Category Archives: Guest Blogger

Editor’s Note: Deb Heinrich, Gov. Dannel Malloy’s liaison to the state’s nonprofit community, agreed to take the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge this month and live on $4 a day for food for a week. We are posting her experience in this blog over the next few days. Day 2: It is hard to concentrate when you are hungry. I woke up craving eggs this morning. I had oatmeal with brown sugar. One serving today. For lunch, I wrapped leftover black beans and rice in two soft taco shells with salsa and packed it away to bring with me to work. It traveled better than I thought it would. My colleagues went out to lunch together today. I did not. For dinner, I made lentil soup with onion, celery, carrot and the diced tomatoes. I missed putting potatoes and zucchini in it. I put in extra salt in place of the pepper,...
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Editor’s Note: Deb Heinrich, Gov. Dannel Malloy’s liaison to the state’s nonprofit community, agreed to take the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge this month and live on $4 a day for food for a week. We are posting her experience in this blog over the next few days. In this entry, Deb recounted the social isolation of people who are food insecure. Morning Ritual Looking at my schedule today, I realized that I was going to have to make the bulk of my food this morning since I would be gone most of the day (church, kids’ soccer, 9/11 Memorials, etc,). We would have to go right from church to soccer so I’d need to bring a lunch. So I set the alarm an hour earlier and got to work in the kitchen. First I made some oatmeal for breakfast. Though this was the real oats that you make on the stove,...
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Editor’s note: Today’s blog entry is submitted by Cheryl Kaiden, a Board member of Branford’s Community Dining Room. With the sun shining and temperatures warming, summer feels like it’s arrived. At the Community Dining Room (CDR) in Branford, CT, we’re more focused than ever on helping our clients to enjoy the outdoors in mind and body! This is the time of year, when many local farmers and neighbors share their bounty with us, dropping off vegetables and fruits that we can incorporate into our daily meals. CDR kitchen volunteers have made an increased commitment to focus on developing healthy, nutritious meals using whole grains and natural ingredients whenever possible. We’ve increased the number of vegetables and fruits we serve and decreased sugary desserts. To help clients make life-long changes, we regularly offer nutrition and health clinics for adults during our Noon Lunch Program, and hands-on education programs for children at...
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As State Project Chairman for the General Federation of Women’s Clubs of Connecticut for 2010 to 2012, I am proud to be working with such a terrific group of people on a very important mission. Our mission, like yours, is to stamp out hunger in Connecticut. “I was very impressed. They are an energetic and enthusiastic and dedicated group of women. I can see that they will be effective because they are efficient, really taking the cause very seriously,” said Nancy L. Carrington, Chief Executive Officer of Connecticut Food Bank, who addressed GFWC recently this month to discuss the state project. The GFWC is one of the world’s largest and oldest nonpartisan, nondenominational, women’s volunteer service organizations. It was founded in 1890 and chartered by the 56th United States Congress in 1901. Over 10,000 members nationwide work in their own communities to support the arts, preserve natural resources, advance education,...
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Editor’s Note: Below is a guest post from Elaine Piraino-Holevoet of PIROET Design, who initially posted the entry on her blog, called ontheroadtogreenness. The blog is a tale of one person’s lifelong journey to becoming a good person living a green lifestyle. It is also the story of the people she has met, the things she has tried, the places she has traveled, and the ideas she has encountered along the way. These are all recounted in the hope of getting others to join her on her quest to save the planet. The blog entry below is reprinted with permission. Many who go without meat on Monday have made a conscious decision to do so—perhaps to improve their health or because they are concerned about climate change. Some are vegetarians or vegans and go without meat every day for ethical reasons. Whatever the motivation, it is a privilege when one...
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Editor’s Note: On Oct. 1, Connecticut Food Bank’s Chief Development Officer Janet Kniffin held a Hunger 101 program at Pomfret School. Hunger 101 is an interactive, group learning experience for people age 12 and older. It gives people an opportunity to walk in someone else’s shoes and see firsthand what it’s like to struggle with poverty and hunger in Connecticut. Johara Tucker of Pomfret School wrote this post after she and her students experienced Hunger 101. Last week, more than 20 students went through the Hunger 101 program coordinated by Connecticut Food Bank. I had no idea what to expect but this program went above and beyond any kind of hunger awareness seminar I have ever been to. It’s one thing to watch the news and be well informed about hunger and other social issues, but to actually, even for a minute “feel” what it may be like for someone...
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Editor’s Note: Kathy Moran, a longtime volunteer and supporter of Connecticut Food Bank, agreed to take the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge last month and live on $4.45 a day for food for five days. In her sixth and final post, Kathy talks about the end of her challenge. After my challenge ended, it was time to return to the store to purchase my next “normal” load of groceries. I felt what Robin Williams’ character must have felt in “Moscow on the Hudson.” In that movie, Williams portrayed a Russian circus performer who defects to the U.S. He is befriended by a family who one day asked him to go to the store and buy a can of coffee. After living a life of waiting in long lines for very little in his home country, Williams’ character was overwhelmed by the quantity and variety of coffee products in the supermarket and fainted...
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Editor’s Note: Kathy Moran, a longtime volunteer and supporter of Connecticut Food Bank, agreed to take the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge last month and live on $4.45 a day for food for five days. We will post her experience in this blog over the next few days. In her fifth post, Kathy remembers the people she knew who had to struggle with hunger. During the challenge, I was reminded of someone I worked with years ago who went through a time when she came in every day with a container of pasta with tomato sauce and a can of cheap, no-name, generic soda. There is someone else I know who goes out to fast food places almost every day to purchase a hot meal from the dollar menu. Another friend shared with me the fact that her family would sometimes be given cereal with water for supper, and sometimes no supper...
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Editor’s Note: Kathy Moran, a longtime volunteer and supporter of Connecticut Food Bank, agreed to take the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge earlier this month and live on $4.45 a day for food for five days. We will post her experience in this blog over the next few days. In her fourth post, Kathy is beginning to miss certain foods that have become a staple in her home. As the days went by, I changed up the meals as best I could, but with such a limited number of ingredients, there was really not a lot I could do. I tried to make sure that I finished all of the food I purchased because I suddenly felt a heightened sensitivity to waste. I found I was losing interest in the food as a creative, pleasurable experience as it started to age. The bananas started to get spots even though I had purchased...
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Editor’s Note: Kathy Moran, a longtime volunteer and supporter of Connecticut Food Bank, agreed to take the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge earlier this month and live on $4.45 a day for food for five days. We will post her experience in this blog over the next few days. In her third post, Kathy recounted the steps she took to try to make a complete meal with very limited ingredients. The cheap loaf of white bread needed to stand up to the inexpensive pasty peanut butter, which I planned to use each day for sandwiches. I was hoping the bread wouldn’t go stale too quickly. The Capri Sun drinks had to take the place of the sweet strawberry preserves that would normally be paired with the peanut butter. I learned that it was better to keep the sandwiches cold because it gave them some moisture. I tried using toast once, but it...
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