Seed Savers Exchange

Many people may not be able to say whether or not they've eaten genetically modified food, but chances are they have since 70% of the food available in the U.S. contains genetically modifed ingredients like corn or soy.  Seed Savers Exchange works toward preservation of food integrity:

Seed Savers Exchange is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds. Since 1975, our members have been passing on our garden heritage by collecting and distributing thousands of samples of rare garden seeds to other gardeners.

Gardeners and food purists rely on Seed Savers Exchange for untreated, non-GMO (genetically modified organism) varieties of fruits, vegetables and herbs.  From arugula to zucchini, growers have more than 13,000 types of seeds from which to choose.

Go Halfsies for Good Health and Fighting Hunger

Halfsies: Connecting the Dots from Go Halfsies on Vimeo.

"About 40% of the food produced in the United States isn't consumed. Every day Americans waste enough food to fill the Rose Bowl. And our national food waste habit is on the upswing: We waste 50% more food today than we did in 1974." -- Jonathan Bloom, author of American Wasteland

Go Halfsies is a nonprofit and social initiative offering restaurant-goers the choice of healthier meal portions, reducing food waste, and supporting the fight against hunger.  When people choose to "go halfsies" at a participating restaurant, they receive a half-portion and still pay full price.  The restaurant then donates to local and world hunger causes.

Right now, New York City and Austin, Texas restaurants plan to participate, but since the idea was just featured, Go Halfsies has received requests from DC, Atlanta, Athens, Saf Fran, Boston, LA, Chicago, & even Australia.

Technology for the Poor

A 20 dollar investment in a container garden can yield 25 pounds of food.  This is one idea Dr. Job Ebenezer implements as he works to find ways to address food security among the poor. Feed bags, wooden pallets, and discarded tires are also handy containers for gardening in tight urban spaces. Inspired by the ingenuity of George Washington Carver, Ebenezer founded his nonprofit, Technology for the Poor.

"With inexpensive containers and suitable soil mix, you can create an urban garden virtually anywhere - on roof tops, vacant city lots, brown fields, and unused portion of parking lots." --Dr. Job Ebenezer

The Ohio-based organization isn't limited to the U.S. or food scarcity issues.  Technology for the Poor is spreading sustainable technologies all over the world.  Bicycles and simple windmills can be used for energy production.  Low-cost home construction includes ideas from the early American pioneering efforts when straw served as a critical material in building efforts.

Learn how to construct your own container garden by visiting the website.

Share Our Strength

Twenty percent of American children don't have enough to eat. Their hunger and food insecurity doesn't manifest as rail thin limbs and bloated tummies like their counterparts in other countries, but hungry American kids face the same risk lacking the energy to learn, grow and thrive physically and intellectually.

The nonprofit, Share our Strength aims to end child hunger in America by 2015.  Here's a look at what the organization is trying to tackle:

• More than 16 million children in America are at risk of hunger.
• 15.7 million children in America live in poverty. 
• 18.6 million children are SNAP/food stamps recipients.
• Over 20 million children get a free or reduced-price school lunch.
• 10.5 million children get a free or reduced-price school breakfast.
• 6 out of 7 children do not get the free summer meals they are eligible for.

Share Our Strength partners with major corporations and donors mobilizing to create community wealth and  promote lasting change.

Feeding the 5000

'Feeding of 5,000' to Combat Waste

Feeding the 5000 showed people in London the insane level of food waste going on every day by preparing a feast for thousands with discarded and unwanted food.  A crooked carrot might be tossed at a supermarket because aesthetically that carrot isn't desirable.  Shockingly, all of the world's nearly one billion hungry people could be nutritiously fed on less than a quarter of the food that is wasted in the US, UK, and Europe.

"The bread and other cereal products thrown away in UK households alone would have been enough to lift 30 million of the world's hungry people out of malnourishment." Source.

Food businesses, restaurants and retailers are asked to sign up to the Feeding the 5000 Pledge and commit to ending the scandalous amount of waste.

Mama Hope: Community, Hope & Progress in Africa

Africans and Americans come together in celebration of Mama Hope's Campaign: Stop the Pity. Unlock the Potential. The organization believes the essential first step in changing the world is telling the story of connection instead of contrasting images of wealth and developing nations and showing human potential instead demoralizing poverty.

People everywhere have talent and capacity, and people everywhere share a desire to be able to use those gifts to improve their lives and the lives of the people they care about. To learn more about the projects we undertake to unlock this potential and get involved: ‪http://www.mamahope.org

Mama Hope was founded after Nyla Rodgers lost her mother and visited Kenya to visit a young man whose education was made possible by her mother's sponsorship.  Rodgers learned hundreds were actually helped through her mother's efforts.

Thus far, 76,000 people have benefited from Mama Hope projects in agriculture, food security, water, health, education, shelter, women’s empowerment and the environment.

One Spirit Lifting the Lakota People

While the world reels in apprehension about global markets, one North American nation experiences 87% unemployment and an average life expectancy of 50 years.  The people of the Lakota Nation live with hunger, heart disease, diabetes, cancer and malnutrition on an epidemic scale.

One Spirit works in partnership with the Lakota people on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to care for those in need through food, heat, art and youth programs..

Despite constant hardship and unrelenting adversity, the Lakota preserve their cultural and traditions for their children and the world:

• About 1/3 of the population still speak the Lakota language
• Almost all maintain their traditional spiritual and cultural beliefs
• They are leaders in knowledge of environmental preservation.
• They are a sharing society - when one eats, they all eat - or they all do without.
• Their exquisite beadwork, quillwork, quilting, sewing, painting is art at its best.
• They wish to find ways to be self-sufficient. (Source)

One Spirit provides opportunities for anyone to directly sponsor an elder, families, children and a Safe House.

One Spirit is recognized as a top notch nonprofit by Great Nonprofits (dot) com.

Out of the Rubble, A Community Garden

The Holt Community Garden emerges from the destruction following Alabama's April 27, 2011 Tornado disaster.  The photo captures the recent groundbreaking ceremony for the sustainable living project.  The land used to provide produce for local soup kitchens, and good work continues.

Through the cooperative efforts of Bennu America Foundation, Project Team Up, Soma Church, Tombigbee RC&D, and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, the property will serve as a teaching tool for beginning farmers and ranchers and be used to address food insecurity.

• The 'model' will include the farm, local food processing and food preparation (in the 18-wheel mobile kitchen "Joshua" stationed at Soma Church by ACTS World Relief).
• The farm will also serve as a 'demonstration farm' for beginning farmers and ranchers; those interested in agriculture as a career or source of local sustenance; interns pursuing a variety of studies and research; and the surrounding community-particularly children and youth.
• The crops will be used as ingredients in seasonal menus which will be prepared in Joshua, local churches and other community agencies.
• The farm represents an opportunity to provide the community, students and others with occupational training in agriculture, food processing and culinary arts, while also serving as a platform for education on wellness, local agriculture, food security and food preparation. 

The model in Holt, Alabama has the attention of major NGO's who see the potential for replicating the project in other devastated areas like Haiti.

Jon Bon Jovi's Soul Kitchen: Hope Can Feed the Soul

Musical artist Jon Bon Jovi uses star power to address hunger, build relationships, and celebrate community.  His Soul Kitchen Restaurant welcomes everyone to the table.  There are no prices on the menu.  Customers pay what they can afford....usually a $10 donation.  And people are encouraged to pay it forward for others who have less.  Those who cannot afford a meal are not turned away.  They can volunteer an hour of time helping in the kitchen or in the restaurant's organic garden in exchange for a meal.

Bon Jovi tells NBC's Today Show that he hopes his charitable business model will catch on.

Nourishing NYC: Growing Food is Power

Nourishing NYC tackles health and food security issues in impoverished East Harlem.  Chef and nutrition expert Gina Keatley saw the correlation between diabetes and lack of access to nutritious food in the NYC community and found a way to begin to empower residents through her nonprofit.

Twice a week, Nourishing NYC now offers nutrition classes at community gardens, shelters, and other nonprofit organizations which serve low-income people.  Urban gardening is also promoted as a way to have healthy food choices and beat paying for expensive produce.  The Junior Chef program teaches children basic cooking skills and how to smartly choose food.  The organization also distributes 1,000 free turkeys for Thanksgiving.

Keatley was recently featured as a CNN Hero.

Garden on the Go: a Farmers Market on Wheels

Indiana University found people in poverty have access to the worst kinds of food, for example, fast food and convenience stores.  The USDA indicates nearly 70% of low income areas are "food deserts" barren of affordable, healthy choices. IU-Health's Garden on the Go remedies the lack of access in poor neighborhoods with a mobile fruit and vegetable market.

IU-Health partners with a vending company year round offering regular and reliable service to people who often lack transportation.  The goal is to fight obesity rates and lower risks for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer by making healthy food available.

Garden on the Go accepts cash, credit cards, and SNAP/EBT.

50 Cent Finds a Way to Give Back

Artist, 50 Cent wants to provide a billion meals for hungry people over the next five years.  The way he's undertaken the goal is through enterprise.  He's marketing the Street King energy drink.  The concept is simple: buy a drink, feed the hungry, one drink means one meal.  50 is working with The United Nations World Food Programme.  To date, Street King has funded 2.5 million meals for those without food.

Square Foot Gardening to End Hunger

Square Foot Gardening is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) entity with simple solutions to food insecurity.  Its ultimate goal is to end world hunger by reaching out to families and teaching them how to grow their own healthy food.    Families can improve their nutrition intake and benefit from quality time together centered around gardening.  The Square Foot Gardening plan uses less resources and requires very little work yet yields a harvest equal to a single row garden 5x its size.

The organization also teaches educational classes and support local community gardens and NGO projects overseas.  The nonprofit teaches food literacy in schools, donates gardens to many organizations, and helps promote healthy lifestyles.

Free Rice: The Game that Translates to Food for the Hungry

Free Rice is a vocabulary game that allows you to partner with the World Food Programme and its corporate sponsors such as AT&T, Citi, DirecTV, and Volkswagon.  Your mission is to feed the hungry.  The game helps you do something positive in your idle time.

Right now, the crisis in Somalia and the Horn of Africa threatens the lives of 12 million people, and tens of thousands of children have already died of starvation. The United Nations expects the famine emergency to persist for several months and the number of people needing help to go up by 25%.  The World Food Programme is on the front lines in addressing the immediate food security needs of refugees.

In the video below Brian Williams talks to the game's creator and explains more.  You can play Free Rice by visiting the website.

Jones Valley Urban Farm: Seed 2 Plate Education

Seed 2 Plate from Edwin Marty on Vimeo.

Jones Valley Urban Farm grows more than fresh produce and flowers.  The nonprofit is sowing seeds of knowledge and harvesting a bounty of food literate young people in the Birmingham, Alabama area.  The organization developed more than 3 acres of vacant city property dedicating it organic farming and education on healthy food.

Jones Valley Urban Farm sells its produce at local farmers markets, restaurants, farm stands, and grocery stores.  The proceeds are used to support:

• Educational programs for children and adults, including: an accredited high school Agri-science program
• a K-8 nutrition education field trip program
• teacher workshops
• organic gardening and healthy lifestyle programs
• preschool gardening
• adult workshops
• community and nutrition programs
• internship opportunities for high-school, college, and graduate students
• community partnerships focusing on preventing childhood obesity
• hunger and access to healthy foods 
• sustainable agriculture 
• farm to school markets community composting

Jones Valley Urban Farm seeks to be "a model sustainable urban farm that teaches youth and the Birmingham community about sustainable agriculture and nutrition through outdoor experiential education."