Are You Called to be an Advocate for the Hungry?

I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.   Isaiah 43:19


Join  advocates from all corners the country at Bread for the World's National Gathering: A Place at the Table in Washington, D.C. on June 8-11.   See Full Schedule     Register Here

	Worship. Powerful preaching, praise, and prayer will be offered throughout the National Gathering. Preaching during the Sunday service on June 9 will be the Rev. Dr. James Forbes, whom Newsweek magazine named as one of the 12 most effective preachers in the English-speaking world.
	Learn. On June 8-10, participate in workshops and general sessions on issues such as poverty-focused development assistance, advocacy in the 21st century, budget battles, moving Congress, and building community coalitions.
	Engage. Interact with international development experts, nongovernmental organization leaders, and policy makers as we focus on the issue of maternal and children nutrition on June 10.
	Network. Connect with friends, both new and old, from around the world.
	Act. On June 11, meet senators, representatives, and their staff as you engage in anti-poverty advocacy.
	Enjoy.  Lazarus, a musical composed for Bread for the World by Joel Underwood, will be resurrected with new music and staging by the musician Bill Cummings. Also, meet some of the people featured in the film A Place at the Table.

Celebrate World Fair Trade Day at Peacecraft in Albuquerque

Peacecraft invites you to celebrate World Fair Trade Day 2013 on Saturday, May 11, from Noon to 6:00 p.m., at 3215 Central NE in Albuquerque. World Music Choir will perform at 3:00 p.m. Refreshments will be provided.

A Common Thread for Hunger in El Salvador and the U.S.

How does one summarize hunger and food insecurity in one minute? Better yet, how do you use that one minute (or 67 or 72 seconds) to draw parallels between the hunger in the United States and hunger in El Salvador?

The time constraints were necessary because the organizers of the annual commemoration of Archbishop Óscar Romero on Monday had to pack in four different themes--including environment, education, immigration and U.S. foreign policy, and food insecurity--into the program.  So participants did their best to offer the big picture in a concise manner. 

So what is the common thread affecting food insecurity in the U.S. and El Salvador?  One is a rich country, and the other not so rich.  And yet, there are problems of hunger and poverty--all tied to allocation and use of wealth. In El Salvador, a few people control the wealth.  Consider this quote from a recent article in Revista Envío.

The Gini Coefficient, which measures the level of income inequality, places El Salvador among the 20% of countries with the highest inequality. In real terms this means that El Salvador’s richest 20% receive 56% of the income, while the poorest 20% receive only 3%, almost 14 times less.  Here is the full article.

Yanira Coto Cruz, a high school student from a small community in El Salvador, alludes to this very income disparity in her one-minute presentation (which I reprinted below). Yanira is one of several young people in El Salvador who have benefited from scholarships provided by the Asociación para la Promoción de los Derechos Humanos de la Niñez en El Salvador (APRODHENI).  Those scholarships are funded in part by benefactors in the U.S., including some members of Aquinas Newman Center in Albuquerque.

Alimentación y Justicia en El Salvador

Yanira Coto Cruz

La falta de alimentación es uno de los problemas más grandes afectando a muchos países del mundo. Dentro de ellos se encuentra El Salvador, por la falta de trabajo y no tener un salario fijo, donde no se puede cubrir los gastos de alimentación en el hogar, y por esa razón hay muchas familias que no tienen como alimentar as sus hijos.

Hoy en día, por lo general, hay niños con problemas de desnutrición, por no tener alimentación adecuada. Es aquí donde podemos ver la injusticia que viven muchas familias pobres en nuestro país. Ya que son solamente unos pocos los han ocupado toda la riqueza, teniendo un buen trabajo, un buen salario y muchas propiedades.

Es injusto ver como el rico cada día se enriquece más, y el pobre cada día se muere de hambre.

 66 Trillion Dollars
 Carlos Navarro

According to U-S Federal Reserve Bank the net worth (household wealth) of the United States surpassed $66 trillion by the end of 2012. How do you even begin to measure $66 trillion? For our purposes this evening, we don’t have to come up with any examples to quantify this staggering amount. We just need to know that we are wealthy country.

We also know that, unlike some places around the world, we have enough food to feed everyone who lives within our borders.  Almost everywhere you go, supermarket store shelves are stocked to the ceiling. (That is, if there is a supermarket in your neighborhood--but that's another story).

So with this amount of wealth in our country and so much food available, how is it that 14.5 percent of the households in the United States are not able to put food on the table? More than 48 million Americans, including 16.2 million children, live in these households.

And the problem has worsened in recent years: According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the number of people at risk of hunger increased from more 36 million 2007 to more than 50 million in 2011.

Since 2006, food banks—including Roadrunner Food Bank in Albuquerque--have seen a nearly 50 percent increase in clients seeking emergency food assistance.

In these times of budget austerity, the Congress is talking about reducing or eliminating the safety-net programs available to those who suffer from hunger.  Many times the people who receive public assistance are labeled as lazy or unmotivated.

But we cannot talk about ending hunger without addressing one of its main root causes: poverty. More than one in seven Americans—including nearly one in four children—live below the poverty line. Many times these folks have to choose between paying their heating or water bill or buying food.

In a country whose net worth is $66 trillion, families should not have to make these choices.

Read more about this issue in A paradox of plenty – hunger in America by Reuters columnist Bernd Debusmann.  The piece was written in 2009--but the information is more relevant than ever.

Charitea with a Twist

What time is afternoon tea? If you're in England, tea and finger foods are served in the late afternoon, probably around 4:00 or 5:00 p.m.

In Albuquerque (at least on, Saturday, May 4), tea will be served between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.  This is  a fundraiser for The Barrett Foundation, which offers housing and supportive services to women and children who are striving to break the cycle of homelessness.

So, enjoy your midday tea and help this worthy cause by buying a ticket, or donating or bidding for an auction item.  (Plus, my guess is that you probably won't have to worry about Tea Etiquette).   

The Barrett Foundation invites you to

Afternoon Tea
with Fashion Show and Silent Auction

10300 Constitution Ave. NE 
Albuquerque, N.M. 87112
Saturday May 4, 2013
11:00-2:00 p.m.

Auction Item Donation Form

For more information contact Michele Romero,
(505) 246-9244 Ext 103
mromero@barrettfoundation.org.

A Just Market in Downtown Albuquerque.

It's Cinco de Mayo, 2013...and beyond celebrating the defeat of the French at the hands of the Mexican Army in Puebla...and beyond celebrating what in the United States has become a symbol for Hispanic/Latino identity and culture...there is one very important event on that date: the Just Market at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in downtown Albuquerque.

There will be local and fair trade crafts, art, jewelry, religious items, pottery, olive oil, and more... And these organizations will have displays: Friends of Sabeel, East Central Ministries, Peacecraft, Our Lady of the Desert Monastery, Earth Friendly Coffee, New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light, and Bread for the World.

If you are an Albuquerque resident (or happen to be in Albuquerque that day),  the Immaculate Conception Social Justice and Service Committee hopes to see you there!

'The trouble with writing about hunger is I’ve never felt it...'

The Giving Table and a group of food bloggers created Food Bloggers Against Hunger  to bring attention to the documentary A Place at the Table.  The film is not only the anchor for Bread for the World's 2013 Offering of Letters, but is being used broadly by a broad range of organizations and individuals to to  raise awareness about hunger and nutrition concerns in our country.

Food Bloggers Against Hunger challenged people who blog regularly about food and cooking to put together a piece about the issues raised by A Place at the Table and post their blog online on April 8.  I would like to highlight a piece from Nashville blogger Jennifer Justus, author of the blog A Nasty Bite and food culture reporter for  Nashville's daily newspaperThe Tennessean.  She is also author of the Food Lovers' Guide to Nashville.

Here is how she starts her post:

"The trouble with writing about hunger is I’ve never felt it. Ever.

Yeah, I’ve skipped meals and dieted. I’ve lived on just juice for a couple of days. 

But I’ve always known that the next meal could happen whenever I wanted. To be truly hungry is something I’ve never known.

Maybe that’s part of why it’s hard to get our attention on hunger and food insecurity issues. It’s something that feels too far away, and it's something we can compartmentalize to the weekly free meals for the homeless down at the church. Someone else is taking care of it, right?

But when I saw “A Place at the Table” at The Belcourt [in Nashville], it got my attention, it made me cry, and then it made me angry."

As part of the piece, the author shared a simple recipe from the Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook, made with beans, collard greens and other ingredients.   The ingredients are simple, which makes the cost low.

But her point is that even the cost of these ingredients is higher than the daily allotment of $4 for a person on food assistance. This is a great post, and I recommend that you read the full version.

How to Transform a Food Desert into a Food Forest in South-Central L.A.

Here is a great 11-minute video from TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, featuring artist and designer Ron Finley, who talks about the transformation of his neighborhood in South-Central Los Angeles from “home of the drive-thru and the drive-by" to a healthy, accessible “food forest.” The project started with the curbside veggie garden he planted in the strip of dirt in front of his own house. When the city tried to shut it down, Finley’s fight gave voice to a larger movement that provides nourishment, empowerment, education -- and healthy, hopeful futures -- one urban garden at a time. 

Check out this excerpt of the transcript of the video:

Just like 26.5 million other Americans, I live in a food desert, South Central Los Angeles, home of the drive-thru and the drive-by. Funny thing is, the drive-thrus are killing more people than the drive-bys. People are dying from curable diseases in South Central Los Angeles. For instance, the obesity rate in my neighborhood is five times higher than, say, Beverly Hills, which is probably eight, 10 miles away.  I got tired of seeing this happening. And I was wondering, how would you feel if you had no access to healthy food, if every time you walk out your door you see the ill effects that the present food system has on your neighborhood?

So what I did, I planted a food forest in front of my house. It was on a strip of land that we call a parkway. It's 150 feet by 10 feet. Thing is, it's owned by the city. But you have to maintain it. So I'm like, "Cool. I can do whatever the hell I want, since it's my responsibility and I gotta maintain it." And this is how I decided to maintain it.

So me and my group, L.A. Green Grounds, we got together and we started planting my food forest, fruit trees, you know, the whole nine, vegetables. What we do, we're a pay-it-forward kind of group, where it's composed of gardeners from all walks of life, from all over the city, and it's completely volunteer, and everything we do is free. And the garden, it was beautiful.

If you want to see the full transcript, click on this link of the video on the TED site.  Right below the screen on the right-hand side,  you get a drop-down menu to access the transcript in English and 21 other languages).

Lobo Worship Night This Friday

Last December, a group of students at the University of New Mexico held a worship service and fundraiser to collect money for an Angel House orphanage in India. "We raised $570, which has been deposited as our first payment on the orphanage," said event organizer Lauren McAuley, a UNM student who also works at Peacecraft.

Another Lobo Worship Night has been scheduled for Friday, April 26, at 7:00 p.m. in the UNM Student Union Building, and Lauren would like to invite you to attend. John Brown will offer a reflection, and House of Worship will lead in worship.

The event will continue the fundraising efforts for  Angel House. For more information contact Lauren, lmcauley@unm.edu  

Mesa County In Colorado and Grant County in New Mexico Face Similar Predicaments

Rosie: a Collbran resident

The documentary A Place at the Table offers examples of how food insecurity and a lack of access to nutritious food affects people (and especially children) who live in diverse areas of our country, from north Philadelphia to a rural community in the Mississippi Delta to Mesa County in Colorado.

Those of us who live here in New Mexico can most identify with Mesa County, since the situation there is similar to that of many counties in our western region. The setting is not much different than Grant County in Southwestern New Mexico, which has a medium- sized city (Silver City) as a county seat, opportunities for recreational and outdoor activities, vast open spaces and long distances between small communities located with its borders.

One of the segments of A Place at the Table shows the lengths by which Pastor Bob Wilson of Plateau Valley Assembly of God goes to bring food back to his small ranching community of Collbran, Co.,  Twice a week, Pastor Bob takes his trailer to the Food Bank of  the Rockies in Grand Junction (the area's medium-sized city) to haul loads of food back to Collbran,

Over the years, he found that he needed to bring back more and more food. "In 1999, our initial year, we distributed 27,000 pounds of food to our community; growing every year, we distributed 240,000 pounds in 2011," Pastor Bob said in a piece written for the companion book to the documentary..  "Did our community have a need?  The number speak for themselves. We saw a substantial increase due to the economic downturn around 2009."

Food providers in Grant County in New Mexico find themselves in a similar predicament. The scarcity of options to acquire healthy and nutritious food is well documented.  And the need is great. A recent study found that the rate of food insecurity in Grant County was 20% (and more than 28% in neighboring Luna County).

"Tough economic times and our rural location have a noticeable impact on available food supplies for Grant County. The food pantry currently orders the majority of its food supplies through Roadrunner Food Bank in Las Cruces," the Volunteer Center of Grant Conty said in a recent update to supporters and volunteers.

Because we are dedicated to providing high quality, healthy foods to our pantry recipients, the [food pantry] committee is looking for additional and alternative methods of acquiring foods locally. These may include: shopping sales at local grocery stores, buying in bulk from local food manufacturers (such as Mi Ranchito in Bayard), establishing relationships with local growers to purchase or glean produce, and working with local stores to recover food that might otherwise be thrown in the trash.

The challenge has led the food pantry committee to form three new sub-committees: a food recovery sub-committee, a food purchasing sub-committee, and a fundraising sub-committee.

"We are looking for passionate volunteers to form these sub-committees," said the center's program director Becca Anderson.  "These volunteers will work with The Volunteer Center and the food pantry committee to create new avenues for providing supplemental food to members of our community who are in need."

The Women of New Mexico Oxfam Action Corps Tackle Capitol Hill

Field organizer Brian Rawson with volunteers Kalen Olson, Jasmine McBeath and Katherine Chávez

On Tuesday, April 16, Kalen Olson, Jasmine McBeath and Katherine Chávez visited the offices of our elected representatives on Capitol Hill to urge them to protect poverty-focused foreign aid. (More about their visits later). The Oxfam Lobby Day was held in conjunction with Oxfam Sisters on the Planet and other allies. 

Jasmine, Katherine and Kalen will be among the Oxfam Action Corps volunteers from around the country who will lead local efforts to promote the GROW campaign and Behind the Brands, table at concerts, and host movie screenings and Oxfam Hunger Banquets with allied organizations, professional networks, universities and CHANGE clubs.

If the names sound familiar, it's because the three women led similar efforts in 2012-2013.  Click on these links to see the great events they organized for GROW, Hunger Banquet, and Behind the Brands.  We're lucky to have them back!

Read the biographies of most of the 29 volunteer organizers from 15 states who met in Washington in April for Oxfam Action Corps' annual training.

(The above photo comes courtesy of Kalen Olson).

A Couple of Reflections in the Aftermath of Boston Tragedy

Photo: Rene Ronquillo

All of us were affected in one way or another by the fatal explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon earlier this week. Anger, sorrow, confusion are probably some of the emotions that we felt.  I would like to share excerpts of some reflections from a couple of people whose writings always inspire me. 

The first piece was written by Steve Garnaas-Holmes, a United Methodist pastor who lives in Massachusetts, the state where the tragedy occurred.  Pastor Garnaas-Holmes published the piece in his blog Unfolding Light.

The second excerpt is from Jesuit Father James Martin, a contributing editor for America magazine.

Marathon Kindness
Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes

After yesterday’s Boston Marathon bombings, people around the world are praying for this city, and the people affected by the violence. But don’t stop there: pray for the whole world. After all, it’s really the world’s marathon. I’ve been there near the finish line, surrounded by people of every nation. As the winner runs by, a crowd breaks out in the national anthem—of Kenya. I’m sure you noticed all the international flags in the news videos. It’s the whole world’s race. And today we’re a part of the whole world’s pain. We share the trauma and grief that much of the world lives in every day. This is not Boston’s unique pain. It is everyone’s. Pray for the the healing of the world

People say, “Be strong.” We will, yes, we will. But the world does not need strength. What the world needs is kindness. The world needs people who have the courage to be gentle, even when those around them are full of rage and despair and violence, who refuse to join the world’s bitterness. The world needs people who choose love over fear. That’s the only thing that will actually change the world.  Read full version of Marathon Kindness  

Good Friday on Boylston Street
James Martin, S.J.

Seeing injury come to the city was shocking, difficult to comprehend in such a familiar setting—the Jesuit community in Back Bay, on Newbury Street, is only a block away from site of the bombings. It was the same here in New York on September 11, 2001. Familiar surroundings, laden with happy memories, suddenly became places of immense sadness.

But suffering is never the last word. There is always the possibility of new life. How will this happen? It may be difficult to see now, as it was impossible for the disciples on Good Friday to see, but the God who has suffered is ready to help us, and always holding out the promise of something new, something that will help us move beyond the blood and tears.

That was true in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago and it is true in Boston today.  Read full version of Good Friday on Boylston Street. 

New Orleans Artists Against Hunger and Homelessness Celebrates Allen Touissant's 75th Birthday

What are you doing to celebrate Allen Touissant's 75th birthday?  New Orleans Artists Against Hunger and Homelessness (NOAAHH) is throwing a big bash at Harrah's New Orleans Theatre.  

There are a lot of reasons to celebrate Allen Touissant.  After all, the Grammy Trustee Award recipient and inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has been a great ambassador for New Orleans and its music. 

But Allen Touissant is also being recognized for his efforts, along with fellow Grammy Award musician Aaron Neville, to help alleviate hunger and homelessness in New Orleans. In 1985, the two musicians brought together a group of New Orleans artists to perform in a benefit concern for the hungry and homeless in the Crescent City. From that effort, NOAAHH was born. The organization has developed into a successful nonprofit organization that annually presents concerts and gala celebrity mixers to raise funds to help alleviate hunger and homelessness in the metro New Orleans area.  Check out this video from 2010.

So, if you live in New Orleans, please join in the celebration of Allen Touissant's 75th birthday and help raise funds for NOAAHH, which distributes proceeds from its annual concert to agencies in New Orleans that serve communities in need.  Reserved Seating tickets for A Tribute to Touissant on Tuesday, April 30, are $250 and $300. Click here for tickets.

So what if you don't live in New Orleans and want to help celebrate Allen Toussaint's birthday?  Go NOAAHH's Web site and click on the donate button on the upper right-hand corner.

Check out the line-up of performers in the poster below.  Happy 75th Birthday Allen Touissant!

A Winter Blessing Applied to Spring

Long, blue, spiky-edged shadows crept out across the snow-fields, while a rosy glow, at first scarce discernible, gradually deepened and suffused every mountain-top, flushing the glaciers and the harsh crags above them. This was the alpenglow, to me the most impressive of all the terrestrial manifestations of God. At the touch of this divine light, the mountains seemed to kindle to a rapt, religious consciousness, and stood hushed like devout worshippers waiting to be blessed. -John Muir

Salvaging Leftovers from the Luxury Suites at Broncos Stadium

By all accounts, football is the most popular spectator sport in the United States, drawing millions of fans to 32 stadiums around the country. Those fans spend a big portion of their entertainment budget on tickets, but also on parking and food.

While NFL teams are trying to keep fans happy by providing an increasingly varied (and sometimes healthier) selection at the concession stands, the fare in the luxury suites has always been very good. This is the food that the Denver salvage organization We Don't Waste collected at eight Broncos home games last season, and plans to do so again this coming season.  

“At Sports Authority Field at Mile High, there are 141 suites that are occupied during every Denver Broncos football game,” said We Don't Waste founder Arlan Preblud. “Those suites are catered by a single company. Once the game is over and the suites are empty, our volunteers go through and they collect all the unused food that is in the suites.”   

The leftovers from the suites provide a lot of meals for folks in the community. “We usually collect approximately 4,000 servings,” said Preblud . “That’s servings of everything from sliders to scalloped potatoes, to chili, to tacos, to roast beef, prime rib, pork tenderloin, barbecued chicken, barbecued ribs, and vegetables. It’s all nutritious restaurant-grade food, and we are thankful that we are there to recover that food.”   

But the NFL Broncos are just one source of food for We Don't Waste.  More than 50 donors in Denver provide their leftovers to the organization, which then distributes the food fo 40 community-based agencies. 

We Don't Waste, which has been in existence for about three years, has made a big difference in Denver. Read more in Organic Connections.

But the Denver organization is just one of many organizations dedicated to food salvage around the country. (In Albuquerque, there are two organizations that provide this service: Desert Harvest and Community Plates). We are thankful for their service to the community, but also mindful of our wasteful habits as a society. According to some estimates, 40 percent of the food in our country goes to waste. 

An Invitation to Celebrate the Unifying Love of Archbishop Óscar Romero

“When we struggle for human rights, for freedom, for dignity, when we feel that it is a ministry of the church to concern itself for those who are hungry, for those who have no schools, for those who are deprived, we are not departing from God’s promise.” 

― Óscar A. Romero,
from The Violence of Love

The annual commemoration of Archbishop Óscar Romero at Aquinas Newman Center in Albuquerque will address four issues, each addressed at a "station," in a format similar to the Good Friday Stations of the Cross. 

One of the stations will examine agriculture, food and justice, and hunger.  The station will first examine an aspect of  food insecurity in North America, and then look at issues of hunger in El Salvador.  There are similarities and also differences in the way hunger affects people here and in El Salvador.  In the Central American country, hunger can take a very rural face.  Land ownership,\ the right to grow food, and economic inequalities are very important in addressing hunger.

Darkness into Light: The Unifying Love of Óscar Romero
Monday, April 22
Aquinas Newman Center 
1815 Las Lomas Rd. NE  Albuquerque
7:00 p.m.

The  Romero commemoration will also address three other topics in a similar fashion, looking first at the North American perspective, followed by the Salvadoran point of view (always drawing connections on how the two interrelate). Those topics are Climate Change, Education, and the Harvest of Empire.(emigration/immigration). 

As is always the case, the Romero event is a faith-based celebration, and music will accompany each station.  This year there will be songs from the Taizé community. 

Four visitors from El Salvador will be taking part in the service Gil Pintin, Executive Director of the Asociación para la Promoción de los Derechos Humanos de la Niñez  (APRODHENI); Nuria Monaco, the organization's Director of Family Support/Scholarship Program; Claudia Mendoza, university scholarship student; and Yanira Coto Cruz, high school scholarship student.

So if you live in the Albuquerque area, you are cordially invited to participate in this commemoration celebrating the unifying love of Archbishop Óscar Romero.

League of Women Voters Provides Comprehensive Directory of New Mexico Elected Officials.

Here is a quick question for you.  Do you know how many offices Sen. Tom Udall and Sen. Martin Heinrich have around the state?  You're probably guessing they have offices to cover each of the regions in New Mexico.  But do you know where those offices are?  They each have offices in the three major cities, Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces.  Sen. Udall also has an office in Carlsbad, while Sen. Heinrich has a presence in Roswell and Farmington.

The addresses and telephone numbers for each of those offices are included in the Voters' Key 2013-2014 directory, which the League of Women Voters of  New Mexico recently published.  This great guide also has contact information for Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Rep. Steve Pearce, and Rep. Ben Ray Lujan.

Oh yes, it has information about how to contact the Washington offices (including Web addresses) of all our federal elected officials, as well as how to contact President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

The guide also has comprehensive information for New Mexico officials, starting with Gov. Susana Martinez, Lieutenant Gov. John Sanchez, Secretary of State Dianna Duran, Attorney General Gary King, State Auditor Hector Balderas, State Treasurer James Lewis, and Commissioner of Public Lands Ray Powell.

The guide also tells you how to contact the Public Regulation Commission and the Public Regulation Commission, both of which have offices in Santa Fe

Sen. Tim Keller

The contact information for the legislative branch is also available.  The local contact information for each of the 42 State Senators and 70 State Representatives is also included, as well as the areas they represent.  Do you know the names of your representative and senator?  If I wanted to contact Sen. Tim Keller or Rep. Mimi Stewart, the guide tells me how. 

And let's not forget about the judicial branch.  You can contact the New Mexico Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals, both of which have offices in Santa Fe. 

The guide is a great service that the League of Women Voters of New Mexico offers to residents of our state.  We owe them a debt of gratitude.  Click here to download a copy of the guide in PDF format.

Water Scarcity is Here (and it is Likely to Worsen)

Map developed by International Water Management Institute

For those of us who live in the desert here in New Mexico, the concerns about water scarcity are very real.  This is especially the case this year because precipitation during the winter months has been much less than usual.  To make matters worse, very little of the snow that fell in t he mountains this year is making its way to rivers and streams in our region. 

The situation is dire in many areas of the world.  On World Water Day (March 22), the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet blog posted a piece that took a comprehensive look at the world's current water situation.  The article, entitled  The Looming Threat of Water Scarcity, presented a dire situation:

Some 1.2 billion people—almost a fifth of the world—live in areas of physical water scarcity, while another 1.6 billion face what can be called economic water shortage. The situation is only expected to worsen as population growth, climate change, investment and management shortfalls, and inefficient use of existing resources restrict the amount of water available to people. It is estimated that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will live in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, with almost half of the world living in conditions of water stress.

Two Types of Water Scarcity
 The blog post, which is based on a comprehensive report by Worldwatch Institute, pointed out that there are two  types of water scarcity:

Physical scarcity occurs when there is not enough water to meet demand; its symptoms include severe environmental degradation, declining groundwater, and unequal water distribution.

As you can see by the map above, our area of the U.S. is painted in orange, which means that we suffer from physical water scarcity. But the water still flows when we open the tap, and our biggest concern this spring and fall will probably be conserving water. 

Economic water scarcity occurs when there is a lack of investment and proper management to meet the demand of people who do not have the financial means to use existing water sources; the symptoms in this case normally include poor infrastructure. Large parts of Africa suffer from economic water scarcity.

In addition to building infrastructure, there are other accompanying solutions.Policymakers must introduce a variety of measures to address global water scarcity., said the blog post written by Supriya Kumar. One important initiative is to support small-scale farmers. Much of the public investment in agricultural water management has focused on large-scale irrigation systems. Farmers can also use water more efficiently by taking a number of steps, including growing a diverse array of crops suited to local conditions and adopting irrigation systems like “drip” lines that deliver water directly to plants’ roots. 

But there is an even larger at play in the global water situation: the warming of the Earth's climate. 
To combat the effects of climate change, efforts must be made to follow an integrated water resource management approach on a global scale. This involves water management that recognizes the holistic nature of the water cycle and the importance of managing trade-offs within it, that emphasizes the importance of effective institutions, and that is inherently adaptive, said the report.

Albuquerque Journal: More than One-Fourth of New Mexico Residents Classified as Working Poor

One of the legislative efforts for Bread for the World's in 2012 was to protect and expand tax credits for low-income families.

While our efforts in 2013 are focused on A Place at the Table documentary and strengthening and protecting the safety net for nutrition programs, the issue of tax credits for working families is not forgotten.  "John's Story," one of the videos that accompany this year's Offering of Letters,  follows a single father in the Chicago suburbs who lost his middle class job during the recession and is now piecing together income and food resources to provide for his family. This video (posted below) is an excerpt from The Line.

Every state in the union has a percentage of its population who classify as working poor.  In New Mexico, one of the poorest states in the country, more than one-fourth of our population  falls in that category.  These statistics are based statistics from the International Revenue Service, which indicated that 212,556 eligible taxpayers in the state received an average credit of $2,303 from the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)  for the 2011 tax  year. 

The Albuquerque Journal published a great piece on this very topic on March 10 entitled Disparity among the Working Poor.  "The working poor make up as much as an estimated 28 percent of New Mexico’s households, typically scraping together an existence from part-time jobs, operating their own business on the side and getting whatever government assistance is available to them," said the article written by staff writer Richard Metcalf.

The EITC provides a lifeline to working families who otherwise would not be able to afford many necessities. “Research indicates that families mostly use the EITC to pay for necessities, repair homes, maintain vehicles that are needed to commute to work, and in some cases, obtain additional education and training,” said the article, quoting a report by the Washington, D.C.-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The counties in New Mexico with the largest percentage of residents receiving EITC were McKinley (Gallup) , Luna (Deming), Guadalupe (Santa Rosa), and Doña Ana (Las Cruces), said the article. Below are some excerpts.  You can see the full article if you have a subscription and have signed up for online access.  Or you can sign in as a guest on a one-time basis.

• No place in New Mexico comes close to tapping the Earned Income Tax Credit like hardscrabble McKinley County, where as many as 83 percent of the households received the tax credit for the 2011 tax year.
• While McKinley County is in a class by itself for taxpayers getting the EITC, sparsely populated Luna and Guadalupe counties had up to 45 percent and 40 percent, respectively, of their households getting the credit for the 2011 tax year.
•  The county with the fourth-highest rate of tax-credit recipients was Doña Ana County at up to 39 percent of households. Doña Ana, which is home to the Las Cruces metro area, has a median household income of $41,118 a year, which is just 7 percent higher than McKinley’s median of $38,520, according to HUD median income tables for 2012.

In case you're wondering about the Albuquerque area, up to 23 percent of all households qualified for the EITC in the 2011 tax year, equal to the 23 percent average nationwide. Bernalillo’s average credit was $2,160.  The majority of the benefits went to residents of the South Valley and the Southwest Mesa.

SHARE New Mexico: The Statistics Behind the Stories

The documentaries A Place at the Table and The Line tell us a number of stories to illustrate the problems associated with hunger, poverty and malnutrition.  Videos are a very power format to tell stories, but so is the written word.  Roadrunner Food Bank relates a handful of short human-interest profiles of some of the clients that use its services.

But these stories are simply a way to put a face on the big picture.  To get the broad perspective, we need the statistics, trends, tables, maps and charts. In the past, this data has been scattered in different places and required a lot of research and digging.  But that is no longer the case in New Mexico.  Thanks to the efforts and vision of  PNM, United Way of Central New Mexico, and the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of New Mexico, there is a non-profit organization called SHARE New Mexico that consolidates important data in a single site.

The site not only offers data but provides a platform for sharing of information about a wide range of issues which impact the quality of life of New Mexicans, such as homelessness and hunger, health, education and early childhood.  After months of preparation, the site came online in early April.  Click here to visit SHARE New Mexico.

Major philanthropic and private institutions have committed funding for SHARE New Mexico, which will be utilized to build and sustain the Web site to ensure it is a valuable and reliable resource. 

Below is a promotional video.

Food Bloggers to Promote 'A Place At the Table' on April 8

Many of us use social media in one form or another, whether it's Twitter, Facebook, Google chat or blogs to communicate with each other,  to share current events and opinion pieces, and to share our own opinions.

There all sorts of blogs out there published by folks who like to share opinions, news, and links.  Some bloggers like to share information on recipes, cooking, nutrition and other related areas.  If you fall in this category, Food Bloggers Against Hunger has created a campaign for you on on Monday, April 8, 2013, to promote the documentary A Place of the Table.

The film is not only the anchor for Bread for the World's 2013 Offering of Letters, but is being used broadly by other sponsoring organizations (including FRAC, Feeding America, Share Our Strength) to  raise awareness about hunger and nutrition concerns in our country.  Here is how the organization Ample Harvest is using the documentary.

Of course, the best way to make a blog post stand out  is to relate personal experiences or somehow localize our posts to our communities.  And this is what the organizers of Food Bloggers Against Hunger are interested in having participants accomplish with their posts.

I know this is primarily a food bloggers event, and not all of you are food bloggers, but most of you know how to pull a simple meal together, and how to stretch your food budget, and on April 8th, a small, grassroots event will be happening in the blog world to address the issue of hunger in America...I'm participating, and if you feel so led, maybe you could check out [the campaign], and see if there is a voice within you to step up and support this very worthy, and necessary cause. Unfortunately, my experience with it is highly personal, as my blog post on April 8th will reveal, and it resonates deeply with me," writes Kate Selner, author of Kate in the Kitchen, a blog of food and life.

Watch this short video if you are interested in participating.  Other notes and guidelines follow the video.



Food bloggers can help make a difference this by using their platforms to advocate for change. If you're ready to do good with food this spring, here's how!

• Send an email to thegivingtable@gmail.com, and download the post guidelines
• Twitter: Follow @thegivingtable and tweet using the A Place at the Table hashtag #takeyourplace
• Facebook: On 4/8/13, post your recipes on The Giving Table's fan page.
• Pinterest: A board has been created to capture your posts!
• Instagram: Tag recipe photos with the #takeyourplace hashtag

An Invitiation to Celebrate Ecumenism!

Edward James Olmos Promotes Casa de Corazón Project in Albuquerque's South Valley

Edward James Olmos and others talk about the Casa de Corazón complex that Catholic Charities has planned for the Albuquerque South Valley. "We have set a goal in April to have over 100,000 views of our new video," says Kathy Freeze, Parish & Faith Community Outreach Liaison, at the Catholic Charities Center for Community Involvement.  So please take a couple of minutes to view this beautiful video and then ask your family and friends to do the same.  The video is embedded below, but please view the original video on YouTube to help boost the number of views.



Here is more information from Catholic Charities.

"The reality is that each day, more and more people in our community are faced with economic uncertainty and long-term unemployment and are looking to Catholic Charities for assistance. They are the poor and marginalized. A staggering statistic is that 18.1% of New Mexico’s children live in poverty. Global economic and social injustices are driving record numbers of desperate refugees and immigrants into our state. While federal and state funding continues to decline, the need for services provided by Catholic Charities is growing exponentially. More than ever before, Catholic Charities needs your help. 

"In response to the increased need for our services, we have embarked on one of our greatest endeavors to date—the construction of Catholic Charities’ community service center known as Casa de Corazon. This project, in the heart of Albuquerque’s South Valley, will also allow Catholic Charities to create a single campus where essential services and programs can be distributed to more than 12,000 individuals who seek assistance each year."