The Problem of Hunger

There is an article in the 11/12/09 Minneapolis Star Tribune about hunger in Minnesota and how Second Harvest Heartland is dealing with the situation. Check it out at Star Tribune.

The thing to keep in mind about this article is that 1 in 10 people in Minnesota suffers from hunger - that is, skips meals because of lack of food, worries about where their next meal is coming from, has their health endangered because of lack of proper nutrition. This is something that should not be tolerated in a country that produces so much food...

This problem is also why the district council is interested in starting another community garden in our area - specifically north of I-94. The meeting on November 18 is a starting place to plan for this garden (see this blog for specific information about the meeting), but another meeting will be planned for early in December. All around the city, neighborhoods are setting up community gardens, and looking for other ways to assure that their residents have healthy foods available. And every community garden makes donations of excess produce to local food shelves - our own Totem Town Community Garden donated almost 500 lbs of produce this year alone.

If you are able, consider making donations to local food shelves - what they most need is cash to purchase items that are not donated seasonally and to make sure that healthy foods are available. You can contact Merrick Community Services to donate to the two eastside food shelves they run - call 651.771.8821 to find out how.