonsus opened their first on-site food pantry this Summer, increasing access to nutrient-rich foods to the patients they serve. Now offering medical services AND food resources, patients no longer must make multiple stops to receive the support they need. This is truly an example of the food is medicine concept in action and we’re proud to be a part of such a meaningful offering! Dairy West supported the program by providing refrigeration to increase access to nutrient-rich foods, including dairy foods, and a wall mural to ensure the pantry feels inclusive and welcoming to all that visit. Community health is multifaceted. This is one example of positive change. What are you doing in your community to make a difference? #positivechange #inthistogether #community #partnerships

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FOOD INSECURITY: This programme is solutions-oriented, https://lnkd.in/gW_7qukS'Charity is not a solution to food insecurity': How to feed the future.'We have enough food, but it's poorly distributed,' says food security expertThe Canadian Broadcasting Crporation ( CBC ) Radio · Posted: November, 29, 2023 12:37 PM EST | Last Updated: November 30, 2023.Inflation hiking up prices at the grocery store is a reality that everyone is living right now.Nearly two million Canadians had to make use of a food bank in March 2023 — just one month. Food banks in Ontario saw a nearly 40 percent jump in use from April 2022 to April 2023, doubling the record for a single year increase.And globally, a U.N. report found that more than 258 million people faced food insecurity last year.FOOD INSECURITY: This programme is solutions-oriented, including critquing present dominating charity models and thinking of food insecurity as merely hunger. Paul Taylor argues there is a need for politicians to focus on policy approaches yo icome support and for low-income people to have adequate income to buy the food they need.Paul Webb sees the collapse of our food systems as a structural problem. He says, "We need to be thinking, we policymakers what we want our food system to look like in 20, 60, 70, even 80 years, and then work backwards to figure out what on earth is it going to need to get us there?"Jennifer Grenz leads the Indigenous Ecology Lab at the University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on the reclamation and revitalization of Indigenous food systems. She looks to land stewardship and community knowledge to inform solutions of our food systems and suggests looking for opportunities for innovation at the local community level — focusing on collective well-being.Policy makers are also turning to high tech data collecting solutions to address food security. Inbal Becker-Reshef, director of NASA Harvest Program, looks at the Ukranian war as one example of the use of technical data to achieve resilience. "Unfortunately we're only getting further and further away from the sustainable development goal of zero hunger," said Inbal Becker-Reshef, director of NASA Harvest Program. "And I think to address these challenges, we need to have data and we need to have data that's transparent, that's actionable, that's timely, that's in the hands of the right people."The NASA Harvest program was established in 2017 to make satellite imaging of cropland around the world available to both public and private organizations. The idea is that the more information governments and farmers can access, the better they can plan and adapt to the ebb and flow of food production.