Monday, June 30, 2014

Working Space: An Exhibit Sponsored by Art Street at 5G Gallery

Art Street is a community-based project and collective open studio space where art is used as the connection for community-building for those without and those with homes. A number of high-quality works of art are produced in this space sponsored by Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless. The public is  invited to experience the diversity of community artists at a special exhibit entitled "Working Space," on July 5-13 at the 5G Gallery (part of the Factory on 5th Art Space). More information below.

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day Coming to Albuquerque's South Valley

Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day never physically met each other, although they very much knew of each other and read each other's writings. 

In the last 10 years of Merton's life, he and Dorothy Day frequently exchanged letters and shared their deepest concerns.  In some ways, they lived parallel lives pointed in the same direction: toward the inner and outer peacemaking that comes from radically seeking God's presence and Love in all things.

The thoughts and feelings of Dorthy Day and Thomas Merton are illustrated in a play performed in the style of "Reader's Theater." The performance, which is coming to Albuquerque in a couple of weeks, gives us an insights about their deepest struggles and intuitions about the meaning of death, about prayer, about mystical experience, war and peace--and the way of universal compassion and non-violent love which flows from a union with God.

Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day: Pilgrims and Prophets of Peace

Wednesday, July 16, 2014 
7:00-9:00 p.m.

Holy Family Church
562 Atrisco SW 
Albuquerque  (Map)
Free Admission

Sponsored by Trinity Catholic Worker House

About the Play
The setting of the play is in a liminal twilight zone between life and death, heavean and earth, this life and the next. It is the space between death and eternal life. From this space the characters remember the entire panorama of their life's journey. They take stock of their lives by a final truthful gaze on all that has happened on their way home to God. May the witness of their lives touch, open, and expand our own hearts.

The cast:
David Hoover (Thomas Merton): a spiritual director, retreat presenter and actor. He offers retreats on prayer and spirituality. He holds a Masters Degree from the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley, California.

"What if the door to paradise is wide open--and we walk past it?"  -Thomas Merton


Sharon Halsey-Hoover (Dorothy Day): a storyteller, actor, spiritual director and retreat presenter. She holds a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Counseling in San Francisco.

"My prayer from day to day is that God will so enlarge my heart that I will see you all, and live with you all, in God's Love."  -Dorothy Day

Saturday, June 28, 2014

A Smart (phone) Search for a Summer Meal for Kids

Until about a month ago, the cell phone I carried with me was an early model of the Blackberry Curve, so I didn't worry much about mobile apps (since my unit had limited ability to access these applications).  My interest in apps increased significantly when I upgraded to an Android type of phone.

While most apps these days are all about entertainment, news and other types of information for personal use, I recently learned about new application that could be useful for anti-hunger advocates and for recipients of food assistance. This free mobile app, called Range, allows a person to locate the nearest time and place for school age youth to get a free meal during the summer time. The number of summer meal sites has increased significantly in New Mexico in recent years.

Of course, the creators of the app (the non-profit organization Caravan Studios) did not set up the feeding sites. These are locations that were set up through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Summer Food Service Program.  This app is especially handy when the map that the State of New Mexico's Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) created is not available, which was the case on Saturday, June 28.(I hope it has not been taken down! )

The app is available through the usual methods:

CLICK HERE for Windows Store App
CLICK HERE for Google Play
CLICK HERE for App Store









NOTE: sites are added or changed weekly to Range. If you don’t see sites in your area, check Range regularly.

Range is not the only option to find summer meals, and the creators of the app will the first to tell you that. They provide links to two other sites"
  • WhyHunger: find food  Enter your ZIP code on an Internet-enabled computer or laptop to find meal locations.
  • No Kid Hungry: text message Text FOOD to 877-877 to find a site near you. 
  •  For immediate help, Call the National Hunger Hotline: 1-866-348-6479
Range also encourages users to tell our communities about summer meals programs via links to outreach materials.

Friday, June 27, 2014

Simplicity

Even Socrates, who lived a very frugal and simple life, loved to go to the market. When his students asked about this, he replied, "I love to go and see all the things I am happy without."

-Jack Kornfield
After the Ecstasy, the Laundry Vi

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

A Gift of Written and Spoken Word

"Jesus didn't say, teach them a whole lot of doctrines...He said, teach them to carry out what I commanded you to do.,, feed the hungry, welcome, the stranger, love your enemy, accept the rejects...a whole lot of verbs, not a lot of doctrine,Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Perhaps you've read the words of Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes on this blog or on his own site Unfolding Light.  The pieces we have reprinted here offered a tribute to Nelson Mandela, reflections on the Magnificat, a New Year Blessing, a meditation on the disaster in Fukushima, Japan, and much more. Pastor Garnaas-Holmes is not only gifted with the written word, but also with the spoken word. The New England Conference of the United Methodist Church this year presented him with the Wilbur C. Ziegler Award for Excellence in Preaching. Pastor Garnaas-Holmes, a member of Bread for the World, often incorporates the theme of social justice into his sermons. Here is a video of the award presentation, followed by a spoken reflection.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

A Pupusa Dinner in Albuquerque Will Help Support Projects in Poor Community in El Salvador

You've heard the sad news about the tens of thousands of children and youth, mostly from Central America, who are showing up at the U.S.-Mexico border. According to US authorities, more than 52,000  undocumented and unaccompanied minors have been detained during the nine-month period between October 2013 and June 2014. This article in PBS Newshour gives you all the background you need.

So what actions can we as an individuals take? We can demand that these young people be treated humanely. We can demand that our Congress pass a comprehensive immigration reform law. And we can consider the conditions in the three countries of origin of these youth: El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, and support anti-poverty measures for the region. 

A group of young people from Aquinas Newman Center in Albuquerque is taking the the third option. The Newman Center Youth Prayer and Action Delegation is heading to El Salvador this summer to listen and learn.  They will spend time with peers in the community of Francisco Castañeda. You can show solidarity with the youth by  attending a benefit dinner at Pupusería y Restaurante Salvadoreño on Monday, June 30. The funds raised will be used primarily for specific projects in the community  This flier tells you more. 


Monday, June 23, 2014

Sing, Pray, Listen and Celebrate Two Years of Taizé Worship at the Norbertine Priory in Albuquerque

Photo: Norbertine Community in Albuquerque
The Taizé in the Desert service in the South Valley turns two years old this coming Friday, June 27, and you're invited to join in the prayer, silence, song and celebration.Leave the noise of modern life behind for an evening of prayer.

This monthly ecumenical and interdenominational service draws people of faith from around the Albuquerque area.

The service begins at 7:30 p.m., in the  main chapel at the Santa Maria de la Vid Norbertine Priory, 5825 Coors Blvd SW
 "Right at the depth of the human condition, lies the longing for a presence, the silent desire for a communion. Let us never forget that this simple desire for God is already the beginning of faith.  -Brother Roger, founder of the Taizé community
Following the service, organizers (led by the Young Adults Group of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe) invite you to join them in fellowship, food and music  All are welcome.

Photo: Norbertine Community
Monthly Services
If you are unable to come this Friday, the service at Santa Maria de la Vid is held on the last Friday of every month. The next service is on Friday, July 25.

Another monthly healing (and ecumenical) service is held in Albuquerque on the third Tuesday of the month at Hope +in+the+Desert Episcopal Church, 8700 Alameda Blvd. NE. The next service is scheduled for Tuesday, July 17, at 7:30. For more information contact Rebecca Hemphill.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

'You Look Like that Guy Who is the Travel Writer!'

Chatting  with Sen. Tom Harkin at  Bread for the World's Lobby Day reception

(Rick Steves, travel writer and host of a travel show on PBS, welcomed participants to Bread for the World's National Gathering in Washington on June 9  He also introduced Bread for the World President David Beckmann. Here are some excerpts from Mr. Steves' remarks).

Welcome to the 40th Anniversary of Bread for the World. My name is Rick Steves, I'm a travel writer, and some of you might know me from my public television show about traveling around Europe. Someone [sitting at my table], said "You look like that guy who is the travel writer..." A lot of people say that...

Right now I'm one of thousands of Christian Americans who really see Bread for the World, not as a charity but as a service. Together, we want to fight hunger, and Bread for the World represents that, and does our work right here in Washington, D.C.

I'm honored to kick off a day that promises to be exciting and inspirational. In the morning, we're going  to have talks by David Beckmann, John Podesta and other inspirational leaders, the theme being Working Together to End Hunger, and how that's actually realistic.

In the afternoon, we'll have a series of three TED style lectures on compelling and timely topics. One of them is immigration and what that has to do with hunger. Another is returning citizens--this idea of mass incarceration in our society, and how we can prepare ex-felons to rejoin our community and not fall into the ranks of hungry people, which is such a big problem these days. Another very timely topic is sustainable food security in the face of climate change.

A conversation with  Bread advocate Sandra Joireman 
A Bread member for 30 years
For 30 years, I've been a member of Bread for the World, and I just think it is so interesting how people manage to get involved and caught up in the excitement of Bread for the World. We're a nation of 300-plus million people. There are a lot of good and caring people, and right here we have quite an elite crowd.

What is it that gets us involved in recognizing the value of Bread for the World? I happen to be a travel writer. I've spent one-third of my adult life living out of a 9-by-22-by-14 inch carry-on-the- airplane suitcase. I've spent a lot of times far away from the United States looking back at our country. What I find interesting is that we can learn a lot about our country by leaving it and looking at it from another perspective. We are a compassionate nation, but we often have a tough time grappling between the gap between rich and poor, between the well-fed and the hungry. And a lot of us are conveniently blind to that reality.
"We can learn a lot about our country by leaving it and looking at it from another perspective."
The influence of Art Simon's book
I was one of those people. I was blissfully ignorant until two things happened. When I was a student somebody gave me a copy of Bread for the World, the book by Art Simon. And then I spent a lot of time traveling.

I had a feeling deep inside of me that something was wrong, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I wanted to know what was the economic foundation of structural poverty, and Bread for the World explained that to me. There is enough food on this planet to feed everybody. Every country produces enough food to feed its own people.  But there are challenges. There are structural bases to poverty. There's cash cropping: the whole notion that if you're a rich elite in a developing country, and you want to get a return on your land, you don't grow rice and beans to feed local people, you grow fancy stuff to sell to rich countries. And then your local people don't have rice and beans. This is very fundamental, but beyond the grasp of average Americans.

Posing with New Mexico advocates
There's Third World debt. I'm happy to work hard and prosper. But I don't want to prosper on the backs of desperate people. Forty countries on this planet have a debt that is so big that half of their national budget goes to paying interest to the First World. That's the slavery of our generation. I want to know about that. It's not convenient, but I want to know about it. I learned about it from Bread for the World.

There is the reality of unbridled capitalism. I am an enthusiastic capitalist, but I know that if you have capitalism not bounded with government and compassionate regulation--it causes a lot of trouble. In unbridled capitalism, my domestc cat has more buying power than some child in Guatemala. When you travel, you meet that child in Guatemala, and you understand that there is a reality here. When you travel, you see the reality, you recognize that suffering across the sea is just as real as suffering across the street.
"Forty countries on this planet have a debt that is so big that half of their national budget goes to paying interest to the First World. That's the slavery of our generation."
Globe at Library of Congress
Travel as a political act
Something interesting and striking to me is that there is a lot of love on this planet. And love across the sea is just as beautiful and real as love across the street. One of the most powerful experiences and revelations I had on my travels was on my very first trip. I was 14 years old visiting relatives in Norway with my parents. I was in Oslo behind the Great Palace, in a garden filled with Norwegian families. And I looked down and I saw that garden was filled with parents loving their children just as enthusiastically as my parents were loving me. And then it occurred to me, Wow!, this world is filled with billions of people who are children of God. That is a beautiful revelation. And when you study, you realize that half of those children are tyring to live on $2 a day. And when you travel, it humanizes that reality.

For me, travel can be a political act. After my travels, and after my studies of the issues presented by Bread for the World, I step into a voting booth with the notion that I'm not going to vote for what is good for my short-term financial interest. Instead, I want to vote as a a compassionate Christian, voting for what's important for struggling and desperate people. And I do so with the knowledge that whoever wins this election has a greater impact south of our border than it does on me. That's not noble, that's just enlightened. That's Art Simon enlightened.

People will tell you that there is not just not enough money [to address global poverty]. That is baloney!  There is more money than ever, but there are mixed-up priorities. That's something we can share with our legislators, that's something we can share with our neighbors and loved ones.

Friday, June 20, 2014

Franciscan Sisters Work to Ease Hunger, Serve Community in Poor Neighborhood in Ciudad Juárez

The School Sisters of St. Francis celebrate their fifth year of mission at Casa Alexia in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on August 14,  2014. Among their services to the community is the Juárez Food Program, which provides very basic food to 63 families in desperate situations. The basic monthly packet consists of small bags of rice, beans, sugar, oatmeal, noodles, a liter of cooking oil, a can of vegetables, soap, and, when available, a can of milk.

Sister Carol Jean Ory
By Victoria Tester
As you enter Casa Alexia in Jesús Obrero, Jesus
the Worker, the second poorest area of Ciudad Juárez, you will walk past purple coneflowers to stand among the rose and yellow painted walls and the quiet order of the small adobe home of the Franciscan Sisters, a welcome sanctuary after the hectic traffic of Juárez.

Beautiful silence is punctuated by a song from the courtyard where two towering sunflowers climb next to the sisters’ three parakeets, yellow and blue, named after three saints, who, translated into English are: Francis, Clare and Ignatius.

It is a quiet start to a day that Sisters Carol Jean and Josefina have invited me to share – a day that will be overflowing with hard physical work, human voices, human stories, human suffering and human joy.

Serving 63 families
We carry heavy packets of food to those sixty-three families who are served by the Sisters’ efforts:

A mother, a maquila worker, whose six children do not play outside, as most children in Juárez do not play outside, because of the everpresent danger of kidnapping in this city where so many children have vanished.

An elderly couple who are fragile, upset because they may soon be forced to leave their home of 40 years, where at least they have the solace of the green things they’ve planted and the hummingbirds who, like the Sisters, visit.

A thin young mother who has recently suffered heatstroke, who still cannot eat without vomiting. For a place to live for themselves and their children, she and her husband occupy an abandoned house they are making fit for habitation.

Don Pablo, in his 90’s, who we reach only after navigating a labyrinth of dingy cement passages almost too narrow and winding for human passage. His small room is completely filled by his bed, with standing room only for two people, so I crouch in the doorway as I photograph his joy at visitors.

A small thermos of water sits on an antique bureau. The June heat of his room is almost unbearable. He hastily dons a long-sleeved shirt over his undershirt, to make himself presentable for the dignity of a photograph.

He spends his life in this tiny room, the winters entirely in his bed, to stay warm. To live.

Later that day, after Sister Josefina has returned to her ongoing duties at Casa Alexia, where the Sisters do all of their own shopping, cooking and cleaning, as well as ministering to the community, and hosting visitors, the remaining half of the families will be served through a large distribution at the house of a volunteer, in the shade of a courtyard patio.

 'These are my hands'
Of her lively volunteers who rest for a short moment at her sides, Sister Carol Jean Ory laughs, “These are my hands.” Their affection for her, and hers for them, is obvious.

The volunteers work to distribute the food packets, and to divide the cooking oil, in a huge container, donated by a restaurant in El Paso, into the one-liter bottles brought by those who will, carefully, carry it back to their homes. Cooking oil is a treasure most cannot afford to spend their little money on.

Sister Carol Jean checks off names on a careful list of those served. She and her volunteers could serve twice as many as they do. There are those on their list who hope to be added to the program when – this is hard to say, but yes, -- someone dies, or moves away.

More food is needed, or more money to augment the careful, divided purchases the Sisters make in Juárez in order not to draw possibly dangerous attention to their work.

Later, we take a food packet to a woman who cares for her grandchildren in the most humble of any of the circumstances we have seen, her home a rickety, makeshift construction, a dwelling place of the joy of the Spirit.

Last, we visit a woman in a surgical mask, so thin and weak she cannot stand. She is on dialysis, and yet -- she sings.

She sings with Sister Carol Jean and a volunteer, whose little daughter watches from the foot of the bed, learning from these three remarkable women the difficult, and the easy, ways of Love.

Make a Donation
Donations of non-perishable food, or tax-deductible financial contributions to purchase food, are much needed. Even the smallest contribution makes a difference.

 Please contact Sister Carol Jean Ory at caroljeanory@yahoo.com or 915-328-6173, or
click here to contribute online or write a check to School Sisters of St. Francis and sent to: Sister Carol Jean Ory, SSSF attn: Juarez Food Program 465 Gallagher St. El Paso, Texas 79915-3133

The School Sisters of St. Francis operate a bi-national El Paso/Juárez ministry. They speak both Spanish and English, and their center in El Paso is Gallagher House, where they can be reached at: 915-595-0965


(Victoria Tester is the coordinator of the San Isidro Bean Project and a novice in the Third Order Society of St. Francis. She took all the photographs included in this piece. She may be reached at: franciscanatthemexicoborder@gmail.com)

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Urge Your Senator to Cosponsor Food-Aid Reform Measure (S2421)

Last week, the House of Representatives took a positive step to reform our government’s food-aid programs and bring hope and help to millions of people in need. The House overwhelmingly approved a vital amendment to provide funding for the USDA Local and Regional Purchase (LRP) program. This would help more people receive U.S. food aid at no additional cost. Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.-39), who has been a champion in the House for food-aid reform, led the bipartisan amendment.

Now we have a great opportunity in the Senate. Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) recently introduced a bill that provides needed flexibility to deliver food aid, making the program more efficient.  We need to urge our senators to co-sponsor S. 2421 and help build momentum to pass the bill.

(For those of us who live in New Mexico, here are the numbers for our senators)
Senate Bill 2421 would modernize U.S. food aid by:
  • Increasing flexibility to deliver food aid in the best way possible. In many cases, that means delivering food purchased in the United States, while in other cases buying food locally would be more effective and timely. In still others, the best way to meet the nutritional needs of hungry people would be through the provision of cash transfers or food vouchers.
  • Increasing long-term resilience by ending monetization– the practice of selling food to support development programs, which is incredibly inefficient, often distorts local markets, and can undermine longer-term food-security objectives.
  • Increasing efficiency by removing cargo-preference requirements on food aid. Food aid shipped under cargo preference costs taxpayers 46 percent more, on average, than competitively awarded ocean freight shipments. This legislation will save money and provide the flexibility to ship food without anti-competitive restrictions.
Read More in Bread Blog

Food Poverty Has All the Signs of a 'Public Health Emergency'

Food bank use has been increasing steadily since 2005. In the period April-September 2013 alone, over 350,000 people received food from Trussell Trust food banks – triple the number helped in the same period in 2012. This increase has led the Trussell Trust to call for an inquiry into the causes of food poverty and the surge in food bank usage. A range of experts have also warned in the British Medical Journal (December 2013) that UK food poverty “has all the signs of a public health emergency that could go unrecognised until it is too late to take preventive action.”   A Report to the British Parliament (Standard notes SN06657, April 10, 2014)
Anti-hunger advocates in the U.S. put our efforts into two categories: domestic hunger and poverty, and global hunger and poverty. As we continue efforts to protect and enhance nutrition programs (including SNAP and WIC), it is sometimes useful to view how other industrialized countries deal with their own "domestic hunger" problems.

The London School of Economics and Political Science has compiled a very useful set of resources related to hunger and poverty in Britain.  The site, entitled "Breadline Britain – get the facts on food banks and poverty," includes the letter from 27 bishops criticizing cuts in Britain's welfare program.  This letter was posted in the Daily Mirror and is linked with the End Hunger Fast campaign.

There are many other links documenting an increase in hunger and poverty in Britain from a wide variety of sources, including governments, church organizations and private groups like Oxfam. An interesting site is the Manchester-based Church Action on Poverty, whose mission is to "mobilise churches to work with others to overcome poverty in the UK."

Among the resources listed is Oxfam's Walking the Breadline: The Scandal of Food Poverty in 21st Century Britain, which discusses which  the evidence for food insecurity and its causes. It also contains a bibliography of other reports on the topic.

As is the case in the U.S., there is debate on both sides of the issue, resulting in heated debates between Labour and the Tories (including members of Prime Minister David Cameron's Cabinet) on the extent of the problem and how it should be addressed.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Women Redefine Experience of Food Insecurity (a New Book Edited by Local Community Nutrition Expert Janet Page-Reeves)

 “They strategize in order to access food stamps and charity food pantries, find bargains in low-price grocery stores, and exercise skill and imagination as they cook meals in their kitchens. Most important, each chapter goes beyond the shopping cart and the dinner table to examine what is ‘off the edge of the table.’ These structural constraints include neoliberal economic policies that keep wages low and reduce public assistance, a corporate food system that creates ‘food deserts’ in low-income communities, and ideologies that demonize women as uneducated consumers who make poor food choices. In these vivid accounts women emerge as knowledgeable active agents who develop food access expertise and find new sources of power and identity as creative cooks and caregivers.” 

Janet Page-Reeves, a long-time community nutrition and anti-hunger advocate, is the editor of  Women Redefining the Experience of Food Insecurity: Off the Edge of the Table. The book includes 12 case studies that focus on low-income women who must negotiate the constraints of the food system in order to put nutritious food on the table. (The above description of the book comes courtesy of  Louise Lamphere, emeritus faculty member at the  Anthropology Department at the University of New Mexico).

Ms.Page-Reeves, who also wrote the introductory chapter of the book, is accomplished in her field. She is  a research assistant professor at the Office for Community Health Department of Family & Community Medicine and a Senior Fellow at NM CARES Health Disparities Research Center at the University of New Mexico.  She was once on the staff of the New Mexico Association of  Food Banks and St. Joseph Community Health and helped put together a  comprehensive directory about food resources in Albuquerque in 2010.

Below is  the table of contents for the anthology,available online via a number of popular Internet sellers, including Lexington Books, Powell'sBarnes & Noble, and  Amazon,

Click on flier for details of discount price
Foreward: Julie Nash

Part I: Introduction
Conceptualizing Food Insecurity and Women’s Agency: A Synthetic Introduction  Janet Page-Reeves

Part II: The Dimensionality of Food Insecurity
1. Another Time of Hunger Teresa Mares
2.Women, Welfare and Food Insecurity Maggie Dickinson
3.‘I took the lemons and I made lemonade’:Women’s Quotidian Strategies and the Re-Contouring of Food Insecurity in a Hispanic Community in New Mexico Janet Page-Reeves, Amy Anixter Scott, Maurice Moffett, Veronica Apodaca, and Vanessa Apodaca
4.Negotiating Food Security along the U.S.-Mexican Border: Social Strategies, Practice, and Networks among Mexican Immigrant Women  Lois Stanford

Part III: Disparities in Access to Healthy Food
5. ‘La Lucha Diaria’: Migrant Women in the Fight for Healthy Food   Megan Carney
6,  Women’s Knowledge and Experiences Obtaining Food in Low-Income Detroit Neighborhoods Daniel J. Rose
7. Is the Cup Half Empty or Is It Half Full? Economic Transition and Changing Ideas About Food Insecurity in Rural Costa Rica  David Himmelgreen, Nancy Romer-Daza, Allison Cantor and Sara Arias-Steele

Part IV: Women’s Agency and Contested Practices
8. Salvadoran Immigrant Women and the Culinary Making of Gendered Identities: “Food Grooming” as a Class and Meaning-Making Process Sharon Stowers
9. The Social Life of Coca-Cola in Southern Veracruz, Mexico: How Women Navigate Public Health Messages and Social Support through Drink  Mary Alice Scott
10 ‘Women not like they used to be : Food and Modernity in Rural Newfoundland  Lynne Phillips

Part V: Empowerment and Challenging the System 
11 Labor and Leadership: Women in U.S. Community Food Organizing Christine Porter and LaDonna Redmond
12 ‘I would have never….’: A Critical Examination of Women’s Agency for Food Security Through Participatory Action Research  Patricia L. Williams

Monday, June 16, 2014

Derick Dailey: Partners with a God of Hope

A Biblical generation is 40 years. And that sums up what this national gathering is partly about. We come to celebrate a generation of grace...You, Art Simon and others paved the way, we crafted a vision, we began the work,  God blessed that work, and today we give thanks to God for your ministry. Yet, we're well aware that the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and dream has not died--the dream of ending hunger and poverty around the globe.

And now a new generation of hunger activists and advocates are on the scene, and we must join the race.  We must catch the vision--a vision to end extreme hunger and poverty by 2030.  So we stand today asking God, "Will we too become a generation of grace?"...

The Good News is that we're partners with a God that is today and is always a God of hope not hopelessness. Not a God of scarcity, but a God of more than enough. Not a God of foreclosure, but a God with arms big enough and wide enough for everyone.   

-Derick Dailey (excerpts from  his opening sermon at the Bread for the World National Gathering in Washington on June 9, 2014  #breadrising)
 
(Derick Dailey is a former graduate student at Yale University. He currently serves as secretary on the board of directors of Bread for the World. He was a member of the 2013 Global Ecumenical Theological Institute-North America that traveled to South Korea for the World Council of Churches assembly.  He is a former Teach for America Corps member in the Mississippi Delta and has a B.A. in political science and religious studies from Westminster College in Fulton, MO)




Sunday, June 15, 2014

Lobby Day is More than Just "Lobby Day"

Colorado & New Mexico advocates at Hart Senate Building
Hundreds of congregations around the country wrote about food-aid reform this year, which set the stage for a very important action: a simple vote on agricultural appropriations on Wednesday, June 11. 

Two days before the vote, hundreds of calls were also logged into the congressional offices on Virtual Lobby Day on Monday, June 9, urging our members of Congress to improve our federal programs that provide direct and emergency assistance.  

And on Lobby Day itself, Bread advocates from 34 states and the District of Columbia visited the offices of their elected officials in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate to make the same request. For good measure, I visited the office of Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday morning, June 11, to ask for her support for  the amendment once it came to a vote on the floor.

Award for Rep. Bachus
Amendment Announced at Lobby Day Reception
Bread for the World honored five legislators at a reception at the end of Lobby Day. Three legislators--Rep. Spencer Bachus, a Republican from  Alabama; Sen. Tom Harkin, a Democrat from  Iowa; and Rep. Frank Wolf, a Republican from Virginia--were honored with an award that recognized their efforts to address hunger and poverty during their congressional careers. (All three are set  to retire at the end of their current term).

Two other legislators  were also honored at the Lobby Day reception for their work on food-aid reform. Rep. Ed Royce of California and Rep. Eliot Engel of New York. Royce, a Republican is chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Engel, a Democrat, is the minority leader in the same committee.

David Beckmann & Rep. Ed Royce
When Rep. Royce took the podium after receiving an award, he described the strong bipartisan efforts in the committee. And then he made a very important announcement. He was set to introduce an amendment the next day he would sponsor a bipartisan amendment during debate on the House fiscal year 2015 agricultural appropriations bill to to provide funding for the USDA Local and Regional Purchase (LRP) program. This would help more people receive U.S. food aid at no additional cost. The LRP program was reauthorized at $80 million in the in the 2014 farm bill.  The amendment passed!  Read more in the Bread blog.

The amendment was apparently approved via a voice vote, so we have no record on how Reps. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Rep. Steve Pearce and Rep. Ben Ray Lujan voted. We met twice with Rep. Lujan Grisham.  On Lobby Day, Larry and Ellen Buelow and I met with one of her legislative assistants to discuss food-aid reform and immigration reform. On Wednesday, with the knowledge that the vote on the amendment was pending, I returned to her office in Cannon House Building to talk to her aide in charge of foreign affairs and urge support for the amendment.  Larry, Ellen and I did not meet with aides to Rep. Pearce and Rep. Lujan on Lobby Day, since none of us is a constituent.  But we dropped off materials about food-aid reform and immigration reform in both offices.

At Sen. Udall's  constituent coffee
And we had two opportunities to bring up food-aid reform to Sen. Udall. On Lobby Day, we met with two of his legislative assistants at Hart Senate building, and on Wednesday morning, Larry, Ellen and I attended the constituent coffee, where we brought the issue up directly to the senator. (And we also spoke about the emerging Interfaith Hunger Coalition in New Mexico). 

The constituent coffees offer great networking opportunities. We were able to make connections with some members of the New Mexico Public Health Association.

On Lobby Day, we also met with a legislative aide at Sen. Martin Heinrich's office, which is also in the Hart Building.

More from the New Mexico Grassroots
As of June 13, New Mexico congregations had written nearly 800 letters to Sen. Udall, Sen. Heinrich, Rep. Lujan Grisham, Rep. Pearce and Rep. Lujan about food-aid reform. One letter-writer, Kirsten Marr, at First Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque, took time to write additional letters to key legislators. One of those letters went to Rep. Royce and the other to Rep. Frank Lucas, chair of the House Agriculture Committee.  Kirsten was in charge of organizing the letter-writing efforts at First Presbyterian Church (which held its inaugural Offering of Letters this year!)

And there was also  good participation from folks in New Mexico on Virtual Lobby Day. I want to thank Lynette Rose, Bro. Jim Brown, Chris Spahn, Javier Aceves, Karla Ice, Art Meyer, Kathy Freeze, Ivan Westergaard, Pat Sheely, and Lucretia Tippit for making calls and/or keeping us in their prayers. (A number of those calls went to Rep. Ben Ray Lujan!)

Saturday, June 14, 2014

A Collage of Bread for the World Birthday Celebrations

Cake courtesy of  Beth Nygaard
Just Past the Teen Years
I have celebrated a handful of Bread for the World birthdays over the years.The first one was very low key, and it was not in Washington but in Albuquerque. As part of our joint conference with the Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry (which is now Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-New Mexico), we decided to observe Bread's 20th birthday with a cake. We honored many long-time Bread members, including Brother Jim Brown, who had been a Bread member since the organization was founded. David Beckmann, who was relatively new to Bread at the time, gave the keynote address.

Hunger Heroes (Photo Bread for the World)
At Age 30: The Hunger Heroes
Fast forward 10 years to Bread 's 30th birthday. This is one of the most memorable ones for me personally.  I was among one of 30 hunger heroes who were honored that year. How awesome to have one's name mentioned in the same breath as Bono, George McGovern, and Bob Dole.? Alas, none of those VIPs was there. But it was truly awesome to share the day with Bread co-founder Bill Byron, S.J., and fellow advocates Elaine VanCleave, Cathy Brechtelsbauer and Ed Payne.

And we had our own 30th birthday celebration in Albuquerque that year, and Father Bill Byron was gracious enough to join us at Immanuel Presbyterian Church. He delivered a wonderful keynote address. This celebration was a joint activity with the New Mexico Conference of Churches.


Marty Haugen sings to Bread
A Song for Bread on its 35th
One of the highlights of Bread's 35th birthday was the presence of. singer-composer Marty Haugen wrote a special song in honor of Bread for the World. And  Bill Moyers (who couldn't be with us in person) spoke to us via a recoded message.  And we honored two anti-hunger, anti-poverty advocates who helped build up Bread: former board members Maria Otero and Eleanor Crook. These types of milestone celebrations also offer opportunities for a reunion.  Among the folks I saw were ex-government relations director Barbara Howell and former organizer Bob Schminkey.


Participants Welcomed
A Bread Rising Campaign for the 40th
Which brings me to Bread's 40th birthday. This celebration is fresh on my mind because it just happened less than a week ago. And a prominent individual joined us for this celebration: travel writer and television host Rick Steves. A big highlight was the opportunity to hear Bread for the World founder Art Simon.  Even though I see him often at Bread board meetings, it's always very good to hear his input on the ways that the organization has remained true to its core mission and yet adapted to modern realities over the past 40 years.

Another highlight was the opening sermon by my friend Derick Dailey, who set the tone for the gathering with a wonderful reflection. And, again, it was a time for reunions. I saw Kim Bobo, one of Bread's first directors of organizing. I hadn't seen her since the 1980s!   (We hope to have our own Bread 40th birthday celebration n Albuquerque sometime this fall. More info to come soon)

What makes this year's birthday celebration important is that it marked the launch of our new campaign Bread Rising: Working Together to End Hunger by 2030.  There are three components to the campaign:
  • Pray -Commit yourself to ongoing prayer for the end of hunger
  • Act -Redouble your commitment ot adovacy
  • Give- Provide the resources to leverage big changes
(Stay tuned for more specific information)

Rather than spend a lot of words describing the gathering, I would like to share a handful of pictures here.  (And feel free to view my album on Facebook via this link. You do not have to have a FB connection with me to view the album).

Rick Steves & board chair Sandra Joireman


Timeline 1974-2014
Advocates Megan Marsh & Derick Dailey
Daniel Erdman, Ellen Buelow, Carlos Navarro, Larry Buelow, David Beckmann

Friday, June 13, 2014

Senator Smith Hears from Lutheran Church in Albuquerque About Reforming Food Aid

Who is Senator Smith, and why is she hearing from members of All Saints Lutheran Church in Albuquerque? Wait a minute. Aren't the last names off our senators from New Mexico Udall and Heinrich, and aren't they both men?

Let's forget the realities for a while and pretend that Senator Smith is representing us in Congress.

Below is the dialogue that Lucretia Tippit, Diana Lewis and their OL organizing committee created this year to explain food-aid reform to the congregation. (Skits are a great vehicle to explain a topic of an OL to a congregation. Click here to seen of what the folks at All Saints Lutheran did in 2012).

[Some of the pictures we used in this post are from Lobby Day in Washington on June 10, which Larry and Ellen Buelow and Carlos Navarro attended. The Buelows hand-delivered letters from Holy Rosary Catholic Community in Albuquerque].

Bread #1: Senator Smith, I’d like to give you this letter, written by a committee from my church, All Saints Lutheran in Albuquerque. Senator: (Takes letter) What’s it about? I don’t have a lot of time to read just now. Important votes are coming up soon in the Senate. Just give me a quick run down on the content.

Bread #2: We’re asking you to strengthen our U.S.food-aid programs by considering some important reforms. Senator: We’ve already appropriated millions of dollars recently for food assistance abroad. You know, Congress is worried about the budget and making needed reductions wherever we can.

Bread #1 We’re not asking you to increase the funding. We just want you to improve the efficiency of the way we deliver aid and insure that the food gets to the people who are really hungry and suffering through no fault of their own.

Rep Michelle.Lujan Grisham's aide holds letters from New Mexico
Bread #2: Especially to women who are pregnant and children through their 2nd birthday—t hose 1000 days—when access to food is so important for mental and physical development.

Senator: Well yes, I’m a mother myself. I know how important good nutrition is. But we can’t feed the whole world. You mentioned some inefficiencies…

Bread #1: A lot of our policies were put in place in the 1950s and it’s time to update and modernize them to meet the needs of a more globalized world. Some simple changes will make our government respond more flexibly and quickly to emergencies and feed more hungry people.

Senator: I’m listening…

Bread #2: Well first, we should allow more food purchases in or near the country where it is needed. This way we can support local farmers’ efforts to improve their lives and the food will reach the people faster.

Senator: That makes sense. Aren’t we already doing that?

Bread #1: No. Mostly we are shipping American grown food stuffs to these countries and often selling it on the open market. This practice depresses food prices in the market and again undermines local farmers who are often women.

Bread #2: When you take into consideration rising food prices and higher transportation costs, our aid is reaching only half as many hungry people as it did when the Food for Peace program began.

Some of the letters from All Saints went to Sen. Tom Udall
Senator: Wait a minute. I’m from an agricultural state. My constituents are having a difficult time right now. I don’t want to vote for anything that would negatively impact the farmers in my state.

Bread #1: These reforms will have very little impact to American farmers. U.S. food aid accounts for less than 1 percent of total U.S. agriculture exports and only 0.56 percent of net farm income. And even with the reforms we’re talking about, the majority of emergency food aid for humanitarian assistance like the earthquake in the Philippines will continue to be used for buying and transporting American commodities.

Bread #2: Following current laws which require that half of food-aid products be shipped on American ships is very inefficient. Sometimes it takes as long as 6 months and costs as much as 60 cents for each dollar spent on food aid.

Senator: I can see my colleagues in the Senate will object to changes in the laws on shipping.

Bread #2: These reforms will impact the U.S. shipping industry minimally, as well. Food aid is a minimal part of the overall volume of cargo shipped on U.S. vessels. We’re talking a little over a million metric tons out of a total of 1 billion tons of cargo shipped.

Senator: Well, so far, I’m following you. What other reforms do you have in mind?

Bread #1: Often the aid we provide in general distributions such as in refugee camps in Sudan and Syria provides energy and calories, but doesn’t provide essential vitamins and minerals. There are new types of specialized food-aid products that have been developed to address this issue.

Letters to Sen. Martin Heinrich
Senator: So you’re saying that without increasing the amount budgeted for food aid and by making some changes in current laws that allow the food to be purchased in or near the countries in question and to increase the nutritional quality of food aid available we can feed more hungry people.

Bread #1: Yes, you’ve summarized it nicely, Senator. Just by making these reforms we can benefit an additional 17 million people. Do we have your support ?

Senator: Well, I’ll certainly consider it when the bills come up for a vote. I, too, am a Christian and believe we need to show compassion for those who are hungry and suffering in this world.

Bread #2: Thank you for your time and your support, Senator. (All shake hands.)