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Sacramento Hunger Commission: June 2003 Minutes

1. The meeting was called to order by Kevin Bond, Chair.
2. May Minutes approved. (Medeiros/Fuller)
3. Reports and announcements
   • Senior Gleaners Grand Opening-Ernie Brown, Commissioner, announced the grand opening event for Senior Gleaners' new facility at 1951 Bell Ave on June 29th.
   • Food Resources Map-Peggy Roark, staff, showed the Commission a preview of the "Food Sites in Sacramento Map." The map shows where food closets, hot meal programs, Foodlink's food-buying coop Food Opportunities sites, Farmers' Markets and Food Stamp intake offices are in Sacramento County. Peggy hopes to include supermarkets and community gardens in future versions and thanked Gary Little, Commissioner, for his invaluable help.
   • Pots and Pans Project-Richard Schroeder, Commissioner, provided information on how many families and single individuals have been helped by the project. He also reported that the Department of Human Assistance has been very supportive of Pots and Pans and their recent drive was a success. The inventory at the Mather storage site is running low on silverware, and would appreciate donations. Judie Wilson, Commissioner, is planning on sponsoring a Pots and Pans Drive at her church soon.
   • EBT Implementation-Juan Valdez, Commissioner, reported that DHA is planning on implementing an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) system for their Food Stamp clients starting in mid-October of this year. Mr. Valdez distributed an EBT fact sheet to the Commission.
   • Hunger 101-Steve Caruso, Commissioner, reported that the Commission successfully presented Hunger 101 for the Elk Grove Food Bank Board of Directors on May 20th.
   • VISTA Cookbooks---Shana McDavis-Conway, staff, distributed samples of the Hunger Commission-sponsored cookbook, "The Economical Epicurean: How to Eat like a Gourmet but Spend like a VISTA." The book, priced at $5, contains recipes contributed by past and present Sacramento VISTAs. Proceeds after the cost of printing is covered will be used for VISTA activities.
   • Nutrition Education Workshops-Mr. Schroeder, Commissioner, reported that Jenny Holliday, VISTA, recently presented a Nutrition Education Workshop and provided a very useful Facilitator's/Resource Manual for staff at Mather, including several of the cooks. Mr. Schroeder reported that feedback was uniformly positive and staff found the workshop and Manual very beneficial.
   • Summer Food updates-Judie Wilson, Commissioner, reminded Commissioners that Media Day for Summer Food is June 26th at Robertson Community Center. There have been articles on Summer Food in the Sacramento Bee, the Placer County Herald, and the Auburn Journal.
   • Other Announcements-Shana McDavis-Conway, staff, announced that the Hunger Commission has several hundred new DHA Food Stamp outreach posters to distribute and encouraged Commissioners to take posters and distribute them creatively.
4. Approval of revised Hunger Commission bylaws-Peggy Roark, staff, distributed copies of the newly revised bylaws. They were changed slightly in order to reflect the current activities, structure and composition of the Hunger Commission. Changes included clarifying the mission and purpose, increasing the membership maximum to 27, changing the community representative minimum from 5 reps to 7, and adding an executive committee. After a discussion on the Commission's program of work, the bylaws were approved with one abstention. Judie Wilson, Commissioner suggested a vision statement/strategic planning session.
5. Policy Update-- Sharon Eghigian, Commissioner, provided a handout on the status of state budget negotiations and nutrition funding in the budget, as well as an update on nutrition program legislation. Darrell Steinberg's Food Stamp bill, AB 231, is now in the Senate and also moving through the budget process. It is important to keep pressure on legislators, particularly Republican Dave Cox, to try to ensure that nutrition program funding, including provisions of AB 231, are retained in the final budget. Locally, the Hunger Commission is still advocating for Home-Delivered Meals and the WIC program in the county budget process.
6. Hunger Hits Home Update-Ms. Roark, staff, reported that drafts of the 1st part of the HHH report have been finished. Constance Lestienne is currently attending a workshop on Community Food Mapping in Berkeley. Steve Caruso has already completed 20 surveys at Elk Grove Community Food Bank Services. We hope to have at least 200 surveys by the end of June. The Commission discussed the importance of collecting stories to go along with the study either while collecting surveys or from staff, such as social workers, who deal directly with clients.
7. Presentation on the June 23-25 international Ministerial Conference and Expo on Agriculture, Science and Technology, and the counter-conference events. Alicia Oldfield, Commissioner and Ms. McDavis-Conway gave a brief presentation and distributed information on upcoming food, agriculture, and hunger-related educational events organized by the Sacramento Coalition for Sustainable Agriculture including:
   • An Organic Food and Family Fun Festival in Land Park on June 22.
   • A Teach-In on Food, Global Justice, and Corporate Power: Reclaiming our Forests, Farms, and Future, at CSUS on June 21.
   • A Panel sponsored by the Sacramento Area Community Garden Coalition on June 22 on Community Gardening and Urban Agriculture as a alternative to Corporate Agriculture.
   After a short discussion the Commission voted to endorse the efforts of the Sacramento Coalition For Sustainable Agriculture and voted to have Alicia Oldfield represent the Hunger Commission in a press conference at the June 21st Teach-In. (Nelson/Finnestead)
8. The meeting was adjourned by Kevin Bond, Chair.
   

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