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Sacramento Hunger Commission: October 2002 Minutes

1. The meeting was called to order by Rebecca Fuller, Chair. Ms Fuller welcomed guests.
2. Minutes of the September 17, 2002 meeting approved (Villalobos/Romero)
3. Reports and announcements – CropWalk, a 10k walk to raise money for international (75%) and local (25%) food security programs, was October 13, 2002. Peggy Roark represented the Hunger Commission, and reported that the walk was extremely successful. Bill Maynard, Commissioner, reported on the Weed and Seed Youth Garden Program at the George Sims Community Center; the youth are preparing the soil and getting ready for planting. Peggy and Emily have been working on the nutrition education/food preparation aspect of the program.
   
   Food Stamp Update - Lisa Tadlock, Diana Maffei and Shana reported on the California's Food Policy Advocates Food Stamp Forum on October 10. CFPA presented a draft of their legislative agenda for Food Stamps in the next year. Their priorities to minimize food stamp barriers were 1) Eliminate Finger Imaging 2) Cut down on face to face interviews 3) Support Welfare to Work transition 4) Automatic exemption of one car 5) Request ABAWD waiver at the State level 6) Examine impacts of California's SSI Cash out system.
   
   Summer Food Program 2002 – Dave Mitchell, Commissioner, reported that in July 122,000 lunches (roughly 6,000 lunches a day) were served this past summer at 148 sites by the City of Sacramento's Summer Food Program. The numbers were down slightly overall. For next year, the City will look into what zip codes and areas were not served, identify possible sites, and send them a welcome packet to bring new areas on board. Peggy and Nancy Magana-Alexander reported that the Sacramento City Unified School District's Summer Food Program served 202,343 lunches and 51,000 breakfasts at 46 sites.
   
   Other Announcements – Nancy Magana Alexander, Commissioner, reported that more SCUSD schools are taking advantage of Provision 2. The provision allows schools to process free and reduced lunch applications every 5 years instead of every year resulting in increased participation rates and administrative costs. SCUSD hopes to add 6 more schools to Provision 2 this year. Shana reported on her trip to Seattle, WA October 5 through 7 for the Community Food Security Conference and distributed materials from the event. Peggy announced that the Nominating Committee for the 2003 Hunger Commission would be made up of Judie Wilson and the four members of the Executive Committee. Commissioners interested in serving another year can contact Peggy. The maximum term length is 5 years. Commissioner Kory Annonio reported that the Commission's presentation of Hunger 101 for a group of about 101 TLCS staff was a great experience. The group honored the Commission with an award as thanks. Peggy asked commissioners to let her know if they have ideas for new groups that would be interested in Hunger 101. Kim Wade reported on the Hunger 101 online version. This version of Hunger 101 was developed by San Francisco food banks to give website visitors a taste of Hunger 101. Ms Wade is assisting Hunger Commission staff in adapting the SF version for the Commission's new website. Lisa Tadlock mentioned that UC Davis does a Hunger 101-like activity for their staff. After extensive group input, the Hunger Commission holiday party will be Wednesday, December 4 at 5pm. It will be a mini-potluck. A location is still needed. Ms. Maffei offered to check into whether Foodlink had a room that would work.
4. Hope Awards Luncheon November 21 —As Commissioner Judy Wilson was not able to attend the meeting, Shana McDavis-Conway and Peggy Roark, Staff, gave an update on the progress of the Hope Awards committee while Shana attempted to reproduce Judie's natural enthusiasm. The invitation cover letter and reservation forms have been completed. The Commission will be giving out awards of appreciation from state and county legislators as well as awards from the Commission. Ms Wilson hopes to have a mini resource fair at the Hope Awards luncheon for Commissioners to share information on their programs. The next Hope Awards committee meeting is October 24 at Mather Community campus.
5. Policy Update – Local ACTION ITEM: One of the several local measures on the upcoming county ballot which could potentially impact food security is Measure H, which would continue the hotel tax at its present level .The Commission discussed the impact of the measure at the county level and voiced concerns on the impact of the measure on Single Room Occupancy (SRO) residents, funding for food security projects, and community gardens. A motion to support the Measure was not made.
6. Panel: Emergency Food System: Other Possible Food Bank Roles: Education, Advocacy and a Food Buying Co-op (this is the second part of a 2-part series)
   
   Sharon Eghigian, California Association of Food Banks (CAFB) gave a short history of food banks in the U.S. featuring examples of some of the diverse types of food banks in Sacramento County and California. As the executive director of CAFB, Ms. Eghigian provided information on legislation, education, and advocacy to food banks in California—encouraging them to think beyond direct service and advocate for other food programs.
   Diana Maffei, Food Opportunities Program, California Emergency Foodlink, described how Foodlink's new Food Opportunities cooperative buying program offers a service beyond usual food bank activities. Food Op has replaced SHARE in Northern California by providing food packages for $15 each at 12 sites in Sacramento County and dozens of sites in other counties. Many Food Op sites are former SHARE sites. The promotion of Food Op has been purposefully slow and mostly through word of mouth but Ms Maffei passed out the materials currently available on the program.
   
   Kim Wade, Northern California Food Banks Education and Advocacy Initiative, briefly presented on the history of the initiative. Using volunteers, agency staff and donors an effective network has been created that can educate, advocate and do outreach for federal food assistance programs. They are currently funded by the Packard Foundation, but seeking to diversify. By providing resources and ideas for action, the initiative seeks to enable food banks and their member agencies to take a more active role in affecting policy change without significant time or resource investment.
7. Meeting Evaluation (Plus/Delta) The Panel was very informative, the food was great, and Ms Fuller's new baby Lydia was a welcome addition to the meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:15pm.

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