Long Island Cares Children’s Breakfast Food Trucks on Target with Annual Goals of Feeding Children in Need

The Harry Chapin Food Bank is “right on target having achieved its goal of serving 7,000 children through their mobile children’s breakfast food trucks in the first year of operation.”  According to a recent report, their food trucks have assisted 9,494 children in just the first sixteen months of launching this innovative program to address children’s food insecurity on Long Island. Whoop!!!

The regional food bank rolled out its first food truck on August 29, 2015 as a result of receiving a generous grant from Island Federal Credit Union.

Published in a recent report by Feeding America, there are 89,000 children on Long Island considered to be food insecure. Long Island Cares’ children’s breakfast food trucks collaborate with dozens of local organizations that provide emergency food to families in need through the regional food bank’s network of member agencies.  The trucks provide a ready-to-eat meals consisting of cold cereals, low-fat milk, snack bars, fresh fruit, juice and yogurt cups for children when schools are closed and the children don’t have access to the free or reduced school meals program.  The trucks have collaborated with partner agencies in Brentwood, Westbury, Hempstead, Wyandanch, Bellport, Lawrence, Amityville, Riverhead, and other communities that have a high concentration of at-risk children.

You can donate to Long Island Cares here! Also if you would like more information about the Mobile children’s Breakfast Food Trucks and other programs provided by Long Island Cares then call (631) 582.FOOD.

Get Ready For Congressional Recess

The week of February 20–24 is the first district work period of the new Congress—meaning your Members of Congress (MoC) will be back home holding public events and meeting with constituents.

Or, at least they’re supposed to be. If your representatives don’t have a town hall or other public event scheduled yet, call and tell them that you expect them to. This is a great opportunity for your group to remind your MoC that they need to stand up for you—and that means standing up against the Trump agenda. Check out my Take Action blog for more ways to get involved!!!

“Some MoC will try to avoid having public meetings. But the purpose of these breaks is for MoC to hear directly from the people they represent. If they aren’t willing to meet constituents, they’re not doing their jobs. If your MoC is refusing to hold a public event, stay tuned: we’ll be rolling out additional tips on how to shame these missing members into interacting with their constituents.” – The Indivisible Guide Team

Big Ag Cover-Up of Animal Cruelty

“This animal cruelty uncovered, documented by an investigator with The Humane Society of the United States, isn’t rare. Over the past two decades, animal protection organizations have conducted more than 100 undercover investigations into our nation’s factory farms and slaughterhouses. These investigations have repeatedly revealed sadistic abuse: workers kicking piglets, cows rammed with the blades of a forklift, and calves repeatedly shocked with metal prods.  They’ve also exposed standardized, industry-wide practices, like confining egg-laying hens, breeding sows and veal calves in cages and crates that virtually immobilize them for their entire lives.”

Boulder is Booming with Diversity for Good Food Entrepreneurs 

According to CB Insights, a research firm, $315 million in New York and $616 million in Silicon Valley has gone towards Food and Beverage start-ups. But the vast majority of that money in New York and Northern California goes to just a few companies. In Boulder, CO, the money is more widely spread among dozens of companies that make everything from gluten-free cereals to probiotic drinks, according to a NY Times article. 

“Indeed, the founders of small food and drink companies based here say Boulder is hard to beat as a place to start and grow. Many of them cite the help of Naturally Boulder, a kind of support organization for natural product entrepreneurs that started in 2005.”

Not that we needed it, but this seems to be one more reason enticing us all to visit the beautiful Colorado state this upcoming July for our first U.S. Slow Food Nations that will be held in Denver the 14th to the 16th. Details coming soon!

In the meantime, mark your calendar for what will surely be a dynamic and vibrant convening of food producers and thought leaders from throughout the continent. There will be a smattering of tactile learning, tastings, workshops, dine arounds, and cooking demos which will be integrated throughout the city, celebrating the principles of food as well as the special city, Denver itself!