Phoenix City Council Approves Tax on Meat, Vegetables and Milk

Remember how we appear to be rebuffing efforts in New Mexico to reinstate a tax on basic groceries?  

That doesn't seem to be the case in the largest city in our neighhboring state of Arizona.  According to the Arizona Republic, the Phoenix City Council approved a 2% sales tax on basic groceries for a period of five years.  The tax is due to take effect on April 1 and expire after five years. 

Phoenix has not taxed food items since the 1960s. But authorities claim the revenues from the tax are needed to fund police, firefighters and other city operations.

Here's an excerpt from a recent article

The tax on milk, meat, vegetables and other food purchased by shoppers will generate an estimated $12.5 million for the fiscal year that ends June 30. It will raise another $50 million for fiscal 2011.

Read full article

The proponents attempted to reduce public opposition to the tax by including a clause that exempts food purchased with food stamps.

And there is still a small chance that the Phoenix food tax could still be reversed.  Mayor Phil Gordon said the City Council has the option of reversing its decision after it hears from the public during 15 budget hearings planned for February.

Thanks to Cathy Brechtelsbauer of Sioux Falls, S.D.,for the heads up on this article.  Cathy has been a leading voice in the effort to repeal the food tax in South Dakota.

Cathy doesn't think there should be a food tax anywhere because it has a disproportionate impact on low-income families.  Here's what she says about the Phoenix effort. 

Please urge people to contact folks they know in Phoenix and ask them to speak up at the public meetings and to the city council asking for a reversal of this decision to tax food. They could ask for tax on non-essentials.

Photo from Marge Williams Farewell

 

Dozens of friends and activists showed up on Sunday, February 7, to the farewell party for Marge Williams, one of our most loyal Bread members in Albuquerque.  Marge is moving to Florida at the end of the month.  See previous post.

Photo courtesy of Gay Dybwad

In Case You Needed More Evidence

How many times around the block would a line of 40,000 people go?  That's a hypothetical question, of course.  But that figure of 40,000 is real.

An article in this morning's Albuquerque Journal, which quotes the New Mexico Association of Food Banks, reports that 40,000 people rely on the local community or church pantry to get food assistance each week.  (If you have an online or a delivered subscription to the Journal, you can access the article with this link). 
 
That's more than the population of some cities in New Mexico.  Imagine if the entire population of Farmington or Alamogordo required food assistance every week!

NMAFB director Kathy Komoll said the figures are especially worrisome because an increasing number of children and elderly in our state are requiring food assistance.

Furthermore, she noted, the figure of 40,000 may not reflect the full extent of emergency food needs in our state.  Even though 40,000 people are being served, there are others who are going to be turned away. There are pantries that run out of food halfway through the month, said Ms. Komoll.

On top of that, the New Mexico Human Services Department said more than 142,000 New Mexicans were using food stamps in December 2009, a 30 percent increase from December 2008. 

The NMAFB arrived at the figure of 40,000 based on interviews with 450 people seeking food assistance and 450 food providers.   The association compiled the statistics as part of its contribution to the Hunger in America 2010 report, published by Feeding America (formerly known as America's Second Harvest). 

Here's a short description:

Hunger in America 2010 is the largest study of domestic hunger, providing comprehensive and statistically-valid data on our emergency food distribution system and the people Feeding America serves. Hunger in America 2010 is extremely detailed, drawing on data from more than 61,000 interviews with clients and surveys of 37,000 feeding agencies.

The report shows that hunger is increasing at an alarming rate in the United States, and our network is expanding its reach in response

The problem is staggering, and we can help by contributing time or money to our local food banks.  But perhaps you already volunteer many hours and already give a significant donation.

There are other systemic ways to address hunger and poverty in our country.  One such way is the 2010 Bread for the World Offering of Letters, which seeks to expand tax breaks for the working poor, especially the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit.  Changes in these programs could make huge difference in the amount of money that low-income people have available to meet their basic needs.   (Check out a previous post in the Bread for the World New Mexico blog, which contains a couple of videos)

Taize Community: Prayers for Haiti on the 12th of the Month

Echoing a suggestion made by a youth from Haiti, the Taizé Community invites everyone who is able to pray for the people of Haiti, either singly or in a group, the 12th of each month for 12 months following the earthquake of January 12.

  

Visiting Haïti in 1983, Brother Roger (founder of the Taizé community) stayed at Cité-Soleil, a slum in Port-au-Prince.  (Photo from Taizé website)

The Taize community has developed a wonderful sequence of prayers and songs for Feb.12, ending with this closing prayer:

God our hope, we entrust to you the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. Dismayed by the incomprehensible suffering of the innocent, we ask you to inspire the hearts of those who are trying to provide the aid which is so indispensable. We know how deep the faith of the Haitian people is. Strengthen the downhearted; console those who are weeping; send your Spirit of compassion on this people which has been so sorely tried.

Click here to see full sequence of prayers and songs for Feb. 12

All the Resources You Need for the 2010 Offering of Letters

Bread for the World has created a special website dealing just with the 2010 Offering of Letters.  The campaign urges Congress to adopt changes to U.S. tax policy, particularly the Earned Income Tax Credit, that will benefit low-income families.

Click here to access the special 2010 Offering of Letters website.

And here are a couple of videos related to the letter-writing campaign. The first 8-minute video is the one that comes with your Offering of Letters packet.   In the second video, Deborah Blue, from the Evangelical Covenant Church, talks about the Offering of Letters.

When Robin Speaks, People Listen

Remember that old TV commercial where a brokerage company was promoting itself saying, "when [our company] speaks, people listen..."

Well, I've got a great listen for you.  Our western regional field organizer Robin Stephenson was featured in the February edition of Breadcast.

Click here to listen

Robin was joined by fellow organzer LaVida Davis, who is based in Chicago, in telling us how activists in their regions are mobilizing to end hunger.

(O.K, Robin, you made me blush in a bright intense red. She mentions me a couple of times).

Says LaVida:

It’s about people power. It’s about the work of everyday folks.

LaVida mentioned a couple of people for whom I have great respect

• Derick Dailey, an impressive young man who has done a great job organizing at Westminster College in Fulton, Mo.  Derick, Rebecca Van Der Muelen and I had the privilege of offering reflections at the 2009 National Gathering in Washington around the theme of our 35th anniversary: Rejoice (me), Hope (Derick) and Act (Rebecca).  Derick was featured in a previous Breadcast.
• Cindy Changyit Levin, a fellow anti-hunger and anti-poverty blogger and an activist extraordinaire in the Chicago area

The Breadcast also includes an update from Monica Mills, Bread’s director of government relations, about the progress of foreign aid reform on Capitol Hill, and Joy Ike, a Nigerian-born singer-songwriter, gives us music for the journey with her smooth jazz sounds

You Go Rochelle!

Check out this cool promo from The ONE Campaign, featuring my friend Rochelle Gibbs from Minnesota.  This 1-minute message below is part of ONE's initiative called  "Women ONE2ONE" 

Here is what it's all about:

It's all about women taking action and connecting with each other to fight poverty. With every voice we add, we can help send another young girl to school, help an HIV-positive expecting mother keep from passing the virus on to her baby, and help another woman find the courage to speak out against oppression and corruption.

The concept is simple. Join one million women (and men) to raise our voices and demand the things we know make a difference: putting kids in schools, enabling women entrepreneurs, allowing women to run for office.   

Click here to take the pledge
(And you don't have to be a woman to take this pledge.  Men AND Women can support the empowerment of women).

Here is why Rochelle strongly supports this initiative:

I joined ONE because I'm a mom. I saw what other mothers go through in developing countries, the difficult decisions they have to make and their incredible strength. I could only imagine how I'd feel in one of their place

Thomas Awaiapo to Speak About his Journey

Catholic Relief Services Presents

The Story of Ghana’s THOMAS AWIAPO: How Operation Rice Bowl Saved a Life

Wednesday, March 10, 2010
7:00pm-8:30pm

Archdiocese of Santa Fe Catholic Center, Sandia Room
4000 St. Joseph Place NW, Albuquerque
This free program will include information about using Operation Rice Bowl in your family and parish.

Thomas Awiapo has a truly inspiring story of survival and success. Orphaned before the age of ten, Thomas endured bleak poverty and hunger in his small African village in Ghana until Operation Rice Bowl saved his life through a food program at a school started by CRS. He eventually won scholarships to attend college and later earned a Master's degree from California State University.

His story of initiative and his joyful presence has brought inspiration to thousands of people in the U.S. Thomas is in the U.S. visiting schools and parishes during Lent to thank U.S. Catholics for participating in Operation Rice Bowl.

Read more in Empowered for Life: The Thomas Awiapo Story  and/or watch this great video

Bon Voyage to Marge Williams; Albuquerque's Loss is Florida's Gain

Marge Williams, one of our most active and loyal Bread for the World members in Albuquerque, is leaving our community to live near her brother in Florida.  

Marge has been a leader in the local anti-hunger and anti-poverty movement (and connected this passion to her advocacy for environmental protection, simple living and sustainability).  

Year after year, she organized Offerings of Letters at Trinity United Methodist Church and also served as a great link to the local United Methodist community not only in Albuquerque but other parts of the state.

Marge was one of a handful of local activists who met up with Rep. Martin Heinrich at a Congress on Your Corner session to talk to him about cosponsoring foreign-aid reform legislation.  No doubt this personal contact was one of the factors that led Rep. Heinrich to cosponsor this bill.

We will miss her greatly, but our loss is Florida's gain.  She has promised to remain active in Bread issues in her new home.

Please join us in saying Thanks and Bon Voyage to Marge at 

A Reception of Gratitude and Blessing

Sunday, February 7, 2:00-4:00 p.m.

Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice

202 Harvard SE

Bring a cutout, drawing or picture of a bird (to celebrate Marge's passion for birdwatching).  Write on it your message of gratitude and blessing.  These messages will be hung on the branches of a tree as a gift to her.  Desserts and beverages will be provided

Food Hardship a Growing National Problem; New Mexico Near the Middle

New Mexicans have become used to ranking near the top of the list on many hunger and nutrition deficiency categories.  Therefore, it was a mild surprise not to find our state in the Top 10 in the new measure of Food Hardship created by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). Food Hardship is defined simply as the lack of money to buy food that families need.  

The fact that we're not on the top of the list in this particular measure does not mean that hunger and poverty are not a problem in communities around our state.  Far from it. Recent USDA data showed that our state remained very food insecure.

In compiling the report about food hardship, FRAC analyzed survey data collected by the Gallup polling organization between January 2008 and December 2009. "The ability to provide such localized data and such up-to-date data comes from Gallup, interviewing 1,000 households per day almost every day since January 2, 2008 for the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index project," said FRAC. 

The organization notes:

The data in this report show that food hardship is truly a national problem. It is a national problem in the sense that the rate for the nation is so high. And it is a national problem in the sense that rates are high in virtually every state, Metropolitan Statistical Area, and congressional district.

Read Full Report 

New Mexico Data
According to the FRAC report, New Mexico had food hardship of 19.2%, ranking 18th in the nation.  

Three states in the South--Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama topped the list. 

The least rate of food hardship was found in North Dakota, which was ranked 51st. (The table includes the District of Columbia).

Among our neighboring states, Arizona ranked 22nd, Texas 14th, and Colorado 27.

Here's what FRAC said about the states:

In 20 states in 2009, more than one in five respondents answered the food hardship question in the affirmative; in 45 states, more than 15 percent answered the question “yes.” For households with children in the states, the situation is even worse. Rates for such households were higher in every state than for households

An interesting trend was that New Mexico had a food hardship of 22.9% in households with children, compared with 18.1% in househoulds without children.

FRAC says this follows a national trend:

The food hardship rate is even worse for households with children. Respondents in such households reported food hardship at a rate 1.62 times that of other households - 24.1 percent versus 14.9 percent in 2009.

Congressional Districts

Of the 436 congressional districts (including the District of Columbia), only 23 had a food hardship rate below ten percent. 311 had a rate 15 percent or higher. In 139 food hardship was reported by one fifth or more of all respondent households.  

New Mexico's First Congressional District (primarily Albuquerque) has a food hardship rate of 15.9%, ranking 282.

New Mexico's Second Congressional District (Las Cruces, Roswell, Carlsbad, Silver City) has a food hardship rate of 18.4%, ranking 205.

New Mexico's Third Congressional District (Santa Fe, Gallup, Las Vegas, Taos), has a food hardship of 18.5%, ranking 198. 

By way of comparison, the highest food harship rate was found in the New York Congressional District #16 (the Bronx) at 36%.  The lowest was the California 14th district (Santa Clara, San Jose)) at 6.6%

Metropolitan Statistical Areas

Albuquerque was the only community in our state measured in the Metropolitan Stastical Areas (MSAs).  Our city ranked smack in the middle at number 50 among 100 MSAs surveyed.  The highest food hardship rate was in the Memphis area, while the lowest was in Honolulu.  Among comparably sized cities in our region, Tucson ranked 37, Austin-Round Rock 70 and Colorado Springs 81.

Says FRAC:

Of the 100 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), 82 had 15 percent or more of respondents answering that they did not have enough money to buy needed food at times in the last 12 months.

Happy Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Day

The Center for Budget Policy and Priorities (CBPP) is urging you to observe Earned Income Tax Awareness Day today, January 29.  Believe or not, it was the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the U.S. Treasury Department that delared this commemoration today.

Download a flier in English or Spanish
Find other resources

 As you probably know, expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit will be the topic of our Offering of Letters in 2010.  

While the focus of today's national "commemoration" is not necessarily on expanding the program, it encourages those who might be eligible to find out more about EITC.  

Here's a note from the campaign organizers.

In 2010, tax credits will mean more for working families than ever before, as they continue to grapple with the pressures of a weak economy.  Yet, 25% of eligible families do not claim the EITC refund.  Working families and individuals need to know that help may be there when they file their tax returns.  Outreach to eligible families could help to claim nearly $6,000 in EITC refunds. 

In Albuquerque, CNM TAX HELP New Mexico will provide free tax return preparation services for those whose annual household income is less than $50,000 or who are age 65 or older.  For more information and to find local sites, call 877-212-4TAX.

Time to Start Thinking about Buying Your Sweetheart Fair Trade Flowers

By Alaina Paradise

Valentine’s Day is still a few weeks away, but One World Flowers is swamped with preparation work for the busiest floral holiday of the year.

Valentine’s Day wholesale orders are due on January 26, so the company is busy processing customer requests and communicating with the farms in Ecuador and Colombia.

Sales nearly doubled in 2009

One World Flowers is a Fair Trade Certified™ flower wholesaler. The company was started in 2007 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and has seen steady growth in sales over the past two years.

In 2009 sales increased by about 93% from 2008, which was the company’s first full year in business.  (See previous coverage. Valentine's Day and Mother's Day)

What’s even better than the growth in sales is the increased impact that we were able to make for the Fair Trade farms.  Growth in sales means that we are giving more money back to the program to keep it going. That includes money from our purchases as well as a 10% Fair Trade Premium that goes directly into a fund for the farms’ workers.

2009 was not an easy year for Fair Trade Certified™ flower farms and importers. A total of four farms were decertified, and another three were suspended from the program. A farm can be decertified or suspended for violating any of the requirements of the Fair Trade Certification agreement.

Visit Fair Trade Certified Flowers for more information.

The positive side of these developments is that it is clear that floral producers are held to very high standards and are watched closely after the certification process. The negative is that at least two of the farms were voluntarily decertified, which means they might not have been getting the support that they need to make the program financially worthwhile.

Business is business, and if the cost of the program is not being covered by the farm, they unfortunately don’t have a financial incentive to continue following it. Our goal is to grow our business and be a faithful Fair Trade customer to support them in their efforts. When talking about sustainability in business, we can’t neglect financial sustainability at all.

The Fair Trade Certified™ label on flowers is a guarantee of a program that supports environmental protection, economic development, and social justice in the areas of each farm.  Pictured in the photo at the right is Julieta Guerrero of Hoja Verde Flowers in Cayambe, Ecuador 

Many people are unaware of how impactful and comprehensive the Fair Trade label is. Here are just a few examples of how Fair Trade works in all three of these areas:

Environmental Protection

• Each Fair Trade Farm converts to a system of integrated pest management, which uses non-chemical methods of preventing insect damage to the flowers.
• Fair Trade Farms often use chamomile extract and cayenne pepper as natural insect repellants.
• Over 100 agrochemicals and all GMOs are eliminated from use on Fair Trade farms.

Economic Development

• Employees are paid a living wage for their work and are protected from the common practice of unpaid and forced overtime.
  
• A workers’ union is established for each farm to collect a 10% Fair Trade Premium from customers. The workers organize democratically and vote on how to use those funds to improve the communities they live in
• Workers are provided with year-round work and employee benefits to eliminate seasonal layoffs.

Social Justice

• Employees are provided with paid maternity leave, proper safety and work equipment, access to an on-site physician, and many other benefits to lift them out of the poverty cycle.
• The Fair Labeling Organization (FLO), the umbrella organization of Fair Trade Certification, oversees farms to ensure that human rights are being protected for all farm workers.
• Farm employees are able to report abuses without fear of retribution to a FLO-appointed representative. Farms may be suspended or even decertified from the Fair Trade program until issues are resolved.
  

Click here or call (505) 489-1117 to place your order  Remember, orders are due by Jan. 26.

The author is proprietor of One World Flowers and a passionate advocate of fair trade.

Rose Marie Berger: A Prayer for Haiti

Most Holy Creator God, Lord of heaven and earth,

we bring before you today your people of Haiti.

It is You who set in motion the stars and seas,

You who raised up the mountains of the Massif de la Hotte

and Pic La Selle. It is You who made her people in your very image:

Their gregarious hearts and generous spirits,

their hunger and thirst for righteousness and liberty.

It is you, O Lord, who planted the rhythms of konpa, Twoubadou,

and zouk in the streets of Cite-Soleil; You who walk the paths

outside of Jacmel and Hinche. Your people, O Lord, cry out to you.

Haiti, O Haiti: The world’s oldest black republic,

the second-oldest republic in the Western world.

God, You are the One who answers the cries of the suffering.

You are a God who sees, frees, and redeems your people.

“I too have heard the moaning of my people,” you spoke to Moses.

Now, Lord, speak again to Chanté, Agwe, Nadege, and Jean Joseph.

Speak now, O Lord, and comfort Antoine, Jean-Baptiste,

Toto, and Djakout. Raise up your people from the ash heap

of destruction and give them strong hearts and hands,

shore up their minds and spirits. Help them to bear this new burden.

As for us, Lord, we who are far away from the rubble and the dust,

from the sobbing and moans, but who hold them close in our hearts,

imbue us with the strength of Simon the Cyrene.

Help us to carry the Haitian cross. Show us how to lighten

their yoke with our prayers, our aid, our resources. Teach

us to work harder for justice in our own country and dignity in Haiti,

so that we may stand with integrity when we hold our Haitian families

in our arms once again. We ask this in the name of Jezikri,

Jesus Christ. Amen.

Rose Marie Berger

Note from the author: Please support the people of Haiti who have suffered a devastating earthquake with your prayers and donations. We owe them a debt of gratitude. I recommend Catholic Relief Services and the Mennonite Central Committee, both of whom have a long history in Haiti.

Rose Marie Berger, an associate editor at Sojourners magazine, is a Catholic peace activist and poet.

Albuquerque-based Haitian Dance Group Sponsors Haiti Relief Event on Saturday

The Haitian dance group Racine Kreyol needs help raising donations and collecting dried goods and survival items to send to Haiti. Come celebrate Haitian culture and arts while supporting the earthquake relief effort!
 
Saturday, Jan. 23
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
The Peace and Justice Center (Harvard and Silver, UNM area)

Needs: Dried bagged grain and beans, organic seeds, first-aid kits, hygiene goods, survival items , blankets, condoms, baby bottles, cereal and formula, iodine tablets, reusable plastic dishes, ramen noodles, backpacks, flash lights, batteries, candles, matches, tents, tarps, ETC

Accepting Monetary Donations of $10.00 or $5.00. All proceeds go toward sending the filled bus of supplies to Haiti.

*NO CANNED GOODS, NO CLOTHES PLEASE!*

THEY WILL HAVE HAITIAN FOOD, DRUMMING, DANCING AND ART at this family-friendly event, so bring a box of items, a bowl to eat, and your cheerful and giving spirits.

Haiti: Searching for Hope

As part of the commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday, I would like to share this is a hopeful video made by Rev. Roy Howard, a Bread for the World member and pastor of St. Mark's Presbyterian Church in Rockville, Md.