Pete Nebhut

 

 

 

 

By Ed Nicholson

We recently spent a week traveling through Iowa with the rolling circus that is RAGBRAI  (I still have lots left to talk about there; more later).   The bicycle ride features 15,000 registered riders and thousands more who come along for the ride. Practically every state in the union is represented.

One of the things we did as part of that effort is a brief survey among participants to assess what people know about hunger and hunger organizations. 

Questions 3 and 4 of the survey were specifically designed to gauge attitudes about how serious a problem people believed hunger to be in their own community. 

From the more than 1350 respondents, more than 81% answered that hunger was either a "moderate" "low priority," problem or  that there is "little or no hunger in my community." 

Only 19% believed hunger is either a critical or serious problem in their community. 

53% believed that the majority of people affected by hunger could do something about it if they made adjustments in their lifestyle. 

Is it possible our efforts to end hunger are being diluted because many believe it's either not a problem in their own communities, or is a problem of the victims' own making?

By Ed Nicholson

I monitor social media for what gets said about Tyson Foods. Yesterday there was a tweet from someone who said "Can't wait to be done with this bag of [Tyson] chicken so I can move on to something from a company that isn't so evil." 

I don't know what prompted the comment (at least it appeared she was going to eat the chicken).    But I wish she could have been with me the last three days.

You see, "Tyson Foods" isn't a cloistered few who control the puppet strings of shadowy empire.  It's 117,000 people all around the world.  And since Sunday, I've been with some of the best in the world.  People from Tyson operations in Nebraska and Iowa who've volunteered their time to come out in the Iowa July heat to cook and sell food to riders in the annual RAGBRAI event. And donate the proceeds to hunger relief. Some were up 'til midnight in Storm Lake last night.  Others setting up in Varina at 4:00 a.m. today. In the past three days, more than six thousand meals have been fed to RAGBRAI riders. 

It's a big healthy dose of Heartland heart and a work ethic that will wear you to the ground if you try to keep pace with it.  We try not to make this blog too self-centered, but every once in a while I have to brag on these folks. I'm proud of 'em.  

Thanks to the people who've worked the past three days and the ones who''ll work the next five.

You can see their photos below or on Flickr.  We'd also be honored if you'd follow Tyson Hunger Relief on Facebook. 

 

Dakota City/ Dakota Dunes

 

Storm Lake

 

 

 

Storm Lake

 

 

 

Dakota City/ Dakota Dunes

 

Cherokee

 

By Ed Nicholson

If you've followed this blog for more than a year, you know that this time each year, we have the distinct honor to join team members from our plants in Iowa (and one in Joslin, Illinois) in preparing and selling food along the route of the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI).  Proceeds from the sale go to hunger relief efforts in the towns along the way, and to Share Our Strength, our great longtime partners who help administer the grants. 

With 15,000 registered riders (and many who don't register) from across the country, RAGBRAI is truly a unique event; a study in diversity.

For those of you who subscribe by email, please indulge us just this week.  We'll be posting every day, mainly because we believe the more than 200 team members who come out and cheerfully work in the heat deserve the recognition the postings provide. 

You can also see photos at our Flickr site and postings on our Facebook page. 

We kicked off yesterday  at the ride's Expo in Sioux City, with the great help of Team Members from the Tyson Dakota City plant and the Dakota Dunes.

Today we're in Storm Lake.  If you happen to be on the ride, stop by and eat a sandwich with us.  It goes to a worthy cause.

By Ed Nicholson

The name of the music clip (courtesy of Flipshare) I've been using on my little video vignettes all week is "A Perfect Saturday."  While nothing is perfect, today was darned close. Good weather, good people, and a good tired to end a great week. Again we had Tyson team members from the nearby Louisa County plant, working hard to make the day a success. 
It's been an honor and a privelege to work around these folks all week. We'll be tying up some loose ends from RAGBRAI here in the next few days, but for now, I'd like to extend humble thanks to all who came out and worked; to all who stopped by and bought a sandwich or an omelet; to all the communities who hosted our traveling troupe; to our group's senior management who supported us all the way in this effort; and to everyone who played a role in feeding a few more hungry mouths in Iowa.
See you next year!

To see a collection of photos from this year's Tyson RAGBRAI efforts, go to our Flickr pages. 

Today, team members from the Tyson Columbus Junction, Iowa plant came to Brighton to help raise money for local hunger relief agencies.

To view photos from this year's Tyson RAGBRAI activities, go here.

Here's our team from Perry and Waterloo, at work in Lacona on Wednesday and at the Sunny Slope Church near Bethlehem on Thursday. 

To view photos from this year's Tyson RAGBRAI activities, go here.

Here in the heart of the breadbasket of the world--an area that feeds people all over the planet--there's hunger.

More than 340,000 people in Iowa at risk of hunger.  Do you know the statistics for your state?  They'd probably surprise you.  You can find them on Feeding America's website.

Today the team from Perry, Iowa worked very hard in Indianola on a day that went from rain to shine.

To view photos from this year's Tyson RAGBRAI activities, go here.

By Ed Nicholson

The day began early today, as the core RAGBRAI team headed out for Villisca at 4:30 A.M. to meet folks from Council Bluffs and Omaha at 6:00.  The profits from today's food sales went to the Churches Intercouncil Food Bank of Villasca. 

I got started a little bit later, staying back to post some stuff here.  As I was driving into the Iowa sunrise, I was reminded by NPR that 40 years ago today, man first set foot on the moon.

I'm old enough to remember it well, having been in front of the TV with the family as Walter Cronkite (RIP, Walter) exclaimed, "Man on the moon! Oh boy!" It was an event surrounded by wonder and hope: If we could accomplish this, it was going to be a marvelous future.

And there have indeed been some wonderous advancements. The fact that you're reading this on a communications channel that didn't exist back then is evidence. 

But the sad fact is, there are still a billion people on this planet, many of whom are dying, without adequate nourishment.  If we can figure out how to put a man on the moon, surely we can figure out how to feed the world's population.

I'm awfully proud of the team I worked with today, who at least made one small step in that direction. 

For a complete collection of photos from our week at RAGBRAI, go here.

By Ed Nicholson

Day two of the 2009 Tyson RAGBRAI efforts.  Day two that team members from our Council Bluffs and Omaha plants came out to prepare and sell food.

I'll be making the point all week: If you want to see into the heart of a company, don't look in the boardroom.  Look at the people who make it happen every day.  There are a few in the video above.  Again, I'm humbled to be among their company.

We're catching people as they're in line (or on line, if you're not from the South) and asking them to take a short survey about hunger.  So far, we have about 500 surveys completed, and hope to get to 1000 by the end of the week.  We'll fill you in once we have time to catch our breath, but a preliminary look indicates we all have some work to do in creating awareness.  We all need to be talking a little bit more.

By Ed Nicholson

This is the third consecutive year we've had the opportunity to be part of a team that includes people from the Tyson Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois plants, preparing and selling food at RAGBRAI to benefit childhood hunger organizations in Iowa communities. 

I'm incredibly proud to be associated with these fine people.  They work very, very hard every day making food for our company to sell for people who can afford it. Then they come out on their own time and work very, very hard, making and selling food, so we can help people who can't afford it.

The video above includes team members from the Tyson Omaha and Council Bluffs plants, cooking at the opening day of RAGBRAI in Council Bluffs.