2015 Hear the Crunch !

Today is "Hear the Crunch" Day in Maryland , also known as Maryland Day. The event is organized by Maryland Hunger Solutions (MDHS)- Marylanders are asked to take a photo of themselves taking a bite into an apple to raise awareness about hunger in Maryland, especially  School Breakfast Programs for children.

I participated in the event in 2014, but I wanted more information about the organization's leadership and the event goals. Maryland Hunger Solutions' Executive Director, Michael J. Wilson, graciously granted me an interview.


Q: How did you get involved with Maryland Hunger Solutions? 
I spent nearly a decade on the Board of the national organization, the Food Research Action Center (FRAC) back when I was at the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW).  When there was an opening to lead Maryland Hunger Solutions, I spoke to the President of FRAC, and one thing led to another.  Eventually I resigned from the Board and accepted the position as Director.

Q:What's the goal of Hear the Crunch?
Our view is that everyone in the state of Maryland should start the day with a nutritious breakfast.  This is especially true of school aged students, but not exclusively.  This is also tied to our policy agenda of expanding school breakfast programs, enacting state legislation to expand the use of federal dollars for school meals, and to focus attention on the Child Nutrition Reauthorization which the Congress will consider this year.  We will be successful not just by the more than 800,000 folks who will participate on March 25th – but by how many folks are having breakfast on March 31st when there is no spotlight.

Q: What's the state of hunger in Maryland? Any data by county, gender, or age group that you can share?
One of the things that we are most proud of is our capacity to be the state’s leading resources for hunger data.  On our website is data for every county in the state, and shows the county and state participation rates for the Food Supplement Program (FSP ) which is how the food stamp program is known in the state of Maryland.  It also has data on school lunch programs, school breakfast programs, summer meal programs, after –school meals and the Women’s Infants and Children program (WIC).


It is not broken down by gender or age, but we have some demographic data.  We know that according to the most recently published information, that there are 72,519 FSP recipients in Montgomery County and 788,913 in the state of Maryland.  We also know that one in eight households faces a struggle with hunger, that 21 percent of households with children struggle to obtain enough food to provide regular healthy meals for their family, and that nearly 10 percent of Marylanders live below the poverty line.

Q: Does Maryland Hunger Solutions partner with other organizations?
Our mission is to eliminate hunger in the state of Maryland, but we know that we can’t do that alone.  We partner with dozens of government agencies, non-profit groups, and private entities to address hunger in the state.  That includes dozens of groups like Manna Food Center in Montgomery County, AARP, the Maryland Alliance for the Poor, Catholic Charities of Baltimore, and the Prince George’s County Food Equity Council.

Q: What should the public know about Maryland Hunger Solutions?
That our work to end hunger in our state begins with utilizing the existing federal nutrition programs.  Making sure that everyone who is eligible for FSP is getting benefits will not only help battle hunger, it will help the health and economy of our state.

Q: How can people get more involved with Maryland Hunger Solutions?
We utilize volunteers and interns to help maximize our work and can always utilize more.  In addition, as a non-profit, we are always fundraising to help on our mission.

Many thanks to Michael for the interview.  

This year,  L'Academie de Cuisine Professional School's Chef Brian Patterson, Sous Chef Angie Rosado and the Winter 2015 Culinary Techniques 101 class joined in on the "Hear the Crunch" effort with Technicolor dining.  Can you hear you hear our crunch?

Why do I participate? Why do I care? I care because I have been unemployed, looking for work and have gone to bed hungry. Access to food is a human right. No child should be hungry.

If you live in Maryland I hope you will consider participating in the "Hear the Crunch" event. If  you live outside of Maryland, consider taking a bite of your favorite variety of apple anyway.

Be well,

Technicolor girl

Crunch time

I received the invitation via Facebook this year.

Hear the Maryland Crunch is a state-wide synchronized apple crunch event that aims to reduce childhood hunger by expanding access to school breakfast. Hear the Maryland Crunch is held on Maryland Day, Wednesday, March 25, because every child in Maryland should have access to a healthy breakfast every day!

To participate in Hear the Maryland Crunch --
1) Grab an apple and take a bite!
2) Take a photo or video of your best crunch face and share it with your friends. Enter the best photo in the #HearTheCrunch photo contest!
3) Tell your state legislators (find yours at mdelect.net) to support increased access to school breakfast:
Dear Legislator,
Will you Hear the Maryland Crunch? I will crunch an apple on March 25 to spread the message that every child should have access to a healthy breakfast every day. Please support full funding for Maryland Meals for Achievement. Please vote for the Hunger-Free Schools Act of 2015 (SB334/HB965) to allow more schools to elect Community Eligibility.

Are you in?

I responded that I'll participate.  Will you join me?

Be well,

Technicolor girl

image created by Ink+ LLC

Hear the Crunch!

I am grateful for the opportunity to experience aspects of dining and culinary arts. I am also very aware that not everyone has the opportunity. Today I want to talk about hunger.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (U.N. 1948), Article 25, states, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food..."

I live in Maryland. Maryland is one of the wealthiest states in the United States and yet one in eight Marylanders struggle to put food on the table each day. I am concerned about all who don't have access to the food they need, but especially children. A hungry school aged child is less likely to be able concentrate on tasks and is more likely to be tardy or absent from school.


Michael J. Wilson, MDHS Executive Director

Today,  Maryland Hunger Solutions (MDHS)  hosts "Hear the Crunch", an educational and fun event informing the public about the impact of hunger on school aged chilren. I asked MDHS Executive Director, Michael J. Wilson, to tell me a little more about  "Hear the Crunch".

"Maryland may be the wealthiest state in the nation, but hunger runs deep. It affects old and young alike, but it can be solved by connecting all who are eligible to the federal nutrition programs. If we start with breakfast,we know that about 56% of student who qualify for free and reduced lunch are actually getting breakfast in school. How do we get that to 100% where it should be? What if we create something to celebrate breakfast, to focus on the importance of breakfast? Not just breakfast, but on the health and the nutrition and importance of breakfast?

We are not the first state to do an apple crunch; D.C. has done it, New York City did what it called "The Big Apple Crunch", and there was even  a school in Prince George's County that did it once. But our goal was to have kids crunching an apple from the Allegheny Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, from the D.C.suburbs to Baltimore. People have really rallied to it; apples will be served on the menu in hundreds if schools. Not only that, but apples will be served in Head Start centers in Howard County and senior centers throughout Baltimore. Offices in Montgomery County, food banks, and dozens of organization have pledged to take photos biting an apple, in solidarity with their neighbors from across the state.

 

Focusing on health and nutrition should start with breakfast and in Maryland, #HearTheCrunch is the beginning part of the continuing conversation of the addressing hunger in our state."

The event concludes with  thousands of Marylanders state wide taking a bite into a crunchy apple to help fight childhood hunger. I will take a bite into an apple later this morning and I have opted to participate in the "Hear the Crunch!" Paper Apple activity.

Why do I care you ask? I care because I have been unemployed, looking for work and have gone to bed hungry. I have tried to purchase a week's worth of  groceries with less than $5. Access to food is a human right.

If you live in Maryland I hope you will consider participating in the "Hear the Crunch" event and. If  you live outside of Maryland, consider taking a bite of your favorite variety of apple anyway.

No child should be hungry.
#HearTheCrunch!