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Sacramento Hunger Commission: February 2004 Minutes

1. The meeting was called to order by Richard Schroeder, Chair.
2. December 16, 2003 minutes approved (Lisa Tadlock/Kay Schlegel).
3. Brief reports and announcements
   • Jake Salcone announced that a planting day for the Kennedy Estates edible landscaping project has been set for Sat, March 20. Jake will send out an email with the time and address but, in the meantime, he needs contacts for acquiring more fruit trees, equipment, herbs, tools and materials for a trellis etc. Volunteers the day of the planning are of course appreciated.
   • Richard Schroeder passed out copies of the latest Sacramento Area Community Gardening Coalition email for Bill Maynard. He emphasized the section dealing with the cuts to the Master Gardener and 4-H programs and included an email specific to the 4-H cuts.
   • Peggy Roark filled us in on the status of Hunger Hits Home 2003. Copies of the short report were passed out at the meeting but are not to be shared with the media since we are not yet officially releasing it. If anyone wants to read the long version of the report, contact Peggy. We will not be publishing that version.
   • Cindy Nelson congratulated the Hunger Commission on the report, saying this is why we exist. She reported that the Food Charter is well underway and that we have been meeting with various City Councilmembers and their staffs. The impetus for Food Summit came out of meeting with Councilmember Ray Tretheway. He thought the Food Charter was great, but asked "What next?" The first Food Summit planning meeting had a large and diverse turnout; the next meeting will be Monday, March 8th from noon to 1:00 at CSPC. Please let Cindy know if you will be coming. The Food Summit itself will likely be in the fall.
     There will be extensive efforts to involve the media around Hunger Hits Home 2003, the Food Charter and Food Summit. Steve Caruso has spearheaded the effort to create a clear marketing plan that will tell the same story again and again. Commissioners were asked to look for the headline and three key messages as they read HHH-these are what will be emphasized to the media. Cindy Nelson passed out a handout on these. The headline is: Hunger is big and mostly hidden in Sacramento. The three key messages are: Having a job doesn't mean you can feed your family, Children are at risk and Access to food is a problem for people in need. For a clear and effective message, once the media campaign gets rolling, Commissioners will be asked to stick to the headline and three key points when doing interviews or answering questions from the media. This way the message will be consistent and undiluted. The HHH/Food Charter working group is still working on the Executive Summary, and the report will not be officially released until it is done, most likely in the next couple of weeks. The Food Charter will be introduced a couple of weeks after that.
   • Richard Schroeder announced that Mather Community Campus is still a Pots and Pans drive site. They are now receiving more kitchen items than they are currently giving out to needy families, so they need contacts to increase their distribution. Peggy added that Salvation Army is still a collection site as well, and that the Health Education Council is currently doing a drive.
   • David Quackenbush announced that the next meeting of the Joint Steering Committee of the California Nutrition Network and 5 a Day Campaign will be March 9 and will focus on federal food assistance programs. The morning will consist of a discussion of participation rates in these programs and the afternoon will highlight programs that are working toward increasing participation levels. There is a possibility that the Hunger Commission could discuss HHH, the Food Charter and the Food Summit in the afternoon.
   • Judie Wilson reported that the Hope Awards committee had met after the January Commission meeting. The Committee had decided at that point to recommend going to an evening event, possibly with enough of a fundraising component to at least cover the cost of the event (since we currently have no money for the 2004 Hope Awards). She asked if the Commission thought this was a good idea. There was much discussion of this, but no conclusion was reached.
4. Small Group Discussions-Richard then asked the Commission to break up into the three small groups (vision and mission, financial sustainability and fundraising, and partnerships) he had separated the Commissioners into. He asked that the groups use this meeting time to brainstorm ideas, if possible come up with a short plan, and then meet again before the March Commission meeting. Richard sees this as a three month effort, involving 30 minutes during Commission meetings as well as 1 hour outside the meeting per month, that will allow the Commission to focus on immediate priorities. The groups briefly reported back to the full group and will also share notes from their meetings with staff.
5. The "Challenge"-Peggy Roark announced that Juan Valdez is setting up a tour of the DHA Midtown Food Stamp office for the Food Stamp Challenge group. If you are interested in this challenge, contact Peggy and she will send you an email with more information. The tour will most likely be Thursday, March 11 at 3pm. Cindy Nelson announced that she will send out an email regarding the activity for the Local Foodshed Challenge group. It will either be a tour and discussion at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op possibly with dinner or a tour of Full Belly Farms, where you can purchase a CSA basket for $14. If you are interested in this challenge, please contact Cindy.
6. The meeting was adjourned at 1:05.

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