America's Second Harvest to Feeding America

From the offices of Rick Bella and America's Second Harvest, a significant message about a name change and repositioning of the organization designed to better convey the message of the mission. The letter from Vicki Escarra, president of America's Second Harvest:



As a valued partner, you already recognize the importance of doing your part in the fight against hunger in America—thank you. For that reason, we contact you today with some terrific news. Background As you know, our vision is a hunger-free America. In order for us to realize that vision, we must mobilize the public around the issue and motivate their involvement in our mission. We have spent the last year conducting research to understand how to engage the public in our movement. We have been careful and methodical in our approach. We have undertaken the critical steps of gathering a fact base, so that we better understand who in the public would be most responsive to our messages. We conducted the first consumer segmentation study in the history of our organization. Having this information will allow us to better focus resources. We also identified a brand positioning for our organization that best captures the intersection of who we are with what motivates the public. It is called Feeding Hope, providing the fuel to survive and even thrive. This brand positioning will undoubtedly compel Americans to become more passionate about the fight against hunger. An Exciting New Name We are at our next critical juncture: what name and logo best deliver the organization’s capabilities, mission and future potential, while stimulating public attention and commitment. Once again, we have adopted a fact-based approach towards understanding whether we should keep our current name or move to another option. This process has included multiple touch-points with stakeholders and is being led by a cross-functional team of senior-level network members and national office staff. I am proud to say that I serve on this team, alongside our heads of marketing, development and communication. Likewise, four members from our food bank network serve, one of them a founding member of our network. So, with great enthusiasm, I share with you our new national organization name: Feeding America. Feeding America is the resounding winner among the public segments. It will best allow us to reach our goal of mobilizing the public more significantly behind fighting hunger. Here are some of the exciting highlights:
Scored higher (among the public) on more criteria than any other name option (including our current one)
Particularly strong with faith-based segment, our most valuable group, though also very positive across other two priority segments
Best fit with Feeding Hope positioning
Best suggests an organization committed to hunger relief
Increases interest among the public in addressing hunger
An emotional connection/motivating
Is simple
When affiliated with local member, most likely to increase support to local member
In brand valuation, shows most future potential of any name candidates
Comparable ratings (vs. other lead name options) on following attributes for the public
Rated Feeding America as strong performer on Access to food; a commitment to feeding people • Sustenance


Next Steps We are moving to logo and architecture development and testing with this new name immediately. Our plan is to have this developed and tested by the end of June 2008. We plan to debut the new name and logo internally at the end of June and then release to the public in September 2008, in support of Hunger Action Month. Please see attached information detailing further specifics about our name selection, our timeline and an invitation to connect with our Chief Marketing Officer and Resource Development team regarding our name change and next steps.

Alongside these dates, we have full planning underway for a careful migration strategy for our key constituents (namely current individual donors, Corporate Donors and Foundations and Government/Allied organizations). You should expect a logo framework and usage packet in July/August. We want to minimize any loss from the name change and recognize this news as an opportunity to strengthen our commitment to the fight against hunger in the US. We sincerely appreciate your ongoing support and look forward to taking this next important step. Please contact me or your contact on our Resource Development team if you have any questions or would like to discuss further.

Warm Regards,

Vicki Escarra
President & CEO

TK: Look for an Ad Council campaign for Feeding America from September through November, and full launch of the brand by November.

Cost of production question answered

Rick Bella of America's Second Harvest wrote recently with a request for information about fresh produce costs as it moves through the supply chain. Rick said he wanted to show food banks how the program seeks to to capture produce at the best time in the supply chain for not only costs but for quality as well.

I asked Gary Lucier of the USDA Economic Research Service if he might have any links to cost of production sources for fresh produce and he was gracious to respond fairly quickly.

Gary provided the following "cost of production" sites that also might be of interest to other Fresh Talk readers.

http://www.agbuscenter.ifas.ufl.edu/cost/COP04-05/tableofcontents.htm

http://coststudies.ucdavis.edu/current.php

http://www.ag-econ.ncsu.edu/AgBudgets/vegetable.htm

http://cherokee.agecon.clemson.edu/f&v_bud.htm

http://cdp.wisc.edu/Freshmarket.htm

One of great things about the way business is done today is the use of the Web, email, blogs and discussion groups to get questions answered. Thanks again to Gary for his quick response.

Interview with Rick Bella of America's Second Harvest

Had the chance to visit with Rick Bella of America's Second Harvest today. Rick does good work with produce suppliers in providing tens of millions of pounds of fresh produce to the nation's food banks. You'll be interested in some of his thoughts about the impact of the economic slowdown on food banks, and the importance of sourcing produce from nearby suppliers if at all possible. Stay tuned for coverage in The Packer....

A question from Rick

A question from our good friend Rick Bella of America's Second Harvest. I think of the USDA's Agricultural Prices report first. Does anyone have any other thoughts for Rick on cost comparisons?



Hi Tom,
I know that you track produce f.o.b. costs over past years and usually post those to the blog.

I have pasted below our experience with costs over the past 5-years and wonder if you have comparable data in the categories listed.

Naturally, packs and sizes varied but we’d like to just get a feel for what the industry did on like items listed. Can you assist or point me in a direction to obtain this type of data? Some of our own increases were due to program pack changes moving to more retail sized packaging which naturally costs more.

Thanks much and I hope we can get together at United. Rick

F.O.B. cost per pound - top 10	2003-2007 percentage change	4 year Compound annual growth rate
Potatoes	46.0%	9.9%
Apples	6.1%	1.5%
Watermelon	28.2%	6.4%
Onions	103.0%	19.4%
Yams	106.7%	19.9%
Carrots	29.1%	6.6%
Cabbage	36.7%	8.1%
Oranges	-56.6%	-18.9%
Pears	270.0%	38.7%
Sweet Corn	81.0%	16.0%

America can't wait for farm bill

From America's Second Harvest:


Soaring food prices, energy costs leave low-income Americans and food banks strapped from coast-to-coast

As the cost of food and fuel reaches record highs, lines are growing longer and shelves are growing emptier at food banks and emergency feeding organizations nationwide. Hope for low-income Americans depends on enactment of a strong nutrition title in the Farm Bill, but that critical piece of legislation has been stalled in Congress for months, while millions of Americans have remained stuck in the grip of hunger.

"The holidays have come and gone, and food banks continue to face one of the toughest periods in their history. We have seen dramatic declines in commodity support from the federal government and private food donations," said Vicki Escarra, president and chief executive officer of America's Second Harvest. "Every day that goes by without a new Farm Bill is a day without hope for food banks around the country. Our member food banks are being forced to dip into their limited financial reserves to purchase food and ration it to people in need."

Several critical factors have contributed to what is rapidly becoming a desperate situation for the millions of people who depend on food banks across the country:

-- Federal commodity support has fallen by nearly $200 million per year since the enactment of the last Farm Bill in 2002. This drop in federal support is due to less need for the federal government to buy surplus foods to support agricultural producers.

-- Economic downturn has created as much as a 30 percent increase in demand for food assistance at food banks, food pantries and soup kitchens in many parts of the country.

-- Food price inflation is higher than it has been at any time in recent memory, and people who rely on food stamp benefits to feed their families are seeing a rapid erosion in their purchasing power. Benefit levels are set once per year, but food prices have risen 5.5 percent since the last adjustment just six months ago.

"These combined factors have created a perfect storm of hardship," said Escarra.

As further evidence of the dire situation, the number of participants in the Food Stamp Program has risen by more than 1 million in the past year. Help for hungry Americans will only be available if Congress and the Administration will finish the Farm Bill now.

Congress is in recess and scheduled to return to Washington in early April. This week, President Bush signed a second extension to the existing Farm Bill, which will authorize current programs through April 18. He called on Congress to either get a Farm Bill passed by that date or to extend the current bill for one year.

"A one year extension to the Farm Bill would be catastrophic for food banks and those they serve," said Escarra. "The charitable sector does not have the capacity to meet dramatically increasing requests for food assistance. It is critical for Congress to show leadership by passing a Farm Bill, and for the President to show compassion by signing it. If that happens, none of those in our great nation who face hunger daily will have to wait longer for relief."

America's Second Harvest -- The Nation's Food Bank Network is the largest charitable domestic hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through its network of more than 200 member food banks, America's Second Harvest annually provides assistance to more than 25 million people in need, including more than 9 million children and nearly 3 million seniors in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Each year, America's Second Harvest secures and distributes more than 2 billion pounds of food and grocery products to support feeding programs at approximately 50,000 local charitable agencies, including food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, after-school programs, and Kids Cafes. To learn more, please visit www.secondharvest.org.

Wanted : Retail managers

Rick Bella of America's Second Harvest passes on this link of a story published some weeks ago from USA Today about the need for dedicated retail store managers in the U.S. The story isn't specific to supermarkets, but there are obvious truths that transcend the mass merchandisers and food retailers.

Here is a great quote from the story:

"A day in the life of a retail manager would be a nightmare job for a lot of people," says Kathy Mance, vice president of the NRF Foundation, which helps retailers train and recruit employees and managers.


More from the story, about one retail manager:

Working a variety of day and night shifts suits her just fine, Koteski says. On a recent week, her day shifts were 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. and an evening shift was 1 to 11 p.m. She likes to sleep in and do errands on the days when she starts in the afternoon. Even though her shifts are typically 10 hours, during this season it hasn't been unusual for her to work 12 hours, given the restocking necessary to keep up with sales and recalls.

Of the holiday season, which included lines that stretched to the back of the store early on the day after Thanksgiving, Koteski says, "You just need to keep it all in perspective, have an organized plan and be flexible." Part of the plan: "You pick up stuff as you go, so at the end of the night, you don't have 20 carts that need to go back."

More reaction from other ex-managers:

Dillard says she left retailing last year because she didn't feel challenged or appreciated and rarely had time for her family and friends. "The final straw," she says, was when she was diagnosed with the flu and her district manager thought she should still report for work despite doctor's orders that she rest for at least three days.


And here are some choice reader comments

It appears to me that the retail industry fears they will no longer be able to hire and retain people with a selfess work ethic (suckers) any longer . Any semi-intelligent high schooler let alone a college grad knows retail is a dead end road to a miserable existence. This article is a lame propaganda piece. I pity that poor woman. Until Americans either refuse to work under such circumstances or unite to bargain with their employers collectively they will continue to suffer in the work place. One of the earlier comments talked about civil service as unmotivated or ambitionless (I nor any of my immediate family is civil service) and I disagree with this statement. Maybe civil service workers are smarter and like things Americans used to take for granted like a pension, healthcare,vacations, etc. Does this make them lazy or us stupid. Why is it a badge of honor to slave for an ungrateful employer who has disdain for their workers even our country itself and receive substandard pay and benefits for our labors? Maybe most of us are suckers sold a bill of goods about a good work ethic and what it will get you in this country other than taken advantage of. Employers are out for maximum output for minimum input how is it lazy unmotivated or wrong for workers to have this same philosophy?


From another:

I work at Sears part time and my managers HATE their jobs. All day they deal with: having to be a jerk to employees for not selling enough protection agreements and credit cards, problems created poor delivery service (the delivery managers always say its our fault, not theirs), problems created by poor service, (again, service managers blame us for their problems), people buying things online to pick up in store that we don’t have (it may say in stock online, but often is not the case), people angry we don’t have simple things in stock like gas cans ALL SUMMER, on and on and on

And another:

How I do not know what to tell my wife who works as a store manager and is starting to get stressed about all the hours versis the pay , all the theft , unmotavated employees, a over bering district manager ,sales goals that are just out of reach every year to accually make a bounus, the list goes on and on.
all I have ever done was to try and be there for her and give all the understanding and positive input that I could. I do know this much Not everyone out there has a Job better than min wage or just over and we are living a happy life and looking forward to the retirement years (about 12 years away) so all in all guess we will just keep going on and just be happy that we both still have jobs to go to .

TK: I appreciate this last comment. "Suck it up. We all have jobs to do." Managing employees at retail is not easy, and obviously it is a heavy cross to bear for some people. Improving job satisfaction with performance related bonuses, granting more flexible schedules, giving more recognition and providing more communication would be a start.

Hunger in America

While I touched on the irony of obesity in Africa in a recent post, Rick Bella of America's Second Harvest reminded us in a comment that we don't have to go beyond our borders to find hunger. Thanks to Rick and his organization for helping to ease the hardship of those who find themselves in a chapter of their lives where they cannot purchase enough food for their family. The Food Research and Action Center also does a good job in highlighting stories that bring this reality to the attention of policymakers.

Here are some FRAC summaries of hunger related news reports.

California Budget Cuts Will Affect Assistance Programs
(Monterey Herald, January 11, 2008)

Cuts in the governor's proposed budget will make it harder for resident immigrants to access the Food Stamp Program in California. Resident immigrants counting on the Food Stamp Program, which assists the state's seasonal job force and children through CALworks, will have to wait longer to be eligible for the assistance. The budget also calls for major cuts in other assistance programs and school spending. Monterey County director of social services Elliott Robinson called the cuts "major" and said, "If they are implemented, it will be very challenging and difficult…for children and families trying to make ends meet."

Food Stamp Challenge Continues to Reveal Scope of Hunger Problem

(Colorado Springs Gazette, January 10, 2008)

In this letter to the editor, Care and Share Food Bank board member Richard Wood reflects on his experience trying to live on $3.72 worth of food per day. Subsisting on a diet of mostly potatoes, bread, rice, water drove home for him the need for the Farm Bill to "nourish families [and enable] them to become self sufficient" through food stamps, The Emergency Food Assistance Program and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program.

Food Stamp Boost Considered to Help Block Possible Economic Recession
(NPR, January 11, 2008; Associated Press, January 11, 2008; Reuters, January 17, 2008, New York Daily News, January 21, 2008)

Food stamp recipients could receive 20 percent more buying power for six months, one of several economic stimulus tactics being considered by the federal government. The food stamp suggestion, which would boost benefit levels for six months, is a method supported by former Reagan advisor Martin Feldstein in a recent Brookings Institution forum convened to address current economic trends (including the current real estate downturn and lower hiring rates nationwide). According to Feldstein, increasing food stamp benefits could proceed quickly and recipients would most likely spend benefits quickly. A few days later, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke went on record with a similar view, saying food stamps are small additions which could help stimulate the economy. Democrats view any plan as needing to be "timely, targeted and temporary." Experts see the issues are possibly affecting voter decisions in the fall, especially among those Americans worried about their well-being.

Some Women in WIC Buy More Fresh Produce in Farmer's Markets

(The New York Times, January 15, 2008)

Researchers found that women taking part in the WIC program who are given $10 vouchers for grocery stores or farmer's markets will eat three times more fresh produce than women in a control group. In addition, voucher recipients who shop at farmers' market eat more servings of fruits and vegetables compared to supermarket shoppers. WIC participants feel the farmers' market produce is fresher and told researchers they enjoyed the experience of meeting local growers. The report, published in the American Journal of Public Health, suggested that the new WIC allotment amounts still don't reach what's needed - the study's vouchers were for $10 each week, while WIC vouchers will only provide between $6-8 per month.

TK: The reader replies to this last story were illuminating. One comment decried LA supermarkets, another said that canned veggies would stretch the dollar more. Another wrote:

This policy on fresh foods should be implemented immediately, everywhere. I am appalled and disgusted by the so-called “food” that is given to WIC recipients. In my neck of the woods, virtually every recipient is African-American. And yet, the preponderance of products that some agencies give away to WIC recipients is dairy. Do government dairy farm subsidies outweigh the need to address lactose intolerance — something that affects 70 percent of the African American population? We won’t even get into the high sugar and fat content. A friend who is white stopped getting WIC long before she needed to because she really didn’t need a case of evaporated milk every month, or high sugar brand name yogurt cups, especially with a child diagnosed with ADHD. Put this together with the excellent recent column on the high price of healthy foods and you may start to figure out why low income people are less healthy. They start out that way, and it doesn’t get any better.

New consumer Web site for Del Monte

Rick Bella of America's Second Harvest alerted me to a new consumer oriented Web site by Fresh Del Monte, at this link, www.fruits.com. First of all, I'm impressed Del Monte nabbed that primo Web address; I would assume they have had it in reserve for quite some time.

The site opens up with an uptempo song "Stay fresh in every way, say yes in every way." For those of us in open cube environments at work, volume control needs to be at the ready.

The site itself is very polished. with categories for products, recipes, kids and nutrition and fitness. Under the products section, each commodity has info on varieties, recipes, nutrition, tips for selection and how to store. The games section for kids is surprisingly extensive, so big ups for Del Monte for an impressive rollout.

It will be interesting to track the traffic at this Web site and compare it with other consumer oriented produce Web sites - other consumer brand marketers like Dole and Chiquita, www. fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org, www.produceguru.com, etc., I don't necessarily vouch for the accuracy of any traffic-tracking service, but I know one company that purports to measure such comparative stats is www.alexa.com. Do Fresh Talk readers use any others? Pass along any you use......

Call for support

I'm passing on this important message from America's Second Harvest Rick Bella:

America's Second Harvest Issues National Call for Support

America's Second Harvest is urgently calling for national support to raise funds to help millions of Americans facing hunger during the holiday season.

America's Second Harvest and the people served by food banks from coast to coast are facing a potential crisis. We are projecting an immediate food shortage of 15 million pounds -- the equivalent of more than 400 truckloads or 11.7 million meals -- by the end of the year.

Need is High Nationwide

The demand for food assistance is strong across the United States. The ailing economy and rising food and fuel prices are taking a toll on struggling families' budgets. Moms and dads face impossible decisions like whether to pay to heat their homes and keep their children warm or buy groceries to feed them. When they find themselves in desperate need, they turn to our network and the agencies we serve for help. Right now many of our member food banks and food-rescue organizations are seeing an increase in demand, as high as 20% in areas including Denver, Orlando and Phoenix.

The Farm Bill

Meanwhile, food banks nationwide are experiencing dramatic declines in food aid from surplus commodity purchases by the federal government. This has occurred because a healthy farm economy has required less intervention in order to support prices.

The Farm Bill, which is currently stalled in the Senate, authorizes funding for nutrition and food assistance programs for low-income families. Enacting a new Farm Bill would strengthen a long-term successful partnership between food banks and USDA, and provide much-needed food for those most in need throughout our nation.

America's Second Harvest food banks and the people we serve need a strong nutrition title in the Farm Bill enacted as soon as possible to begin replenishing dwindling inventories. Additionally, we need help from corporate and individual donors to help us replenish empty food banks shelves.

How You can Help Make a Donation: The best way to help hungry Americans is to make a financial donation to America's Second Harvest. Your donation will help us secure and distribute food for this campaign that will benefit our food banks and their agencies in need. Help give struggling families a reason to be hopeful this holiday season. Call 800-344-8070 or visit www.secondharvest.org to give a gift today. Urge Your Senator to Pass the Farm Bill: You can also help by visiting the Hunger Action Center at www.hungeractioncenter.org to contact your senators and urge them to push for the quick passage of the Farm Bill; please urge them to also support increased resources for federal nutrition programs, including $250 million with indexing for TEFAP food purchases for distribution to food banks.

While Americans across the country celebrate the holiday season, more than 35 million Americans, including 12.6 million children, live in food insecure households. Support is urgently needed to stock our food banks and get food and groceries to those in desperate need.

Now is the time to give your most generous gift. The need is more critical than ever.

http://www.secondharvest.org/how_to_help/call_to_action.html

Rick Bella
America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Foodbank Network
35 E. Wacker Drive, Suite 2000
Chicago, IL 60601

Office: 312-641-6507
Cell: 219-712-3685
Fax: 312-263-1730

www.secondharvest.org

As Thanksgiving nears, the cupboards of millions are bare

From Rick Bella:
Annual USDA Report Finds 35.5 Million Hungry in America as Food Banks Struggle to Stock Shelves: Points Out Critical Need for a Strong Farm Bill

Today, as many of us are planning menus and deciding which holiday gatherings to attend, the United States Department of Agriculture released a sobering reminder that millions of Americans are making decisions between rent, utilities, medicine and the most basic necessity -- food. Its annual study of hunger in America indicates the number of people living at the margins of hunger, struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table, has increased from 35.1 to more than 35.5 million, including 12.6 million children. Remarks from America's Second Harvest CEO Vicki Escarra: "This study is just one more testament to why food banks and hungry Americans need Congress to pass a strong nutrition title in the Farm Bill."

More than one in ten Americans is hungry or at risk of hunger. Meanwhile, food banks across teh country are experiencing dramatic declines in food inventory. Many empty shelves were filled with food from the federal government just a short time ago. Surplus food donations, or bonus commodities, from USDA to food banks have declined more that 70 percent in the last three years due to a strong agriculture economy. In 2006, the value of this food support to food banks was down $175 million from 2003. Food banks are also struggling to meet the rising costs of transporting food and groceries.

A continued rise in food prices is also compounding the food shortage. In October, the Associated Press reported the U.S. is currently facing the highest rates of food inflation since 1990, 4.2 percent annually -- twice the rate of overall inflation. The report found that milk prices are up 18 percent since the start of the year; eggs cost 35 percent more than they did a year ago and the USDA estimates overall food price inflation will run 3 percent to 4 percent in 2008.

Strong Farm Bill is Essential for Millions
America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Network of foodbanks is hopeful that some help is on the way this year in the form of a strong nutrition title in the Farm Bill. Nutrition programs funded through the Farm Bill, such as The Food Stamp Program and the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) are the first line of defense for millions of low - and fixed income Americans. Federal funding for these programs has not kept pace with need since the passage of the last Farm Bill in 2002 and significgant investments must be made to ensure that they are bolstered to reach the people that need them most. Adequately funding TEFAP at $250 million with the amount indexed for inflation in the Farm Bill this year will ensure that food banks can keep up with increasing demands for emergency food assistance. The House passed its version of the Farm Bill in late July with $4.3 billion in new investments for federal nutrition programs, and the Senate is debating the Farm Bill this week.

Hunger is one of the most solvable problems facing the U.S., yet it reaches into every community across the country. The holidays tend to amplify the problem, but the need is truly year round and millions of Americans are living day-to-day dependent on the generosity of strangers. You can help by your donation of food or funds. Visit www.secondharvest.org for more details or contact Rick Bella at 312-641-6507 or email rbella@secondharvest.org

Pear-a-rama: National Retail Report 11/9

From the USDA National Fruit and Vegetable Retail Report, issued today.


Pears continue to top overall activity. Vegetables continue to gain prominence.
The approaching Thanksgiving Day Holiday is the focus of most major retailers featuring items non-specific to the produce department. Features included baking goods, dinner items, fresh meats and poultry, and prepared meals. Several seasonal items are being promoted and included chestnuts, cranberries, hard squash, pomegranates and persimmons. An array of citrus also received significant display in some areas of the country and included domestic oranges and tangerines in consumer mesh bags along with clementines from Spain in gift boxes. Overall, there were more vegetable ads which accounted for 56 percent of the overall total. Tomatoes on the vine and asparagus topped the vegetable features. Significant increases in ad activity were noticed on baby carrots and cucumbers. Onions, potatoes, and sweet potatoes showed significant ad activity as well. Cauliflower, rutabagas, and bagged salad mixes, both organic and conventional, also were displayed in some parts of the country.
The top leading fruit ads were observed on apples, avocados, and pears. Bartlett pears were both the leading fruit and produce ad. Other pear varieties were additionally featured. Avocados was the second leading fruit feature as well as the second leading produce ad. Cranberry ads continue to increase each week and are expected to increase yet again next
week while grocers gear up for the upcoming holiday season. Blueberries reappeared as a sale feature with the start of the harvest in South America.

1,001 posts: I could use more cowbell

Yes, this is the 1,001 post for Fresh Talk. We've seen readership grow since we began tracking in January and we are poised to set another high point in July with visitors and page views. Users from more than 60 countries have checked in at one time or another; about 91% of our readers are from the U.S. and 6% are from Canada.

In my first post, I wrote: "I will be pundit with a small p." I have never placed too much importance on the profundity of my own perspective, though I haven't hesitated in sharing what I believe. My bias is toward sharing news and information rather than "sitting on it."

The content and tools used in the blog have evolved. I have incorporated audio clips, some ill-fated blog polls, Web picture albums, a Youtube clip or two, price and volume charts and a plethora of links and RSS feeds. Guest bloggers like Lance Jungmeyer of The Packer and Rick Bella of America's Second Harvest will continue to post, plus a few others .

Agriculture policy and food safety issues remain a key focus of Fresh Talk, but I also want to provide windows to the worlds where the shippers and buyers interact and where consumers pick their produce.. Providing snapshots to the supply/demand outlook for commodities at shipping point and an evaluation of retail promotions will be an ongoing focus.

One of the better things I decided to do is start an industry discussion group. We've got 59 members of the group today and a few are particularly active. Big Apple and Luis are already enshrined in the Hall of Fame wing of the group. So join that group and you won't be disappointed.

This blog and the discussion group have enough of me, morning noon and night. Like the SNL skit, we need more cowbell. And that is you. Your views, perspectives and insight are always welcome here.

More good news for A2H

Here is an email from America's Second Harvest and Rick Bella to the group's partners in the produce world. Congratulations for a great work and record volume.
From Rick:


It is with great pleasure that I announce to you that the Fresh Produce Program has again broken another record. Our fiscal year ended on June 30th, and as the dust settles from our work last year, I will report a program total of 115,900,000 pounds. That’s one hundred fifteen MILLION pounds from national donors to our network of over 200 member food banks. Food banks also received local donations from many sources besides the national offerings listed above.

State association programs grew over 300% last year with more and more members experiencing the value of collaboration. We certainly couldn’t have enjoyed this growth without the great support from many of our donor and supplier partners. This year, 27 members each received over one-million pounds of fresh produce with some members recording 10-million and 6-million pounds.

The program produced $7.9M in f.o.b. purchases to support network needs. Another $2.6M was provided to the transportation industry to transport fresh produce to member locations across the U.S.

We would like to thank each of you for the fine work in the past 12-months and look forward to continued growth in our new fiscal year. A complete listing of our donor partners will be available in our annual report. Thank you all for a productive year. As always, please let us know how we can improve our program. We value your advice.

Sincerely,
Rick

Rick Bella, Director of Purchasing & VAP
America's Second Harvest-The Nation's Food Bank Network
35 E. Wacker Drive, Suite 2000
Chicago, IL 60601

Today is Hunger Awareness Day

From Rick Bella: Today communities across the country will participate in Hunger Awareness Day, which recognizes the more than 35 million Americans suffering from hunger or food insecurity.
Hunger Awareness Day is an opportunity for Americans to show their united support for one of the most solvable social issues in the country—hunger relief. From advocating to raising awareness, or sponsoring and participating in an event, to volunteering, everyone can join us in fighting hunger in their communities.

This year’s campaign includes a variety of exciting events happening around the country and many opportunities for you to get involved. "Goin' Home For Hunger" Did you know that many of the hottest stars are supporters of America’s Second Harvest?

Designed as a campaign to link stars with their hometown food bank, “Goin’ Home for Hunger” is sending leading actors, actresses, musicians and other personalities back to where they grew up. Among the stars participating: actor and Bostonian Ben Affleck, Olympian and Nashville resident Scott Hamilton, singer and Cincinnati native Nick Lachey, and Los Angeles’ own actor Scott Wolf. Affleck will volunteer at the Greater Boston Food Bank. Hamilton will stop by the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee to volunteer and Lachey will volunteer at Cincinnati's FreeStore FoodBank and host a Taste of the NFL event in support of the food bank Wolf will be at the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank to help bring greater awareness to the issue of hunger in southern California.

Rick: These wonderful events are taking place across the country. But, I would be remiss not to mention all of the fresh produce donors who contact us each day with donations of fresh produce. This year, again will be another record breaking year with over 110 million pounds of fresh produce being supplied through the national program at America's Second Harvest. Potatoes topped the list at 33% of our total. They are always in demand and we offer a variety of items from various shipping points across the U.S. The program is supported by about $10M to assist with packaging and transportation costs to get produce to member food banks. About 40% of the total is provided by the national office with the balance coming from the local food bank budgets or about $6M. The program continues to grow and more and more industry produce companies are assisting. Many thanks to all of you who have provided us with fresh produce. If you'd like to get involved, contact Rick Bella at rbella@secondharvest.org or call 800-771-2303 x6507 for more information. Visit http://www.secondharvest.org for more details. Thank you all for your continued support.

Please encourage support of Farm Bill

As Congress begins the process of crafting new farm bill legislation this year, there are both increased challenges and new opportunities that must be considered and addressed. America’s Second Harvest – The Nation’s Food Bank Network has been working to ensure that the opportunity to reduce hunger in America is not overlooked in the budget discussions and to encourage support for a strong nutrition title in the 2007 Farm Bill reauthorization that improves the Food Stamp Program and bolsters the efforts of emergency food providers. As members of Congress consider the 2008 budget resolution, we respectfully request that members provide an adequate level of resources so that these urgent national priorities can be effectively carried out.

Far too many people in our communities lack resources to put food on their tables consistently for themselves and their families. According to the most recent survey of food security conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 35 million Americans, including 12 million children, in the United States live in households that face a constant struggle against hunger.

Providing an adequate level funding for the nutrition title will allow the Food Stamp Program to maintain its basic entitlement structure and will allow more resources to be devoted to the program so that it will not only be able to expand access, but also to provide for greater program simplification.

Providing adequate funding for the nutrition title will also assist the nation’s emergency food providers – the food banks, the food pantries, and the soup kitchens – who are stretched to serve more and more people whose food stamp benefits have run out mid-month or whose income and resources put them just above the food stamp eligibility threshold. Currently, more than 25 million unduplicated people are accessing emergency food annually through food banks. In any given week, some 4.5 million people access food through pantries and soup kitchens throughout the United States. Requests for emergency food assistance are outstripping the resources provided through The Emergency Assistance Food Program (TEFAP) and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP).

Since the enactment of the last Farm Bill, there has been a troubling decrease in commodity donations through TEFAP, a program which serves an estimated 15 million low-income people. At the same time, requests for emergency food assistance have increased by 8 percent or more. Moreover, inventories held to support CSFP and support its costs have virtually disappeared, leaving the program under-funded when appropriations are not sufficient to offset the shortfall.

The reauthorization of the Farm Bill provides an opportunity to strengthen and support critical nutrition programs like TEFAP, CSFP, and the Food Stamp Program. We urge you to ensure that, at a minimum, not less in new funding for nutrition programs is provided in the upcoming Farm Bill than was provided for in the 2002 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act. A strong nutrition title will allow the most vulnerable among us to share in the blessing of this nation’s agricultural bounty.

Rick: We are approaching difficult times for many Americans. We all know that there is going to many increased costs for everything that we use from fuel to apples. It's all connected in one way or another. These are staggering statistics.

Orbis Container Services Partners with America's Second Harvest

Today, ORBIS Container Services announced the launch of a new program in partnership with America’s Second Harvest—The Nation’s Food Bank Network, the country’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization.
The objective of the program is to bring the benefit of fresh produce donations to America’s Second Harvest’s nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that serve all 50 states, Washington DC and Puerto Rico. This network secures and distributes more than 2 billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually. “This agreement will remove obstacles for shippers to donate to our network”, said Rick Bella, Director of Produce for America’s Second Harvest. “With the continued increased use of returnable shipping containers, this couldn’t have come at a more opportune time for us.”
From time to time, fresh produce is rejected at retailer distribution centers, after visual inspections deem the produce as not meeting the stringent standards set by the retailers. However, this fresh produce has significant value to America’s Second Harvest, which can quickly and efficiently distribute it to those in need, via its food bank network.

As an added benefit to encourage the donation of fresh produce, participating grower/shippers are eligible for tax incentives for the value of their donation. Fact sheets, with tax information, are available at http://www.secondharvest.org/ additionally, as part of this program, all ORBIS shipping containers with the donated produce will be recovered by ORBIS, reducing costly container loss. "Enrolling America's Second Harvest significantly strengthens the network of sites that can handle rejections of produce in RPC’s for our customers. At the same time, we are contributing with our grower/shipper customers to a leading network of food banks that benefits a wide range of our country's population," stated Michelle Ziegler, Director of Sales for ORBIS Container Services.

RB: This is exciting news for our organization and offers another step in our desire to just "fit in" with the produce industry. Removing obstacles that stand in the way of food donations to help our nation's hungry only makes sense. We also have an agreement with CHEP allowing our members to serve as depots when food donations are being shipped on CHEP pallets. Many thanks to Orbis and Fraser McKenzie for making this a reality.

Another notch in the belt of CIW

The St. Petersburg Times tells the story of how McDonald's bowed to pressure from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and has agreed to pay a penny a pound more for Florida tomatoes.
From the story by James Thorner:


McDonald's signature hamburger, the Big Mac, doesn't even come with a slice of tomato. The global fast-food giant buys a scant 1.5 percent of Florida's tomato crop.
But when a coalition of Florida farm workers pressured McDonald's last week into handing a 75 percent raise to tomato pickers, the decision was judged a precedent that could upset the fruit cart all across Florida.
Mickey D's bowed to a two-year "fair food" campaign led by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, named for the agricultural town south of Tampa Bay in Collier County and representing mostly pickers from Mexico. It was the CIW's second deal with the fast-food industry. In 2005, after four years of farm worker protests and boycotts, Taco Bell parent Yum Brands agreed to similar pay concessions.
Fresh off the celebratory hand shaking and photo shoot at Atlanta's Carter Center, where the deal was announced, CIW is plotting its next move: turning up the broiler on Miami-based Burger King, another gobbler of Florida produce.
"Eventually when Yum Brands and McDonald's get behind the idea, it becomes the norm for the rest of the fast-food industry."
Agricultural companies, including those operating in the tomato heartland from Ruskin to Palmetto in Hillsborough and Manatee counties, acknowledge the McDonald's precedent. That doesn't mean they're happy.
In their opinion, CIW used extortion and manipulated the media to blacken the name of the $500-million industry. They resent that burger behemoth McDonald's, several steps up the supply chain, can dictate how to pay workers for other companies. They complain that higher-priced domestic tomatoes could, like cucumbers and squash before them, eventually surrender the market to cheaper Latin American imports.
"Obviously, they made a corporate decision to play ball," said Reggie Brown, vice president of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange in Maitland. "We're disappointed."
McDonald's didn't play ball from the start. Initially, it insisted its 15-year-old code of conduct for suppliers was enough to ensure decent working conditions in the fields. So the farm workers borrowed tactics that had already proved effective against Taco Bell.
Rallies and protests - most recently a "2007 McDonald's Truth Tour" - increasingly generated bad publicity, especially when words like "slavery" were tossed about.
CIW allies made minimal purchases of McDonald's stock to give them a seat at the shareholders table. They slipped a resolution on workers rights into the agenda of the company's May 24 annual shareholders meeting. McDonald's tried, and failed, to pull the resolution.
For last week's truth tour, a caravan of farm workers headed to Chicago to rally in front of the chain's headquarters, supported by the likes of AFL-CIO head John Sweeney, the Presbyterian Church USA and activists. Though the April 9 agreement with McDonald's made the tour less protest and more celebration, it went on as scheduled.
McDonald's denies it caved to CIW pressure and frames the agreement as corporate enlightenment. Pickers who harvest McDonald's tomatoes will get an extra penny a pound. It amounts to a raise of about 75 percent because pickers now make 40- to 45 cents for every 32-pound bucket, or about 1.3 cents a pound.
"We reached the point where we both concluded the end result would be far more impactful, far more sustainable, if we worked together instead of separately," McDonald's spokesman Bill Whitman said.
Based on the 15-million pounds of Florida tomatoes the company buys, the extra cent could cost McDonald's $150,000 a year. It's a blip in a company that posted a profit of $2.9-billion last year.
The burden on Florida's independent growers is potentially greater. If the 1-cent raise were expanded across all the state's tomato farms, growers would pay million of dollars more in wages each year. With production of about 1.3-billion pounds a year, tomatoes are the state's largest vegetable crop.
CIW views tomato pickers as chronically underpaid. Wage rates for such workers haven't budged in decades. But low wages are a product of supply and demand, and here CIW's own clientele plays a role. A flood of mostly illegal immigrants from Latin America ensures a steady supply of migrant labor to work at prevailing rates. The tomato industry says good workers earn the equivalent of $9 to $11 per hour in a season that runs from late September to mid July.
What troubles Lisa Lochridge, spokeswoman for the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association, is that the pay hike applies only to Florida.
"McDonald's should hold all of its vendors to the same standards across the board," Lochridge said. "Farm workers in Florida should be treated the same as those in California and Mexico. We don't want to see Florida workers placed at a competitive disadvantage."
But CIW's Perkins calls the agricultural industry an "equal opportunity exploiter" that needs prodding if it is to ease workers' plight.
Florida's tomato crop is too dominant - nearly 90 percent of the country's domestic winter supply comes from here - to droop from foreign competition, she said.
"We didn't see the tomato market shift after the Yum Brands agreement," Perkins said, "This is something consumers have called for. Consumers are asking for fair food, not just fast food."

The farm workers' agreement with McDonald's that takes effect during the 2007 tomato growing season has three major parts:
1. Workers get an extra penny for every pound they pick. It's about 75 percent more than they make now. It can add up to more than $50 to $100 per week for some pickers.
2. McDonald's will require its suppliers to follow a stronger workplace code of conduct written in collaboration with farm workers.
3. A third party will monitor conditions in the fields and ensure workers get the extra penny as promised.

From just a year ago, The Packer's Doug Ohlemeier reported:


Lisa Howard, McDonald's director of corporate media relations, said the Oak Brook, Ill., company endorses the SAFE effort and has its own standards that provide employee status for workers who pick for growers, access to Social Security benefits, workers' compensation, safe and affordable housing and health and wellness programs.
She said McDonald's has commissioned a study of its program. If the review shows the economic value of the McDonald's effort doesn't meet or exceed the penny-per-pound increase -- which the coalition has proposed -- McDonald's would request that its five produce supplier-distributors, who buy 1.5% of all Florida tomatoes, make up any difference.
With the ongoing SAFE and McDonald's' audits, many of the suppliers know the standards and are making changes to their operations because they understand it's a condition of doing business with McDonald's produce suppliers, Howard said.
Because the SAFE and McDonald's programs are more comprehensive, they will positively affect many more thousands of workers than the penny-per-pound proposal, she said.


TK: What happened, McDonald's? With both McDonald's and Yum Brands on board, it will be tough for chains like Subway and Burger King to avoid falling into line with CIW.

Mainly in Spain

Andy Nelson of The Packer is off to Spain on Monday. I'm don't have his agenda handy, but I expect he will have the opportunity to visit with some citrus exporters there. I extended Andy a "guest blogger" invite on his travels, so we might be lucky and hear from him next week.


That reminds me to thank Rick Bella of America's Second Harvest for his continuing contributions to the blog. If you are considering being guest blogger on this site, remember you don't have to post everyday. Once or twice a week is fine - what is the expression, "as the Spirit moves."

Hunger Awareness Day Approaching

On June 5, 2007 communities across the country will remember more than 35 million Americans suffering from hunger or food insecurity by recognizing Hunger Awareness Day. Hunger Awareness Day is a day of unity for everyone in the United States to come together and show their support for one of the most solvable social issues in this country—hunger relief.

The heart of Hunger Awareness Day is people coming together to help hungry Americans. Whether it is advocating, raising awareness, sponsoring an event, participating in an event, or volunteering everyone can join us in fighting hunger in their communities.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007, is Hunger Awareness Day. Now in its SIXTH year, this day serves as a platform for domestic hunger-relief organizations to raise awareness about hunger in America and the work we do. Our theme this year is “The Face of Hunger Will Surprise You.”
Although each organization working on the issue of domestic hunger approaches the issue from a slightly different position, Hunger Awareness Day gives us the opportunity to gather our resources, supporters, and voices in focusing the nation’s attention on one of the most solvable problems facing every community in America.
Increasing awareness that domestic hunger is a real and growing problem will help ensure that there are enough resources to feed hungry Americans. There are events being planned throughout the country by individuals, groups and corporations. Bookmark this page and check back often!
For more information, contact: Ross FraserMedia Relations ManagerAmerica’s Second Harvest – The Nation’s Food Bank Network 312-641-6422 mailto:Network312-641-6422rfraser@secondharvest.org

RB: This is a worthy event. Please consider your involvement and let us know how we can assist you. Hunger can affect anyone at anytime.

Farm Bill can assist in many ways...

"This year Congress will reauthorize major farm and food legislation in the "Farm Bill." The Farm Bill is multi-year authorizing legislation that will change, and hopefully improve, a number of policies that are of interest to the wholesale produce industry and to food banks. One important area for collaboration between the produce industry, farmers, and food banks is in support of more purchases of fresh fruit and vegetables for needy Americans.

The Administration supports a healthier diet for recipients of the nutrition programs set to be authorized in the Farm Bill and has proposed to increase the amount of fresh produce that is provided to Federal nutrition assistance programs like school lunch and the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).

The Farm Bill proposal would increase fresh produce available to schools and food banks by USDA purchases of fresh produce up to $2.75 billion over 10 years. America's Second Harvest strongly supports this proposal. Our food banks want to provide the most nutritious and wholesome food to the growing number of needy people that our food banks serve each year. According to the most recent independent study of food banks, more than 25 million low-income people, including 9 million children and 3 million seniors received food assistance from our food banks.

Working together with the produce industry, packers, and farmers, we can ensure that when needy people come to our food banks for help, they will be able to leave with safe, healthy fresh fruit and vegetables. To find out how you can help please visit the America's Second Harvest website at: http://www.secondharvest.org/ and visit the Hunger Action Center to send electronic messages of support to your members of Congress."

RB: The ripple affect of this bill is tremendous. Not only is it the right thing to do, it exposes many young future consumers to the wonderful world of fresh produce. This certainly can have long lasting benefits for both, the consumer and provider; too many to list here. Please give it some thought; and most importantly, get involved.