Author: Mara Sleeter

Nutrition Education | Springtime Fun Facts & Recipes

May 3, 2019

With spring in full bloom, you may have noticed a plethora of fresh produce at your local pantry or neighborhood market.  Here are some fun facts and tips for our favorite spring produce items, plus easy-to-follow recipes from our Nutrition Education Team. Enjoy!

Fabulous Asparagus

  • A good source of fiber, folate, and Vitamins A, C, and K
  • Store upright in the fridge with the base of spears in water for 2-3 days
  • Quick-and-easy prep:
    • Steam full spears with a little water in a pan on your stovetop for about 5 minutes.
    • Cut into pieces and sauté with other vegetables in a little oil.
    • Cook in the microwave in a glass dish with a little water for about 5 minutes.

Recipe: Asparagus and Red Quinoa Salad

Amazing Artichokes

  • A good source of Vitamin C, Folate, Magnesium, and fiber
  • Store in the fridge: cut a small slice from the stem, sprinkle with water, and store in an airtight plastic bag. Cook them within 7 days from storage.
  • Quick-and-easy prep:
    • Steam whole, with a little water in a pan on your stovetop for about 30 minutes on high heat (add enough water so it doesn’t evaporate part way through cooking)
    • Boil whole by submerging in water, and simmering for about 30 minutes
    • Drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil, and bake for 1 hour at 425˚ F.

Recipe: Boiled Artichokes

Flavorful Fennel

  • A good source of potassium and Vitamin A
  • Store by separating the long stalks from the bulb and store the two parts separately in plastic bags. You can also store the full fennel upright in a cup of water on the counter. Use within a couple of days to avoid loss of flavor.
  • Keep in mind that the entire plant can be consumed, from bulb to stalks.
  • Quick-and-easy prep:
    • Fennel bulb can be enjoyed raw in salads, but can also be sautéed, roasted or grilled with the stalks.
    • The stalks are more fibrous than the bulb and are best enjoyed cooked.

Recipe: Salmon with Roasted Fennel and Citrus

(artichoke photo courtesy Martin Adams on Unsplash)

Food Bank Milestone | Paul Ash’s 30th Anniversary

April 10, 2019

In the land of food banking, you won’t find too many people with the institutional knowledge and experience of our executive director, Paul Ash.

Paul joined the then San Francisco Food Bank when it was just getting off the ground – April 1st, 1989 to be exact.  Fortunately for us, this was no April Fool’s Joke. And even more fortunate is the fact that Paul never left!

He’s been a guiding light for ending hunger for so many years, but don’t take our word for it.  Check out what others are saying about Paul and add your own message in the comments section below.

“For over 30 years, Paul has dedicated his career to serving hungry residents in San Francisco. We celebrate not only his commitment to supporting our underrepresented communities, but also his steadfast leadership of one of San Francisco’s most important institutions.”
-San Francisco Mayor London Breed

“We congratulate Paul Ash on his 30th anniversary with the Food Bank.  Paul Ash has been for these decades an essential partner with GLIDE in our mutual commitment to alleviate suffering, hunger and food insecurity.  Paul is a relentless warrior for the poor and those who are pushed to the margins of our society.  We extend our gratitude and admiration and love to Paul Ash.”
-Rev. Cecil Williams and Janice Mirikitani, CoFounders, GLIDE

“Cheers to you, Paul!  When you joined the food bank it was just a small but mighty team in a dilapidated warehouse on 3rd street, distributing less than a million pounds of food a year and operating in the red. But you had a belief that access to food is a basic human right and a vision for how to grow the organization to the tremendous community leader it is today. You were always generous with your time, and a leader at the state and national level.  You are also a mentor to many current leaders in the food bank network (Paul is the only ED who can say three current food bank CEOs are former direct reports). Creative and disciplined, you have always kept the organization focused on how it can corral any available resources to have the biggest impact on ending hunger, and that is a very special talent.”
-Leslie Bacho, CEO of 2nd Harvest Food Bank of San Jose and San Mateo

“When I started working for the Food Bank we were distributing about 3 million pounds per year. Paul was just a couple of years into the job and already forming his vision for the organization.  The first thing I noticed was he had the ability to always pick the opportunity that fit with the Food Banks vision.  It made our growth possible with the limited funding available. His vision still endures today as we distribute close to 50 million pounds of food per year.
-Gary Maxworthy, Former Board Member, creator of the state’s Farm to Family program.

“Congratulations Paul…you have done an amazing job transforming the then San Francisco Food Bank from a very small, but needed, organization in the late 80s to a Bay Area powerhouse charity that now serves over 200,000 people in San Francisco and Marin each year. It would be impossible to quantify just how many lives you changed and saved in your tenure, but it’s a lot and you should be  commended for that.”
-Michael Terris, Food Bank Board President & partner at Terris, Barnes & Walters

Please take a moment to leave your own well wishes and recollections about Paul in our comments section below.

Leading the Charge Against Food Waste

April 2, 2019

Preventing food waste has become a hot topic lately, but the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank started reducing food waste before it was cool. In fact, we’ve been recovering and redistributing surplus foods for nearly 30 years.

Our motivation was to source large amounts of healthy fruits and vegetables for our participants in the most efficient way possible. And as a natural byproduct, about 65% of all the food we provide is considered rescued.

In the late 1990s, we saw an opportunity. California — the nation’s breadbasket — was home to an enormous bounty of surplus produce. Before we came along, that perfectly nutritious produce was left in the field to rot or be plowed under. We thought, “That’s a lot of food that could be helping hungry people.”

In response, we developed a program that is now called Farm to Family, spearheaded by Food Bank Board Member Gary Maxworthy. Through the program, farmers donated truckloads of fresh fruits and vegetables to the Food Bank. We brought them to our pantries, and our participants were so grateful.

The program proved to be overwhelmingly successful and generated enough produce to share with food banks across the state. Due to the program’s growth, administration was transferred to the California Association of Food Banks in 2005.

Farm to Family now serves a statewide network of 40+ food banks, providing 150 million pounds of produce every year. In April 2016, Farm to Family shipped its 1,000,000,000th pound of produce! Yes, you read those zeros right — 1 billion!

In addition to providing millions of people with healthy food, we’ve diverted millions of pounds of waste from landfills. Producing food that no one eats wastes water, fertilizer, pesticides, seeds, fuel, and land — and we’ve interrupted that process.

We also help our pantry participants make the most out of the food they receive by educating them about how to preserve and prepare the food — ensuring that every ounce of nutrition goes as far as possible. Did you know, for example, that milk is safe to drink a full 7 days after the expiration date? Check out our handy tool that explains food expiration dates and how long foods are safe for consumption.

We started our Farm to Family program with our hearts set on providing more healthy fruits and vegetables to people in need. And we’re thrilled that we’ve been able to not only help the people we serve, but also be a leader in the food waste movement.

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Food Bank ‘Mini’ Team Favorites: Celery Recipes to Enjoy This Spring

March 26, 2019

The Food Bank ‘Mini’ team lives to figure out-of-the-box ways of delivering fresh, nutritious food to our neighbors in need.  To mark April as National Celery Month, we asked members of our Nutrition Education team to help us out with a few celery recipes. They pulled up a few delicious ideas from our friends at EatFresh.org.  Enjoy!

Apple Celery Slaw with Nuts

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
¼ teaspoon mustard
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 apples diced (skin on)
2 large celery ribs cut into 1/4 inch-thick pieces
2 cups raw cabbage shredded
¼ cup nuts chopped
chopped parsley (optional)

PREPARATION

*Whisk the vinegar with the mustard in a large bowl.
*Add oil in a stream, whisking until blended.
*Toss apples, celery, and cabbage with the dressing.
*Just before serving, sprinkle with nuts (and parsley).

Chickpea Dip with Fresh Celery Sticks

INGREDIENTS

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed
3 garlic cloves
¼ cup plain lowfat yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vegetable or olive oil (or nonstick cooking spray)
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon paprika
⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
4 medium celery stalks sliced

PREPARATION

*Put the first eight ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.
*Serve at room temperature with celery slices and enjoy!

Letter From Paul | President Trump’s Budget

March 22, 2019

For the third year in a row, we at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank find ourselves on the defensive with a harmful budget proposal from the Trump Administration.

The President’s spending plan calls for massive cuts in vital safety net programs – including $220 billion in deep cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, CalFresh in California) over the next 10 years.

If you’re a longtime supporter of the Food Bank, then you probably know just how devastating this proposal would be for our community. SNAP helps put food on the table for over 40 million Americans, four million Californians, and tens of thousands of people in our service area of Marin and San Francisco.  It’s THE most important and effective program we have to fight hunger and serves as a lifeline to those who don’t make enough money to provide three square meals a day for themselves and family members.

MORE NOT LESS

Now is the time to invest in food assistance efforts rather than diminishing them. While the economy is strong, we should bolster programs such as SNAP with benefit levels that support better nutrition. Income requirements for these programs should be designed to account for cost-of-living disparities, so that applicants in high-cost areas—such as San Francisco and Marin—are guaranteed equitable access to food assistance.

Through cruel and ill-conceived ideas, like a renewed push to replace SNAP benefits with so-called “harvest boxes”, the President’s proposed budget poses a grave threat to our most vulnerable neighbors. The harvest box proposal stigmatizes people who are struggling to make ends meet.  More importantly, it replaces SNAP, an efficient system where people shop for themselves in a grocery store and pay with an electronic benefits card, with a program requiring an entirely new distribution system that would likely be more expensive, less efficient, and provides less nutritional value for those it purports to serve.

CALL TO ACTION

We continue to remain firmly committed to using our voice to elevate the importance of federal nutrition programs like SNAP and call on the community to reach out to their members of Congress to oppose these cuts to SNAP and other vital programs.

Our tagline at the Food Bank is “Food For All” – a simple phrase with a big meaning. When we make healthy food available for all, our community thrives.  Any effort to undermine that is simply undermines the greatness and health of our country.

Policy and Advocacy Update | Tackling Hunger in Washington D.C.

February 28, 2019

In February, our Policy & Advocacy team joined 1,100 passionate advocates in Washington D.C. for the National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference.  Co-hosted annually by Feeding America and the Food Research and Action Center, the conference is an exciting opportunity for anti-poverty and anti-hunger advocates to collaborate. We celebrated the bi-partisan 2018 Farm Bill – which reversed proposed cuts to federally-funded food programs.  We also geared up to fight attacks on food programs anticipated from the current administration.

NOTE: Photo courtesy of FRAC. Click to watch Congresswoman Blunt Rochester’s keynote address

Day 1 – Sunday – “We’re Not Going Back!”

We spent our first morning learning from fellow food bank representatives about new opportunities to use client-level service data to influence policy and advocacy. Then, during lunch, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE),  ignited the room  with a powerful keynote address.  She reminded us that we have come so far in our advocacy to provide neighbors with the basic human right of food, and encouraged us to continue challenging attacks on these programs.

NOTE: Photo courtesy of FRAC. Click the photo to view Mayor Benjamin’s speech

Day 2 – Monday  “The Rent Eats First”

Our second day kicked off with another outstanding speaker: President of the US Council of Mayors, the Honorable Steven K. Benjamin of Columbia, SC.  He spoke about addressing the root causes of hunger, including institutional racism, limited access to financial education, insufficient wages, and the “unlivable” cost of living in cities across America.

He highlighted income volatility – citing recent studies that show half of US families can’t pay for an unexpected $400.00 bill.  Our Food Bank learned this firsthand during the recent government shutdown, when we saw a spike in need from people who had never required food assistance before, but found themselves two paychecks short and unable to cover their expenses.

Day 3 – Lobby Day! – SNAP benefits inadequate for Bay Area’s hungry

L Meg Davidson, Food Bank Associate Director, Policy & Advocacy, R Paul Ash, Food Bank Executive Director

By Day 3, we were all ready to take our anti-hunger priorities to Capitol Hill, where we met with staff members for Senators Kamala Harris and Diane Feinstein. We also connected with staff members of Congressman Jared Huffman, who actively supports our advocacy efforts on behalf of his constituents in the northern coastal region, including Marin.

We thanked them for their leadership and asked that they turn their attention to the inadequacy of benefits for current SNAP (food stamp) recipients.

 

Right now, the average SNAP recipient gets $1.49 per meal, which we know with the cost of living here is simply impossible to stretch. We were joined by Patricia, a Contra Costa County resident, who shared her personal experience of having her SNAP benefits cut to just $15 per month.  We are asking Congress to reevaluate the criteria used to determine how much money a household can get in SNAP benefits.

The Conference was an energizing reminder that we are not in this struggle alone.  We are part of an incredibly diverse and tireless community of advocates and elected officials who have never stopped fighting for policies that feed and protect our neighbors who need us most.

 

Nutrition Education | Spring Clean Your Fridge

February 26, 2019

If you’re like us, then you can’t wait for the rain to finally pass so you can get started on your annual “spring cleaning” tasks. Word to the wise, don’t forget to add your pantry and refrigerator to the list! Being mindful about what food we have on hand can help us cook healthier meals and eat better. Our Nutrition Education Team has put together some tips that will lead to a cleaner kitchen and a healthier you!

Know Where to Store Your Fruits and Veggies

Storing fruits and veggies in their proper place means more space in your fridge and more time to enjoy these healthy foods, as they will not spoil prematurely.

  • Store in a cool, dark place (such as a pantry) but NOT the fridge: potatoes, onions, winter squash, yams and sweet potatoes. The cold temperature of the fridge can cause them to sprout.
  • Store and ripen on the counter: bananas and tomatoes. You can ripen fruits like avocados, melon, and stone fruit on the counter too, and then refrigerate.
  • Refrigerate: berries, broccoli, greens and grapes.

What’s more, don’t handle, wash or cut your produce until you are ready to use it. Keeping them ‘as is’ from the grocery store as long as possible will ensure your food stays fresh longer.

Keep Food Safety in Mind When Stocking Your Fridge

Store ready-to-eat foods, fruits, vegetables, and dairy ABOVE uncooked meats, eggs, and fish in your refrigerator to avoid cross contamination. That way, if raw eggs or meat drip onto anything, it will be the bottom of your fridge, instead of leaking onto other foods.

Don’t be Fooled by “Best By” or “Sell By” Dates

Code dates, also called “Best By”, “Sell By” or “Use By” dates can be confusing. These code dates indicate a food’s peak flavor and quality, but they are not USDA-regulated safety dates, nor are they reasons to throw food out. Food is often good far past its code date.

Did you know that canned vegetables can last anywhere from 1.5 to 5 years past their code date? Dairy products such as milk and yogurt can last anywhere from 7-10 days past their code date. If properly stored in your freezer by the code date listed on the package, meats can last for many years past that date.

Shop Your Freezer Before Heading to the Store

Your freezer can store wonderful meal staples like meat, soups, and frozen vegetables. Make meals new again by making a batch of cornbread to go with that soup or chili you found in the freezer. Use frozen veggies in a weekend brunch frittata, or poach that frozen chicken and make it into tasty tacos. Check out our Yum Videos for more recipe inspiration!

Food Bank Mini Team Favorites: Broccoli Recipes to Enjoy This Spring

February 22, 2019

The Food Bank ‘Mini’ team lives to figure out-of-the-box ways of delivering fresh, nutritious food to our neighbors in need. In the spirit of the ‘minis’ hanging out in the Broccoli Forest, we asked members of our Nutrition Education team to help us out with a few broccoli recipes. They pulled up a few delicious ideas from our friends at EatFresh.org.  Enjoy!

BROCCOLI SALAD

INGREDIENTS

4 cups broccoli – washed, trimmed, and cut into bite-size pieces
½ cup raisins
¼ cup red onion – diced
¾ cup radishes – thinly sliced
⅓ cup mayonnaise
2½ tablespoons low-fat plain yogurt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar

PREPARATION

*In a medium bowl: combine broccoli, onions, raisins and radishes.
*In a small bowl: blend mayonnaise, yogurt, sugar and vinegar.
*Pour dressing over broccoli and mix well.
*Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. (This will help marinate the ingredients but is not essential.)

POTATO BROCCOLI CHEDDAR SOUP 

INGREDIENTS

2½ cups broccoli chopped and steamed until tender, frozen broccoli
2 cups cooked chicken chopped or shredded (optional)
3 potatoes chopped, with skin on or off
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese low-fat if possible
2 tablespoons butter
½ onion chopped
½ celery chopped
¼ cup flour
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 dash paprika
1 pinch of salt
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups skim milk

PREPARATION

*Melt butter in the bottom of a large soup pot.
*Cook onion and celery in butter over medium heat.
*Add flour, pepper, salt, and paprika and stir until smooth.
*Add broth, milk, and potatoes. Keep stirring until the mixture boils and thickens.
*Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
*Stir in cheese and broccoli.
*Cook over low heat until cheese is melted.
*Add chicken, if using.

Ana’s Story | For The Children

February 21, 2019

The early morning sun was just starting to shine through the windows of the multipurpose room at Daniel Webster Elementary School in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood, but that couldn’t hide the smile on Ana’s face. The mother of two was picking up groceries at the Food Bank’s weekly Healthy Children Pantry at her daughter’s school when she came upon something she didn’t quite expect.

“Take a look at this honey – there’s fish today!” she said to her youngest daughter, 4-year-old Genesis. “Yes, fish! Bring it on!”

Ana has been coming to the pantry at Daniel Webster since her 7-year-old older Xochitl was in kindergarten – not out of choice, but out of necessity. “Especially living in a place like San Francisco with high rent, sometimes it’s like ‘if we pay rent we don’t eat’ … and unfortunately, that shouldn’t be that way. But that’s how things are right now.”

WORKING LONG HOURS

Not being able to get ahead isn’t for a lack of trying.  Ana’s husband puts in long hours as a construction worker. She’s working hard too, volunteering at the school in the mornings before heading off to her full-time nonprofit job, then returning to school to get her girls. She spends many evenings volunteering with the school’s PTA and ELAC – English Learners Advisory Committee.  “I do it all because I don’t care about just my children, but all children in the school and the district,” Ana says.

SAVING FOR KIDS’ EDUCATION

She hopes for a day when rents aren’t so high in the city, allowing all families to thrive.  Until then, she’s glad for the little things, like finding fresh fish at our Healthy Children Pantry and fresh fruits that make her young daughters smile when they bite into them.  To her, it’s about making sure her kids live a better life than hers.

“This pantry helps us save money, especially with the housing crisis. I mean look at this milk,” she says, pointing to the gallon she’ll take home today. “It would probably cost $6, and the fish would probably cost about $20.  We know this all adds up every month to big savings that I hope I can use for a healthier future for my kids.”

Food Bank Innovations | VolunTOURism

February 19, 2019

Terry Hardie is a retiree, living with his wife in Boulder Colorado, so it was a little strange spotting him so far from home, bagging rice in our San Francisco warehouse.  Even more strange, perhaps, is that his involvement at the Food Bank was courtesy of a well-known cruise ship line.

For the past 2 years, Crystal Cruises has been developing a program that encourages passengers, like Terry, to not only enjoy each port-of-call in leisure, but to also do something special to give back to the local communities in some way.

Marco Estrada, Shore Excursion Manager with Crystal explains, “We call it ‘You Care, We Care.’ Our off-shore itinerary now includes options to visit specially-selected nonprofits, where passengers can volunteer.  So far, it’s been very well-received, with hundreds of visits logged in places like San Francisco, Columbia, and Thailand.”

Terry says he regularly volunteers at home, so doing so while he vacations is very natural.  “I’m one of those people who can’t sit still for very long. I like to be active and productive in my daily life, so when I learned about this opportunity while vacationing with my wife, I decided to make a go of it and come out here today to help feed less fortunate people living in San Francisco.”

Over the past two years, the Food Bank has seen several groups from Crystal Cruises stop by the warehouse and give a few hours of their time.

“When you’re pushing out millions of pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables every year, every set of hands counts,” says Food Bank Community Engagement Manager Cody Jang. “We applaud Crystal Cruises for partnering with us.  We certainly get something out of the deal, but we also hope passengers come away with a better understanding that hunger exists everywhere – including a beautiful tourist destination like San Francisco.”

Estrada says as far as they know, Crystal is one of the only cruise ship lines that has ventured in this direction, but he thinks ‘volun-tour-ism’ will only grow as more people with the means to travel continue to recognize the power of altruism.

Click here for more information on the “We Care You Care” program.