Supply chain issues bring loss in food donations to MANNA
MACKENSY LUNSFORD, Asheville Citizen Times
May 8, 2021
FacebookTwitterEmail 11
1of11A MANNA FoodBank driver waves as they depart from the warehouse on Swannanoa River Road in Asheville, N.C., on Wednesday, May 5, 2021. The nonprofit and its partner agencies last March served 128,690 people in Western North Carolina, a 93% jump from February to the onset of the pandemic. (Angela Wilhelm /The Asheville Citizen-Times via AP)Angela Wilhelm/APShow MoreShow Less
2of11MANNA FoodBank CEO Hanna Randall is photographed at the nonprofit s warehouse on Swannanoa River Road in Asheville, N.C., on Wednesday, May 5, 2021. The nonprofit and its partner agencies last March served 128,690 people in Western North Carolina, a 93% jump from February to the onset of the pandemic. (Angela Wilhelm /The Asheville Citizen-Times via AP)Angela Wilhelm/APShow MoreShow Less
Forum, May 8: Good time to support child nutrition efforts
Published: 5/7/2021 10:00:05 PM
Modified: 5/7/2021 10:00:03 PM
It’s a good time to support child nutrition efforts
It’s almost Mother’s Day, and I’m thinking about those mothering during this pandemic. Some have lost their jobs or had to reduce their hours at work. Because of school or child care closings, some have had no choice but to stay home with children. In any case, many moms are earning less income and may be struggling to put food on the table.
When my son was born, I had to quit work to be home with him. It was a joyful time in many ways, but it was a really tough time financially. At one point, I even started writing bad checks to buy groceries. Eventually, the stores wouldn’t take my checks anymore.
View Comments
Experts knew all along it would be a struggle to reach herd immunity against COVID-19 in the United States, but Knox County Health Department Director Dr. Martha Buchanan said she s optimistic we ll get there eventually.
A slowdown in both COVID-19 cases and vaccine uptake numbers were completely expected, she told Knox News. Buchanan and other providers in the community are ready to power through the ups and downs as the pandemic hopefully continues to dwindle. Right now our numbers are trending down and look good, and that s exciting, Buchanan said about new COVID-positive test results. But, as usual, we have to remind everybody to always continue to practice the five core actions and get vaccinated because that s what s going to keep moving us forward.
I was a teenager in 1967 when Sen. Bobby Kennedy visited the Mississippi Delta and Appalachia to assess the extent of hunger in America.
His sad conversations with hungry children were broadcast broadly and profoundly changed the nation. After that, no one could deny that within our wealthy country, deep poverty and hunger existed.
Many federal nutrition programs had their origins in the bipartisan response that followed, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and the school breakfast and lunch programs. Research compiled by the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) shows federal nutrition programs not only reduce food insecurity but also improve the health, nutrition and well-being of children. In addition to fueling minds and bodies, these programs have been instrumental in stimulating the economy.
Sen. Cory Booker is still a relative newbie on the Senate Agriculture Committee, but that hasn’t stopped the New Jersey Democrat from thinking big when it comes to American farming and food. “We must urgently rethink the way we approach food and nutrition policy,” he told a group of agriculture reporters late last week.
To name just a few of Booker’s goals: additional federal aid for Black and other disadvantaged farmers beyond the historic $5 billion he helped secure for them earlier this year, tens of billions of dollars in incentives to push farmers and ranchers to adopt climate-friendly practices, a national moratorium on concentrated animal feeding operation, or CAFOs, and a permanent USDA food box program that would deliver fresh fruits and vegetables to communities. The item on his wish list with the most potential for sweeping change, however, is not of the legislative variety; it’s a second White House conference on food and nutrition, an idea to which Booker lent