Sources and Citations

Sources


ambulance: ambulance.union.rpi.edu

broke-down car: www.acuraofauburn.com

huricane Rita: www.ascn92.dsl.pipex.com

hurricane Katrina: www.katrinahelp.com

hurricane Katrina sattelite: www.cameraontheroad.com

Katrina convention center: www.simplytatydesigns.com

Katrina1_f.jpg: nsf.gov

Katrina houses: jwbartlett.com

Katrina boat: www.smallvictoriesusa.com

Katrina: www.tsunami2004-india.org/katrina.html

Katrina sattelite: 911review.org

Middle class living on the edge:
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveMoney/MiddleClassLivingOnTheEdge.aspx

One Paycheck away: http://www.drphil.com/shows/show/773

4.25 Billion donated for Katrina relief and recovery:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/katrina.article/cpid/452.htm

Red Cross volunteers: www.katrinanewsonline.com


Volunteer w/ water: www.scientology.org

Volunteers w. food: www.waysidechristianmission.org

http://www.hurricanekatrinarelief.com/faqs.html

Pew/Internet- Online Katrina donations:
http://www.pewinternet.org/report_display.asp?r=168

Public policy could stop hunger:
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061116/NEWS01/611160379/1007/NEWS01

www.goiam.org - unemployment

www.ldsces.org - paying bills

http://www.onesmallproject.com/ - ninth ward

Katrina food distrabution: www.friendships.org/hurricane_rita.html

Billions of Dollars Post Katrina, Yet Very Little Effect: http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/08/billions_of_dol.html

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2933: Katrina's Vanishing Victims

"The irony is that coverage of poverty has dropped even as poverty itself has been on the rise. "Not only are more people poor, people are living in deeper poverty than they have in decades." Avis Jones-DeWeever, Institute for Women's Policy Research



Be part of the solution... donate, advocate, give time.

http://hungryforamonth.blogspot.com/

Military Families on food stamps

Military families on food stamps? It's not an urban myth. About 25,000 families of servicemen and women are eligible, and this may be an underestimate, since the most recent Defense Department report on the financial condition of the armed forces -- from 1999 -- found that 40 percent of lower-ranking soldiers face "substantial financial difficulties." Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, reports hearing from constituents that the Army now includes applications for food stamps in its orientation packet for new recruits.
-http://www.alternet.org/story/18313

"The Show" Poverty in America - images

The most popular lecture on racism, oppression, poverty and social injustice
with more than 6,500 presentations in American and European Higher Education:

http://www.american-pictures.com

Project Script, final draft

*** ERSB Notice ***
Project Experience May Change During Actual Video Play
*******************

/music: hunger's hanging over my head/

/text effects/hun-gry [huhng-gree]/text effects/

1. having a desire, craving, or need for food; feeling hunger.
2. lacking needful or desirable elements; not fertile; poor: hungry land.
3. marked by a scarcity of food: The depression years were hungry times.

These are still hungry times for some.

Some 38 million hungry people

What comes to mind, who are they, where are they?

/text effects/
Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Laos, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Samoa, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, East Timor, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Tanzania, Vanuatu, Yemen, Zambia. (World's 50 poorest countries.)/text effects/

Hunger and poverty are closer than you might think...

/music/
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea! /music/

/text effects/

Texas, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Arkansas, Utah, Idaho, North Carolina, Arizona...
-Ten Worst States, 2002-2004 Food Insecurity Rate (USDA)
http://www.frac.org/pdf/foodsecprofile2004.pdf /text effects/

"...poverty in America is not an oxymoron but the reality...Its face is found in every corner of this powerful nation. It stretches across busy street corners and down deserted back roads. Ultimately it casts its shadow upon one-fifth of our citizens." -Mark Robert Rank, Ph.D., associate professor in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work

38 million people would fill MSU's Spartan Stadium 506 times.



/music: One/
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we're not the same
We get to
carry each other
carry each other./music/

Questions about hunger in the US

More than 13 million families in 2004 were unable at times to buy the food they needed, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Finances are so strained for 5 million of those families that one or more members goes hungry as a result. -Vikki Valentine, NPR


Food insecurity, what does it mean?
Difficulty finding the money to buy food.

Why is there hunger in America?

People go hunger because of the uncertainties of daily life; unexpected events
like an emergency visit to the hospital, car repairs, job loss, catastophic events
like huricanes Katrina and Rita.

/music: Any other day/

If you are living just above the poverty line, any one of those circumstances can push you into poverty and food insecurity...hunger.

Good, healthy, fresh food is expensive, especially if you work at a minimum wage job. The national minimum wage is still only $5.15 per hour; that's $10,300 a year for a fulltime job.

How successful has the food stamp program been at reducing food insecurity?

According to the USDA, in 2004 the average monthly food stamp benefit was about $86 per person and about $200 per household. This average of $200 is just over one-third of what the USDA recommends a family of four should expect to spend on food using its Thrifty Food Plan.

Does the program stop hunger? It reduces hunger, but it does not eliminate hunger if the family lives at or below the poverty line. According to the USDA, the number of families who received food stamps declined dramatically between 1995 and 2000. This was a time when the poverty rate increased. When people needed assistance most, the program was scaled back. After passage of the Welfare Reform Act in the early 1990s, the government cut back on who was eligible for food stamps and made it harder to qualify for the program.

The highest rates of poverty in the US are found in Appalachia, the Mississippi Delta, the U.S.-Mexico border and Indian reservations.

/music: Talkin' Bout A Revolution/

what part of the population would you say is most vulnerable to food insecurity or poverty?

A: We're going to see a rise in economic insecurity among the elderly, partially because Medicaid and Medicare only cover certain issues and certain drugs, and -- most profoundly -- because there is a decline in employer-based pension benefits, due to corporate bankruptcies, and also benefit take-backs. A telling example: GM's most recent negotiation with UAW resulted in larger co-payments for the elderly and larger personal contributions to their drug purchases.

At the core, hunger in America is the result of employment instability and the lack of an adequate minimum wage.


/Music: Walk a mile in my shoes/

America waste 96 billion pounds of food each year

Ideas for ending hunger in America:

Volunterring to pay off student loans
Portion of tax of food services to go to qualified nonprofits fight against hunger
Dry good food doantion centers at all grocery stores to make donations easy and regular
More education on nutrition in schools and for parents
Increase funding for milk, healthy snacks and hot lunches for K-12
Replace junk foods and pop in vendors with healthy snacks and juices

Be the Solution: Help Fight Hunger

America's Second Harvest
www.secondharvest.org
America's Second Harvest—The Nation's Food Bank Network is the nation's largest charitable hunger-relief organization:

A Network of more than 200 Member food banks and food-rescue organizations
Serving all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

The America's Second Harvest Network secures and distributes nearly 2 billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually.

Meals on Wheels Association of America
www.mowaa.org
"So no senior goes hungry."

MOWAA facts

/images/
/quotes/

MSU Student Food Bank
www.msu.edu/~foodbank/

MSU SFB Facts

What will it take for us to end hunger?

If it was as easy as clicking a button, would you do it?
/hunger site screenshot/

How it works:
You click and one of several sponsors buys food on your behalf. If you want to help, log on -- each click is worth 1.1 cups of food. And there are all kinds of ways to up the amount of food you give. For instance, if you sign up for Impact, the Hunger Site's newsletter, you automatically give an extra two cups of food. And if you buy something on the site -- from over 100 stores -- you give between 25 and 50 cups of food. Go to: www.thehungersite.org

Final message:

"Be the change you want to see in the world."
-Mahatma Gandhi

/music: Imagine/
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say that I'm a dreamer
but I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one./music/

Waste reduction fast facts - food/agriculture

Twenty-seven percent of the food produced for human consumption in the U.S. is thrown out as waste, equaling 48 million tons annually. -Economic Research Service, US Department of Agriculture, “Estimating and Addressing America’s Food Losses,” 1997

Fifty-three percent of disposed food is fresh fruits and vegetables, grains and milk.
-Economic Research Service, -US Department of Agriculture, “Estimating and Addressing America’s Food Losses,” 1997

When counting only the uneaten portions of meals and waste from food preparation (such as produce trimmings), Americans throw away an average of 163 pounds of food per person per year. -Economic Research Service, US Department of Agriculture, “Estimating and Addressing America’s Food Losses,” 1997

Recovering only 5 percent of U.S. food waste would represent one day’s worth of food for four million people. -Economic Research Service, USDA, “Estimating and Addressing America’s Food Losses,” 1997

Each year, the nation's supermarkets, restaurants and convenience stores toss out approximately 27 million tons of edible food worth $30 billion. -University of Arizona College of Social and Behavior Sciences, “Retailers Offer Food That Is Convenient, But Sometimes Unprofitable,” 2002; “University research “trashes” fast food,” Waste News, 5/12/03

Approximately 12 percent of the food served as part of the National School Lunch Program is wasted, resulting in an estimated direct economic loss of $600 million. -US Department of Agriculture, “Several Strategies May Lower Plate Waste In School Feeding Programs,” Joann F. Guthrie and Jean C. Buzby, Food Review, Volume 5, Issue 2, March 2002

Metro: Recycling and Waste Prevention

All your wasted food are belong to U.S.

96 billion pounds of food are wasted each year

According to a study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, we waste 96 billion pounds of food in America each year. That turns out to be:

• 263,013,699 pounds of food wasted each day...
• 10,958,904 pounds wasted each hour...
• 182,648 pounds wasted each minute...
• 3,044 pounds of food wasted in America each second
  

The official poverty rate in the U.S. has increased for four consecutive years, from a 26-year low of 11.3% in 2000 to 12.7% in 2004. This means that 37.0 million people were below the official poverty thresholds in 2004. This is 5.4 million more than in 2000. The poverty rate for children under 18 years old increased from 16.2% to 17.8% over that period. The current poverty rate is measured according to the 2006 HHS Poverty Guidelines

Each day millions of people in the United States have to struggle to get enough food. Nearly half of these people are children. A large number are elderly. But no matter who they are or where they live or why they are impoverished, there is no excuse for anyone to go hungry in America when so much food goes to waste.

Videos on poverty and hunger in the US and aboad

Our Children
Hungry - Homeless-American
Walk a mile in my shoes
Our America, Our Problem
Down and Out

Poverty Atlas

http://www.povertyinamerica.psu.edu/projects/atlas/

more images

misc resources

The Face of poverty is ours

Shattering myths about poverty, welfare

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CYZ/is_4_32/ai_n16418567

NPR - hunger in America

Hunger Hidden but Real in America's Suburbs

more images

http://www.maryellenmark.com/text/magazines/life/905W-000-039.html

images, quotes & other stats

More than 12 million American families went hungry at least once last year, including 37,000 households with children, on any given day.

Twelve million American families--more than 10 percent of all U.S. households--"continue to struggle, and not always successfully, to feed themselves." Families that "had members who actually went hungry at some point last year" numbered 3.9 million (NYT, Nov. 22, 2004).

http://www.citypages.com/databank/26/1264/article12985.asp

Poverty and hunger are problems that many Americans relegate to the Third World. But the steady growth of poverty has left millions of American families afraid they won't have enough money to put food on the table.

Native American Poverty

Child poverty in the United States
• Nearly 15 million American children live in poverty
• The effects of poverty take the lives of 27 children every day
• Families with children make up about 40% of the people who become homeless
• Children account for 25% of the homeless population
• 50% of people who become poor each year are children
• Since 1975, the child poverty rate has increased by over 40%
• 12 million American children have no health insurance and millions of others have inadequate insurance. -Feed the Children

"Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action."
–Benjamin Disraeli

“If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our own institutions, great is our sin.” –Charles Darwin

"While each of us may not all be poor, poverty affects all of us..." -Robert Kennedy

I Will Simply Survive (grist.org)

“Poverty is the worst form of violence.” -Mahatma Gandhi

The Changing Face of Poverty in America, CNN.com

Estimating the costs of hunger

"In moral terms, just stating the fact that one child dies every five seconds as a result of hunger and malnutrition should be enough to prove that we cannot afford to allow the scourge of hunger to continue -- case closed," says FAO in SOFI 2004.
FAONewsroom

40 countries face food shortages worldwide

Darfur crisis most pressing humanitarian problem, FOA

Quotes on hunger

“The right time to eat is: for a rich man when he is hungry, for a poor man when he has something to eat” -Mexican Proverb quotes

Questions

1 NO MORE HUNGRY
Who is hungry and poor in the U.S. and why?
What would it take to end hunger and poverty?

2 DEFEND THE CAUSE OF THE POOR
How are current welfare programs working?
Who is being helped, harmed, and why?
What important welfare issues will be on the table in 2002?
What does it take to help people get out of poverty and into good jobs?

3 WHO PROVIDES FOOD FOR ALL
How do national nutrition programs, such as food stamps and school meals, work?
How can these programs be simplified and strengthened?

4 SUFFICIENT FOR THEIR NEEDS
What constitutes a "livable income" in the U.S.?
How can public policies support poor people to make ends meet?

5 OUR GREATEST ASSET
How are U.S. children faring?

6 WHO ELSE IF NOT YOU?
How should personal and social responsibility be balanced?
What is the role of faith-based organizations?

nutrition terms

Food insecurity – The limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods, including involuntarily cutting back on meals, food portions or not knowing the source of the next meal.

Food security – Access to enough food for an active, healthy life. At a minimum, food security includes: (1) the ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, and (2) an assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways (e.g., without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging or other coping strategies).

Hunger – The uneasy or painful sensation caused by a recurrent or involuntary lack of access to food. Many scientists consider hunger to be chronically inadequate nutritional intake due to low incomes (i.e., people do not have to experience pain to be hungry from a nutritional perspective).

Malnutrition – A serious health impairment that results from substandard nutrient intake. Malnutrition may result from a lack of food, a chronic shortage of key nutrients, or impaired absorption or metabolism associated with chronic conditions or disease.

Obesity – An abnormal accumulation of body fat that may result in health impairments. Obesity is generally defined by the National Institutes of Health as having body weight that is more than 20% above the high range for ideal body weight.

Undernutrition – The consequence of consuming food that is inadequate in quantity and/or nutritional quality.

Program Terms

After-School Snack Program – The After-School Snack Program provides nutritious snacks and meals to low-income children participating in after-school programs. It is run under the auspices of both the National School Lunch Program and the Child and Adult Care Food Program.

Child and Adult Care Food Program – The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is a federal program that provides healthy meals and snacks to children and adults (elderly people unable to care for themselves) in day care settings.

Commodity Supplemental Food Program – The Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) works to improve the health of low-income children, mothers and people at least 60 years old by supplementing their diets with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) commodity foods. USDA administers CSFP at the federal level, providing food and administrative funds to states, though not all states participate.

Elderly food programs – Federal nutrition programs that specifically target at-risk elderly people and include home-delivered meals and congregate meals programs, which provide meals at central facilities in group settings.

Emergency food program – Emergency food programs distribute donated food items to hungry people through avenues such as shelters, soup kitchens and food pantries, which usually are supplied by food banks. Such programs typically are run by private, nonprofit community organizations.

Food bank – A charitable organization that solicits, receives, inventories, stores and donates food and grocery products pursuant to grocery industry and appropriate regulatory standards. These products are distributed to charitable human service agencies, which provide the products directly to clients.

Food pantry – Nonprofit organizations (typically small in size), such as religious institutions or social service agencies, that receive donated food items and distribute them to hungry people.

Food Stamp Program – The federal Food Stamp Program serves as the first line of defense against hunger. It enables low-income families to buy nutritious food with Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards. Food stamp recipients are able to buy eligible food items in authorized retail food stores. The program is the cornerstone of the federal food assistance programs and provides critical support to low-income households and those making the transition from welfare to work.

School Lunch and Breakfast Programs – The National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs are federally assisted meal programs operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential childcare institutions. They provide nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free meals to children each school day.

Soup kitchen – An organization whose primary purpose is to provide prepared meals served in a local agency kitchen for hungry people.

Summer Food Service Program – The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) provides reimbursements to schools, local government agencies and community-based organizations for meals and snacks served to children during the summer months. Geared toward low-income children, the SFSP is the single largest federal resource available for local sponsors who want to combine a feeding program with a summer activity program.

Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) – WIC provides supplemental nutritious foods, as well as nutrition counseling, to low-income, nutritionally at-risk pregnant women, infants and children up to age 5.

The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) – Under TEFAP, commodity foods are made available by the USDA to states. States provide the food to local agencies that are selected, usually food banks, which distribute the food to soup kitchens and food pantries that directly serve the public.

This glossary was adapted from the National Anti-Hunger Organizations’ “Blueprint to End Hunger.”

Hunger stats for Michigan/Nation

http://www.centeronhunger.org/states/mi.html

Nation (2004): http://www.centeronhunger.org/hunger/facts.html

• In 2004, 13.5 million households (or 11.9% of all U.S. households) were food insecure. Over 38 million people (13.2% of all Americans) lived in these households.
• During the 12 months preceding the 2004 survey, 4.4 million households experienced hunger. Over 10.7 million adults and children lived in these households.
• In 2004, 13.9 million children under age 18 lived in food-insecure households (19.0% of all children).
• Food insecurity and hunger are concentrated in low-income households. In 2004, households with incomes below 130% poverty line had a food insecurity prevalence more than 3 times the national level. More than two-thirds of households reporting hunger had incomes under 185% of the poverty line.
• Female-headed households showed disproportionately high levels of food insecurity and hunger, with 33% reporting food insecurity and 1 in 11 experiencing hunger.
• Black and Hispanic households had food insecurity prevalences that were at least 2.5 times those of White (non-Hispanic) households.

one of our planet’s most serious long-term concerns

Experts around the world agree that hunger and malnutrition are among our planet’s most serious long-term concerns. This is true in the United States, too.

Domestic Hunger Facts

Millions of people throughout the United States live in a state of food insecurity, not knowing when or where they’ll find their next meal. The numbers are shocking, and the statistics often confusing. Below, you’ll find a sampling of important data used in examining hunger in the United States, as well as links to information on individual states. Over 38 million Americans, including 14 million children, suffer from hunger or live on the edge of hunger. The US has the highest child poverty rate of any other industrialized nation. 17.6% of children in the U.S. live in hungry or food insecure households. 3.5 percent of U.S. households experience hunger. 9.5 million people live in these homes. 7.6 percent of U.S. households are at risk of hunger. 25.5 million people live in these homes. Infant mortality, poor cognitive development and increased risk of disease are all consequences of chronic hunger in children. Over 10% of Americans 65 years of age and older live in poverty. Nearly 12% of rural households in the United States face hunger every day. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food Stamp Program is the nation’s single most important resource in the fight against hunger. Eligible individuals must earn a net income below 100% of the federal poverty line. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, the poverty line for a family of four is $18,850. The average gross income of food stamp households is $633 per month. The average amount of money that food stamp recipients receive per meal is $0.96. 50% of food stamp recipients leave the Food Stamp Program within 6 months. Nearly 86% of food stamp benefits accrue to households with children and seniors. 40% of food stamp recipient households have at least one adult working a minimum of 40 hours per week. Over 26 million children receive free or reduced price lunch at school every day. To be eligible for free school lunches, children’s families must earn at or below 130% of the federal poverty line.

http://www.mazon.org/

Hurricanes, Vulnerability and Rebuilding Community Food Systems

http://www.foodfirst.org/node/1502

Multicultural Song Index

http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/arts/songs.html

sounds: The Message

The message

(e.fletcher, s.robinson, c.chase, m.glover -
Sugarhill records 82)

Broken glass everywhere
People pissing on the stairs, you know they just
Dont care
I cant take the smell, I cant take the noise
Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice
Rats in the front room, roaches in the back
Junkies in the alley with a baseball bat
I tried to get away, but I couldnt get far
Cause the man with the tow-truck repossessed my car
Chorus:
Dont push me, cause Im close to the edge
Im trying not to loose my head
Its like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder
How I keep from going under

Standing on the front stoop, hangin out the window
Watching all the cars go by, roaring as the breezes
Blow
Crazy lady, livin in a bag
Eating out of garbage piles, used to be a fag-hag
Search and test a tango, skips the life and then go
To search a prince to see the last of senses
Down at the peepshow, watching all the creeps
So she can tell the stories to the girls back home
She went to the city and got so so so ditty
She had to get a pimp, she couldnt make it on her
Own

Chorus:
Its like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder
How I keep from goin under

My brothers doing fast on my mothers t.v.
Says she watches to much, is just not healthy
All my children in the daytime, dallas at night
Cant even see the game or the sugar ray fight
Bill collectors they ring my phone
And scare my wife when Im not home
Got a bum education, double-digit inflation
Cant take the train to the job, theres a strike
At the station
Me on king kong standin on my back
Cant stop to turn around, broke my sacroiliac
Midrange, migraine, cancered membrane
Sometimes I think Im going insane, I swear I might
Hijack a plane!

Chorus:

My son said daddy I dont wanna go to school
Cause the teachers a jerk, he must think Im a
Fool
And all the kids smoke reefer, I think itd be
Cheaper
If I just got a job, learned to be a street sweeper
I dance to the beat, shuffle my feet
Wear a shirt and tie and run with the creeps
Cause its all about money, aint a damn thing
Funny
You got to have a con in this land of milk and
Honey
They push that girl in front of a train
Took her to a doctor, sowed the arm on again
Stabbed that man, right in his heart
Gave him a transplant before a brand new start
I cant walk through the park, cause its crazy
After the dark
Keep my hand on the gun, cause they got me on the
Run
I feel like an outlaw, broke my last fast jaw
Hear them say you want some more, livin on a
Seesaw

Chorus:

A child was born, with no state of mind
Blind to the ways of mankind
God is smiling on you but hes frowning too
Cause only God knows what you go through
You grow in the ghetto, living second rate
And your eyes will sing a song of deep hate
The places you play and where you stay
Looks like one great big alley way
Youll admire all the number book takers
Thugs, pimps, pushers and the big money makers
Driving big cars, spending twenties and tens
And you wanna grow up to be just like them
Smugglers, scrambles, burglars, gamblers
Pickpockets, peddlers and even pan-handlers
You say Im cool, Im no fool
But then you wind up dropping out of high school
Now youre unemployed, all null n void
Walking around like youre pretty boy floyd
Turned stickup kid, look what you done did
Got send up for a eight year bid
Now your man is took and youre a may tag
Spend the next two years as an undercover fag
Being used and abused, and served like hell
Till one day you was find hung dead in a cell
It was plain to see that your life was lost
You was cold and your body swung back and forth
But now your eyes sing the sad sad song
Of how you lived so fast and died so young

sounds

Music can be a powerful componet to a multimedia piece. It can add emotion
and emphasis. These are some of the tracks I am considering for this project:

Imagine: John Lennon

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

*****

Hunger Strike: Pearl Jam

I don't mind
Stealing Bread
From the mouths of decadence...

But I can't feed on the powerless
When my cup's already overfilled
But it's on the table,
The fire's cooking
And they're farming babies,
and the slaves are all working...
Blood is on the table,
the mouths are chokin'...

I'm goin' hungry...

*****

Hunger Song

(Joyce Brookshire)

Who's gonna feed the hungry
Who's gonna feed the poor
Who's gonna stand and help me fight
That lean wolf that's howling at my door

When I wake up in the morning
To face another day
Hunger's hanging over my head
There's a weakness in my stomach,. Lord
It's always been that way
Hunger's hanging over my head

When the kids come in from playing
There's nothing there to eat
Hunger's hanging over my head
It makes me feel so helpless
From my head down to my feet
Hunger's hanging over my head

And when the day is over
And it's time to go to bed
Hunger's hanging over my head
My prayers are for tomorrow, Lord
To see my family fed
Hunger's hanging over my head

I don't mind
Stealing Bread
From the mouths of decadence...

But I can't feed on the powerless
When my cup's already overfilled
But it's on the table,
The fire's cooking
And they're starving babies,
And the slaves are all working...
And it's on the table,
The mouths are choking...

I'm going hungry...

project goals/1st draft outline

1. Explore common beliefs about hunger (research and possible survey)
   
2. Challenge common understanding of hunger in relation to the U.S.
   
3. Facts, quotes, stats, photos and other multimedia on hunger in the U.S.
1. Map of US - highlight agriculture areas and types, stats on amount of food produced in U.S.
2. Map highlighting areas of hunger
3. Reveal any laws contrary to fighting hunger-farming subsidies to keep land fallow
4. Ways we can combat hunger in the U.S.
1. Tax breaks for aiding against hunger
2. Student loan repayment for volunteering
3. Portion of tax on food services/bar/resturants to nonprofits for the fight against hunger
4. Donation centers in all grocery stores to collect dry goods donations
5. 1% grocery tax to food stamp, or similar programs
6. More education on health and nutrition
7. Increase funding for free milk, snacks and hot luches in k-12
8. replace junk food and pop rending machines with healthier snatcks
5. Online opportunities to combat hunger in the U.S.
1. What if it was as easy as clicking a button...thehungersite.org
1. background of the site
2. how the site works
   
3. dispel myths about the site
4. thehungersite is the least we can do, can we do more?
   

US hunger & Bush Admin

Resources for Bush Admin on hunger in the U.S. and abroad

Find and consider line from this 2nd term inagural speech "the hunger in dark places..."

US summit report 2001

Science Daily

Kerry/Bush US hunger report

US hunger report held by bush admin

Still hungry

Thanksgiving and world hunger

Science Blog- Combating World Hunger

will search for more tomorrow...

MSU Student Food Bank

Over a two-year period the MSU Student Food Bank has served over 14,000 clients, almost a third of these clients have been children.

Any Michigan State enrolled student who does not have a meal plan in the residence halls is eligible to receive support from the MSU Student Food Bank.

The MSU Student Food Bank Fundraising Coordinator, with the help of the Student Committee is charged to raise $25,000.

The MSU Student Food Bank is the only known food bank in the nation that is run by students and for students.

The MSU Student Food Bank has a unique relationship with the American Red Cross that enables the Food Bank to purchase food at a rate of $0.18 per pound. This means that $1.00 buys the MSU Student Food Bank 11 cans of food.

The MSU Student Food Bank regularly offers these food items:
Bread Rice Pasta Canned Fruit
Cereal Powdered Milk Canned Vegetables Juice

These items are commonly offered as well:
Eggs Peanut Butter Jelly Margarine
Soup Macaroni & Cheese Cake Mix Tuna
Apples Potatoes Cookies Candy
Onions Squash Mayonnaise Pretzels
Crackers Cheese Bagels Raisins

Toothpaste Soap Shampoo Lotion

The MSU Student Food Bank has volunteer opportunities for over 200 volunteers. These include helping with distribution evenings, serving on the Student Committee and fundraising events.

To become involved with the MSU Student Food Bank or to receive the current distribution evening schedule, call 432-5136 or email foodbank@msu.edu. Check out the MSU Student Food Bank website.

"Showstopper Presentations"

Yesterday I attended a training seminar on "Showstopper Presentations." Mostly it was lame, however, there was one really useful exercise that I used to help me with this project.
We had five minutes to brainstorm all the ideas/topics we could think of for one presentation. We were in groups of three, so we had help coming up with the ideas. However, since I left the folder with the list in my office, I will have to wait to post it until tomorrow.

Okay, there was one other helpful thing from the training session. The presenter reviewed the format for a good presentation:

Intro
"Attention getter"
Body (three main points and sub points)
Conclusion

There is more to it than this, but that is how well I was paying attention. I'll flesh this out tomorrow.

*Note to self: look up the Clinton era speech on the Rez in '99. Look up mandates or legislation to close the digital divide. Find good quotes about bringing more technology to those lacking to move into the issue of need for basic necessities outweighing need for technology.

US hunger info links

Below is the start of my resource list for the project. Tomorrow I will start pulling relevant data from these sites, then organizing it into main points.

RESULTS: Hunger and Poverty in the United States

FHFH - Hunger In America

Feeding Children Better | The Facts

MAZON - Domestic Hunger Facts

Hunger Facts: Domestic

Kids Can Make A Difference - Hunger Facts

World Hunger Notes--United States Page

America's Second Harvest - Child Hunger Facts

ERS/USDA Briefing Room - Food Security in the United States

Hunger in the United States

Center on Budget and Policy: Food Stamps

Day 1

It seems just plain wrong to be starting a blog about hunger in the U.S., with a full, satisfied belly.

I'm not passionate enough for this, I don't want it badly enough.

I'll give that dollar every time I go to the grocery store, but I'm not out delivering Meals on Wheels to seniors, like my dad does every week...I could do that, I want to see if I can do that. My dad really cares about the people he brings those meals to. Even after my grandmother died and life was a crazy-hectic mess for a week and a half non-stop, I remember him sitting down and chastising himself because he forgot to deliver his meals on the day of the funeral; that is how committed I want to be. But I refuse to let my lack of commitment stop me from doing anything at all. Even if all I do is click a button once or twice a day, and some contacts someone else and 1/4 worth of food gets sent to someone who wouldn't otherwise have it, that is 1/4 quarter of food more and it's something.

So having only made one half-hearted attempt at blogging before, about fish, whatever, I decided as I was gathering up source material for a multimedia presentation I am planning, for one of my grad classes; why not use a blog to capture this process, see where it goes. If it goes no where, it can disappear, just like the tens of thousands of other bits of digital chaos.

If anything in the world is worth a few moments of my time for thought and consideration, it is this shameful fact of hunger. Not just hunger in underdeveloped countries, but hunger in the richest nation on the planet. In the state where I live, in the city where I live.

If I can convince one person that this is their problem as well as mine, as well as everyone's problem and responsibility, I will have succeeded, but I hope I can affect far more.