Hunger Walks. Why Do We Do It?

The Access/Grace Hunger Walk

I confess that I have struggled with writing this post.  Partly because I often hear disparaging remarks about the city’s needy from a small but opinionated group.  Comments surface, like, “Why can’t they get a job, or a 2nd job”, “I’ve struggled, too, especially in this economy,” and “Don’t they have family to help them?”  I can understand, to a point. Its tough out there for many of us.

I’ve also struggled with this post because as a writer. I want to say something that no one has said before.  But the truth is, there is nothing new about hunger.

•    It exists.  
•    It can happen to anyone.  
•    It takes a community of people to help solve the problem.

The more complicated questions are: why is there a hunger problem in the first place and how we do we kick hunger in its persistent little butt?

We Walk.

A Tough Blow in Life Is All It Takes

When I spoke to Jennifer Gray, the Hunger Walk Coordinator for Access of West Michigan, she helped clarify a few things about the “why”.  Jennifer told me that most of the people who visit the West Michigan Food Pantries have jobs. Sometimes two.  

I don’t want to get overly sentimental, because this post is not meant to guilt you into giving.  But the fact is, who can predict that you will lose your business because of a heart attack?  Or that medical bills because of cancer pile so high that you have to choose between treatment and food?  How do you survive if your sole breadwinner passes away and you cannot work yourself?  How do you keep your job if you lose your car?  What happens when your entire 401K disappears when you are retired and elderly?  How do stay hopeful, keep your emotions in check and your kids healthy if you can’t feed them?  How do your children learn in school when they can’t get enough to eat at home?

Food affects every area of our lives.  

Without healthy food, illness, loneliness and shame take a much stronger foothold within the entire community.  Look around at other communities that make us shake our heads.  If all of our citizens aren’t healthy and productive, then our community as a whole is not healthy either.

“Hunger does not discriminate.”
_Jennifer Wilson, Volunteer & Chairperson of the FightHungerGR task force now partnering with the Access of West Michigan Hunger Walk

About the Hunger Walk on May 7, 2011

In the spirit of a vibrant and caring community, Access of West Michigan works with a network of food pantries across Grand Rapids.  On Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 8 a.m. thousands of access volunteers and friends are coming together to walk and raise money together, so they can delve more deeply into the causes of hunger and eradicate them through a remarkable strategy of services.

You can sign up now, on Saturday morning or just donate a few bucks from your computer.  Click here to find out more.

“I really do believe that we are a community that cares about our citizens and that together we can end hunger in Grand Rapids.”  _Jennifer Gray, Hunger Walk Coordinator, Access of West Michigan

If I Had a Million Dollars

Here are a few quick facts about where your donations will be going:


•    Relationships with large, national food suppliers to keep their excess of products coming to West Michigan.

•    Broaden local resources like restaurants, groceries, farms and factories to become a truly sustainable, local food system and cut down on expensive transportation costs.

•    Collect local gardeners’ excess produce during the summer.

•    A Fresh Food Truck to deliver foods with a short shelf life -- like produce, meat and eggs to areas that do not have groceries within walking distance or along bus routes that offer such things.  There is a huge need for fresh foods.

•    Keep Pantries stocked all year round with longer shelf-life foods

•    Nutritional Options for Wellness (NOW) program that works with people who are faced with life-or-death diets for Diabetes, M.S., Cancer and other diseases.

•    Awareness Campaigns to help both the folks who are hungry and the people who want to help them.

•    Senior Meals.  Seniors, the disabled and children are the most vulnerable.

•    75% of donations will go to the local community

•    25% of the donations will support in-need international communities, such as Japan after the recent earthquake.


What I love about this Access of West Michigan is that when they say “community” they really mean it.  It is a faith-based organization that is made up of many different faith traditions.  And they work together for our local and international families.  

Many of us are lucky to have a family network to fall back on in hard times.  For the people who visit the food pantries, Access and their services have become that family.  The food pantries are all they have.

The financial goal of the Hunger Walk this year is $200,000.  I think I understand this piece of data correctly -- if we could raise $1,000,000, we could eradicate hunger in West Michigan.  It only costs us about $2.37 per meal.

If you can, will you join me in supporting them?

Update on Wednesday, May 11, 2011 at 9:48AM by Elisabeth Veltman, The Tender Foodie

Here is a note from Jennifer Philips Wilson to all who participated in this great event:

With your support, the Access/Grace Hunger Walk was a success. Preliminary numbers show over 1,000 people walked through East Hills this past Saturday and nearly $150,000 was raised to help eliminate food insecurity in our city. With over 20 local agencies fighting hunger on the front lines benefiting from the proceeds, it should take a bite out of our 19.7% food hardship rate.

Thank you again for your help in bringing food to the table for those who cannot afford regular meals. I am truly grateful for what you have accomplished!

All my best,

Jennifer Wilson

Let Them Eat (a Really Big) Gluten-free Cake! For Congress on May 4.

A Really Big Cake

Do you know what defines a gluten-free product?  Well, neither does our FDA.  In 2004 Congress gave the FDA a mandate to finalize this definition by 2008 to protect the millions of people who have celiac disease or who are allergic to gluten.  That's like, seven years, dudes. 

The Washington Post reports that some companies "might fail to test their products or might allow small amounts of gluten but still label their foods as gluten-free."  People with celiac and with serious allergies cannot tolerate one crumb.  This type of sloppiness and ignorance can make customers in this $2.6 billion dollar market very ill, hospitalized or contract other health problems like other autoimmune disorders, osteoporosis, infertility, neurological conditions and, in rare cases, cancer. 

While Tender Foodies can benefit from more manufacturers in the allergen-free marketplace, "Gluten-free" is not a marketing tactic.

So to tempt our authorities into doing their job, some gluten-free experts are making a really big cake in Washington, D.C.  to let our legislator know that this is a really big deal.  How big is the cake?  We'll have to wait for the videos.  If it's chocolate, I might hop a plane tomorrow.

Gluten Labeling - A Really Big Deal

So, you might ask, how big of a deal is this, anyway? 

Food allergies & intolerance, and their diagnoses, are escalating at a surprising rate.  In 2002, a study shows that there are 12 million people in the United States alone who have some type of food allergy (that's 1 in 25 people).  Three million more have celiac disease.   A recent article in the Wall Street Journal reports on gluten study done in March, 2011.  It states that celiac disease "is rising sharply".  There are four times more people today with celiac disease than there were 50 years ago.  That's 1 in 133 people.  Even people in their 70's who have safely eaten gluten their entire lives are being diagnosed with celiac disease for the first time.  The University of Maryland School of Medicine (they did the study in March 2011) believes there are 18 million people with gluten sensitivities.  Gluten sensitivity or intolerance can manifest with over 100 symptoms, including depression, anxiety, bloating, brain fog, swollen joints, nutrition deficiencies. . .

Chew on This

•  75% of our human immune system lies in the intestines.  Our food matters.
• FAAN states that there are 300,000 ambulatory care visits per year for children, because of food allergies.
• In 2008, Fox News reported 50,000 emergency room visits per year (overall)
• in 2010, Aol Health reported that emergency room visits jumped to 200,000 (overall)

So on May 4, 2011, this really cool event in response to an important part of the growing food allergy problem.  A group of talented and enterprising folks are gathering in Washington, D.C. to lobby for laws that require gluten be declared on food labels. 

Click here to see the cake builders!

Excerpts from the Wall Street Journal article from March 15, 2011

"Patients have been told if it wasn't celiac disease, it wasn't anything. It was all in their heads," says Cynthia Kupper, executive director of the nonprofit Gluten Intolerance Group of North America"

"For the first time, we have scientific evidence that indeed, gluten sensitivity not only exists, but is very different from celiac disease," says lead author Alessio Fasano, medical director of the University of Maryland's Center for Celiac Research.

"People aren't born with this. Something triggers it and with this dramatic rise in all ages, it must be something pervasive in the environment," says Joseph A. Murray, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. One possible culprit: agricultural changes to wheat that have boosted its protein content."

 Full article

The Day's Events

11:00 a.m - 4:30 - Cake Building (all are welcome)
We are developing opportunities to brief staffers on Capitol Hill and meet with individual Congressional Representatives - watch for details.

5 p.m. - 8:30 - VIP Reception (donors & invited guests)
With distinguished speakers, including Dr. Alessio Fasano
Finger Foods by chef extraordinaire Aaron Flores and local restaurants serving gluten-free menu items
(Everyone is welcome, donations kindly requested. Please RSVP to Info@1in133.org First 300 attendees receive a "swag bag" full of gluten-free magazines and goodies provided by our sponsors)

All Day - Individuals are encouraged to make appointments with their Representative and Senators to discuss the need for gluten-free labeling standards. Not sure how to do this?  See "Coming to the Summit".