Tyson Foods Hunger Relief

Phyllis Haynes, E.D., Arkansas Foodbank Network

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:29:30 GMT

We try to have the Flip camera available when we visit food banks. This is Phyllis Haynes, executive director of the Arkansas Foodbank Network in Little Rock.

"Weve seen a 23% increase in our service area in the last year, and a lot of the people coming to our food pantries are actually working families that just are not able to make ends meet any more."

A visit from Bishop John

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:08:58 GMT

Jenise Huffman, Bishop John

by Jenise Huffman

Recently I had the opportunity to introduce a dear friend of mine from Rwanda to my friends in Arkansas, where I live. Bishop John Rucyahana is leading the reconciliation efforts in Rwanda to rebuild the tiny country that was torn apart 15 years ago by a genocide that killed a million people in 100 days. Although Bishop John is an ethnic Tutsi, which is the minority group slaughtered by the Hutus, he teaches (and personally practices) forgiveness as the only way to heal and move forward. He says that if we don’t forgive, then “their” sin becomes OUR sin as we become bitter and want revenge and then repeat the violence that hurt us in the first place.

I go to Africa frequently because my company has an amazing program of technical philanthropy in which technical experts from Tyson teach extremely poor people (incomes of less than $1 per day for a family) how to start a poultry business. This technical philanthropy is the “teach a man to fish” principle in action (slightly revised to “teach a woman to grow a chicken”). Although I travel to Africa to teach, I find that I always learn more from Africans than they learn from me.

I met Bishop John on one of my trips to Rwanda, and my perspective on humanity was forever after altered. Africa is my personal passion – my place of meaning and purpose in life. In my search for significance, many of my strong friends in Africa have taught me just how significant we ALL are, every life in every country, regardless of ethnic group, religion, color or wealth. Unfortunately, a person’s significance in America is measured far too often on his wealth, not his wisdom; his fame, not his philanthropy; his power, not his presence. But what I’m learning from Bishop John and many others across his continent is that the poorest orphan child who lives and dies never leaving a small, remote village is a life just as significant as mine. If we all truly saw the significance of each life, genocide wouldn’t be in our vocabulary, and children wouldn’t starve to death every six seconds as they do today because we would care.

Bishop John is an Anglican Bishop. I’m not part of the Anglican Church, but I am part of humanity, and that gives me the same responsibility Bishop John feels called to act upon – the responsibility to care. Today more than any other time in our planet’s history, we have the financial ability, intellectual know-how and technology to end world hunger in a sustainable way; all we’re lacking is the political will. We don’t care. That sounds incredibly harsh, but it’s the truth I see when I visit Africa. If we cared, we would end world hunger. Hunger has a cure – it is food, and thanks to many scientists over several generations we now have the knowledge to grow food in most soil types and climates. There’s no excuse. We just don’t see the significance of “their” lives because they don’t have political importance to us.

Governments of the Western World have been saying for years that we can’t afford to build sustainable solutions to end world hunger (infrastructure to link smallholder farmers and artisans to markets, access to improved inputs such as fertilizer and seeds, education and technical training, etc.) because it would cost an estimated $195 billion USD per year, according to the United Nations. All the Western countries together couldn’t afford that we’ve told ourselves, but yet last year the US found a trillion dollars overnight to bail out companies that made some bad decisions. That’s not to say that it was a wise spending decision, but it proves that when we have the will to act, we CAN find a way to afford it. We cared about the financial meltdown. We defined significance in dollars, not in humanity.

What would it look like to care?—to really care about every human life and end the mass starvation that’s affecting more than one billion people today. It would look a lot like Bishop John. Caring would look like this small, gentle presence who puts aside his ego and reaches across the divide to touch the hand of the people who slaughtered his family and pull them up into a better life. Bishop John is creating “Reconciliation Villages” all across Rwanda with genocide perpetrators building homes for genocide survivors, and they live side-by-side again rebuilding trust and helping each other move forward. That’s what caring for humanity is – getting past ourselves so we can see others’ needs.

What does genocide reconciliation have to do with hunger? Well, a lot, actually, given Rwanda’s high malnutrition rates, but beyond that it’s the essence of the United Nations Convention on Genocide in 1948 that said our world would never again allow genocide to occur, and then less than 50 years later all the member nations of the UN stood by and watched the genocide rage in Rwanda. Whether the topic is genocide or hunger, Bishop John is correct that we must get past our beliefs and words and instead be moved to action to help mankind. We would care and want the world to care if WE were the ones who were hungry. Remember the poem by German intellectual Pastor Martin Niemöller:

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Maybe you’re not hungry right now, but those who are hungry are relying on us to speak out. If your children were hungry, you would care. Someone’s children are hungry right now. I want to be like Bishop John; I want to care and act. I want to let go of my prejudices and excuses and stop blaming people for their misfortune. I want to care. I want to give every life significance and in the process bring dignity to my own existence. Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “To know that one life breathed easier because you have lived; this is to have succeeded.” If only we all measured success by what we give rather than what we accumulate…the world wouldn’t be hungry.

Learning from our children

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:12:55 GMT

By Ed Nicholson

Share Our Strength has received some tremendous support from the Food Network in the past couple of years, not the least of which is their bringing on Aaron McCargo, Jr. (also known as "Big Daddy") as a celebrity supporter of Share Our Strength programs.

The great thing about Aaron McCargo, Jr. is that he's simply not a paid shill for the cause (and there are paid celebrity shills for causes). He 's lived around hungry kids. He has street cred. You can tell his enagagement in hunger relief is authentic, heartfelt and sincere.

In the video above, he tells a story of how his son teaches him about doing the right thing. With apologies for the audio (I was sitting a distance away).

Giving Up Tradition to Survive

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:33:09 GMT

By Susan Brockway.

As the president of the board of directors for a small food bank, I am losing a lot of sleep wondering where the money will come from. Small food banks don't receive proceeds from national cause marketing campaigns for operating funds. Most local donations are down 20% and most services up 35-40%.

What rabbit are we going to pull out of our hats to keep these critical operations up and running?

Is anyone else worrying.......I certainly hope so.

Spending some time with friends

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:21:57 GMT

photo courtesy of Share Our Strength

By Ed Nicholson

For the next few days, I'll be attending the annual Share Our Strength Conference of Leaders in Our Nation's Capital. It's the ninth such conference I've attended since Tyson formally committed to the fight against hunger in 2000.

This year marks Share Our Strength's 25th anniversary, so the conference will be a celebration, looking back on remarkable accomplishments and forward to a strategy that's more finely tuned than at any time in the group's history. Put simply, Share Our Strength has dedicated its focus to seeing an end to childhood hunger in the U.S. While several--including most notably President Obama--have signed on to the same goal (thank goodness!), Share Our Strength was among the first to recognize it as something that can and absolutely should be accomplished in our lifetime.

We love this organization. They brought us to the table and have taught us so much about the issue of hunger. They stood by us when, to be honest, it might not have been politically correct to do so. They continue to recognize us as partners, even though, because of the nature of our business, it'll be a while before we're part of any organization's "marketing club," those brands contributing millions in cash every year. They truly live by their core principle that everyone has a strength to share.

We've developed some dear friends within Share Our Strength in the past decade: the dedicated, passionate people who work on the staff, and the tremendous folks who are the organization's supporters.

What a joy it is seeing them again!

Stay tuned here as we live blog some of the events of the conference, including the Service Day today.

Advocating for Hunger Relief

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:58:30 GMT

By Ed Nicholson

I'm continually impressed by the way the folks at Capital Area Food Bank of Texas communicate the issue of hunger. E.D., David Davenport, along with Lisa Goddard, Kerri Qunell and the rest of the communications team are not just good adminstrators, fundraisers and communicators--they're passionate about and authentically committed to the issue, and understand that in order for there to be sustainable progress in the fight against hunger, there will need to be informed and engaged stakeholders.

Their latest online project, Hunger is UNacceptable, does a tremendous job of putting a face on hunger. It's hard-hitting, while remaining respectful of its subjects. Compelling without being pitiful. Great production with a ton of room to grow the concept. It provides the opportunity to act, either by advocating, donating or volunteering, without coming across an unabashed vehicle created to promote that action.

To use a popular phrase, it adds value. Good job, folks.

"That just blessed my soul..."

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:36:20 GMT

By Ed Nicholson

Today I had the distinct honor to join a lot of folks, including Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe (who, along with First Lady Ginger Beebe, deserves enormous kudos for a keen awareness of and commmitment to the issue of hunger), Feeding America CEO, Vicki Escarra, and many others in honoring Erma Smith as a Tyson Hunger All-Star (see the entry below).

Erma is truly one of those folks who understands hunger from the neck down, and has devoted her life to the service of those less fortunte.

If you ever start feeling proud of how you're helping the world out, go spend a little time around someone like Erma. It'll humble you. Listen to what she has to say in the attached video about not judging people by how they look.

Thank you, Erma.

(And thanks to Phyllis, Karen, Sarah, and all the folks at the Arkansas Food Bank Network, who put together a marvelous event to honor Erma!)

Hunger Twitterers

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:25:25 GMT

We started this Twitter list over a year ago with names of peope who have been active (online or offline) in the discussion of hunger. Since then it's grown as more and more people find Twitter a valid way to bring the community online. From time to time, I'll re-tweet the URL to this post. If you'd like your name added to this list, comment here with your Twittername, send Twitter reply to @TysonFoods, or email me at ed.nicholson@Tyson dot com I probably won't add you unless you ask me, so if you want to be added (some folks would prefer their names not be on the list), just ask!

There's also a comprehensive hunger twitterers list at http://twitter.com/TysonFoods/hunger-communityh to which you can subscribe with one click.
Now. You all go follow each other and talk amongst yourselves.

http://twitter.com/sharestrength SOS primary account, run by Jeff Weidner
http://twitter.com/FeedingAmerica Feeding America
http://twitter.com/billshore Billy Shore, founder of Share Our Strength
http://twitter.com/EricHerboso   Web and social media stuff for Share Our Strength
http://twitter.com/ozksfoodharvest Ozarks Food Harvest food bank in Springfield, MO
http://twitter.com/dpmichel Dan Michel--social media for Feeding America
http://twitter.com/ellendamaschino Ellen Damaschino SOS OFL Hall of Fame Chef and blogger
http://twitter.com/hungeractions Take Action on Hunger
http://twitter.com/rockforhunger Rock for Hunger
http://twitter.com/FTWM Feed Them With Music
http://twitter.com/AndreaSherwood Andrea Sherwood--Tyson Foods Hunger Relief Team
http://twitter.com/ Ddavenport David Davenport, President & CEO, Capital Area Food Bank of Texas (CAFB)
http://twitter.com/kerri_qunell Kerri Qunell, VP, Communications, CAFB
http://twitter.com/lisa_goddard Lisa Goddard, Advocacy and Online Marketing Director, CAFB
http://twitter.com/Karlacantu Karla Cantu, Agency Relations Director, CAFB
http://twitter.com/jcdwyer JC Dwyer, TFBN Statewide Advocacy Director, CAFB
http://twitter.com/kimberwillis Kim Willis, Communications Coordinator, CAFB
http://twitter.com/molls2009 Molly Robbins, Community Events Coordinator, CAFB
http://twitter.com/kirrasue Kirra Hamman, Volunteer Resources Coordinator, CAFB
http://twitter.com/pastelmagickEmily Babb, Community Relations Assistant, CAFB
http://twitter.com/jelyon John Lyon, Faith-Based Capacity Building-VISTA, CAFB
http://twitter.com/tjordanova Tania Jordanova, Food Resources-VISTA, CAFB
http://twitter.com/clarknwark Michael Clark, Mitchell Communications
http://elisemitch Elise Mitchell, Mitchell Communications
http://twitter.com/EricaBenavides San Antonio Food Bank Community Relations Manager
http://twitter.com/EndChildHunger Michael Farver
http://twitter.com/susanapics Susan Adcock Photoblogger
http://twitter.com/ederdn Ed Nicholson, personal account
http://twitter.com/azganjar   A. Zganjar, Share Our Strength
http://twitter.com/SuzyTwohig Suzy Twohig, Share Our Strength
http://twitter.com/TSARedKettle The Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign
http://twitter.com/ntfb   North Texas Food Bank (Dallas)
http://twitter.com/teamlivefeed Tom Robinson, Live Feed (Music for hunger relief, St. Louis)
http://twitter.com/FriendsofWFP Friends of the World Food Program
http://twitter.com/cookingwithamy Cooking With Amy-- Hunger Challenge Blogger
http://twitter.com/egratto Genie Gratto-- Hunger Challenge Blogger
http://twitter.com/marianiles Maria Niles--Hunger Challenge Blogger
http://twitter.com/TheFoodFeed Gayle Keck --San Francisco Food Bank
http://twitter.com/TexansVsHunger Texas Food Bank Network
http://twitter.com/whatscooking Michelle Stern
http://twitter.com/FoodBank4NYC Food Bank for New York City
http://twitter.com/foodbankccs Food Bank of ContraCosta and Solano Counties
http://twitter.com/pdxmission Portland Rescue Mission, Portland, Oregon
http://twitter.com/FoodBankofDE Food Bank of Delaware
http://twitter.com/ftmyerssoupktch Judy--Ft. Myers Soup Kitchen
http://twitter.com/brfoodbank   Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank
http://twitter.com/aafb Association of Arizona Food Banks
http://twitter.com/Gleaners Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan
http://twitter.com/HoustonFoodBank Houston Food Bank
http://twitter.com/new_community New Community Mobile Food Pantry, Naperville, IL
http://twitter.com/markarnoldy Mark Arnoldy-focuses on international malnutrition
http://twitter.com/SchoolLunch Healthful meals & nutrition education for children
http://twitter.com/suzannenlee Suzanne Lee, Dir. of Communications & Mktg.   Care & Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado
http://twitter.com/CareandShareFB Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado
http://twitter.com/Deca_Dietician DeCA Dietician Ft. Lee, VA
http://twitter.com/homewatchnwa Homewatch Northwest Arkansas
http://twitter.com/CWS_Crop    Church World Service
http://twitter.com/FoodLinkNY Foodlink Food Bank, Rochester, NY
http://twitter.com/2Harvest Second Harvest Heartland
http://twitter.com/missingmeals Second Harvest Heartland
http://twitter.com/GPCAH Greater Philadephia Coalition Against Hunger
http://twitter.com/SecondHelpings Second Helpings, Indianapolis
http://twitter.com/miriamskitchen Miriam's Kitchen--serving homeless in DC
http://twitter.com/2harvestCFL 2nd Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida
http://twitter.com/2ndharvest 2nd Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara & San Mateo Counties
http://twitter.com/BreadfortheCity Bread for the City, Washington, DC
http://twitter.com/commfoodbanknj Community Food Bank of New Jersey
http://twitter.com/rfbo Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma (OKC)
http://twitter.com/CityHarvest City Harvest   New York,NY
http://twitter.com/WeldFoodBank Weld Food Bank,   Greeley, Colorado
http://twitter.com/enklings Tim Blair, hunger activist
http://twitter.com/poppypembroke Poppy Pembroke Communications Mgr.,Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties
http://twitter.com/CleveFoodbank Cleveland Food Bank
http://twitter.com/heifer Heifer International
http://twitter.com/heiferportland Heifer Portland
http://twitter.com/FoodBankCENC Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina
http://twitter.com/UnitedFoodBank    United Food Bank. Mesa, Arizona
http://twitter.com/kidsfoodbasket Kids Food Basket. Grand Rapids, Michigan
http://twitter.com/StMarysFoodBank St. Mary's Food Bank. Phoenix
http://twitter.com/BreadHolly Holly Hight--Bread for the World
http://twitter.com/hungerthon WHY whyhunger.org
http://twitter.com/fighthunger World Food Programme
http://twitter.com/WorldFoodPrize World Food Prize
http://twitter.com/StopHunger MAZON--hunger relief organization
http://twitter.comEndChildHunger End Child Hunger, Michael Farver
http://twitter.com/firstthebasics First the Basics (helping people find hot meals)
http://twitter.com/URMission Union Rescue Mission, Little Rock
http://twitter.com/Mid_OHFoodbank Mid-Ohio Food Bank
http://twitter.com/walkforhunger Kristin--Project Bread--The Walk for Hunger
http://twitter.com/phxmission Phoenix Rescue Mission
http://twitter.com/FreestoreFB Freestore Food Bank Cincinnati, OH
http://twitter.com/creativelyme Sarah Hall
http://twitter.com/FeedINsHungry Emily Bryant
http://twitter.com/WalkandKnock Mary Chant Walk and Knock-annual food drive
http://twitter.com/safoodbank San Antonio Food Bank
http://twitter.com/swong7 Stacy Wong , Greater Boston Food Bank
http://twitter.com/Gr8BosFoodBank: Greater Boston Food Bank
http://twitter.com/VermontFoodbank Vermont Food Bank
http://twitter.com/CleveFoodbank   Cleveland Foodbank
http://twitter.com/arfoodbank Arkansas Foodbank Network
http://twitter.com/RIFoodBank Rhode Island Food Bank
http://twitter.com/HandsOnHartford    Hands on Hartford
http://twitter.com/ChicagoShares Chicago Shares
http://twitter.com/localfooddude Timothy Cipriano, New Haven School Systems and Local Food Dude
http://twitter.com/MOWFeedMore Meals on Wheels Serving Central Virginia
http://twitter.com/CVFBFeedMore Central Virginia Food Bank

Twitter Lists--Hunger Relief (one click following)
http://twitter.com/sharestrength/lists Share Our Strength (@ShareStrength) is doing a wonderful job of categorizing and listing its stakeholders involved in hunger relief on the Twitter List tool.
http://twitter.com/TysonFoods/hunger-communityh

Erma Smith, Hunger All-Star of the Month

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:03:32 GMT

Erma Smith

Erma Smith is more than a tireless advocate for the hungry. She’s also an inspiration and a role model in her determination to feed her neighbors. For 25 years, she has been active in fighting hunger, making her a natural to be named our newest Tyson Foods Hunger All-Star of the Month.
Erma began as a volunteer with the Southwest Arkansas Foodbank and then served as its executive director for many years. While there, she helped provide food regularly to 100 food pantries, shelters, soup kitchens and other organizations. Each year, she distributed about 1.5 million pounds of food and grocery products to the hungry. She personally secured much of the food provided, relying on the Arkansas Foodbank Network and other groups. Her food bank also distributed clothing, school supplies, household items, toys and personal care products through a program called Gifts in Kind.
Erma and her team of dedicated volunteers prepared gift baskets for those in need and also as a “thank you” to volunteer food pantry operators. Her handmade gift baskets were the most sought-after door prize at the group’s annual gathering. She retired in May of this year, reluctantly, and only because her doctor insisted. She continues, however, to make the gift baskets herself-- a labor of love.
Connie Bledsoe, agency relations director for the Arkansas Foodbank Network, says Erma still comes to the agency to volunteer.
“Erma is just a kind and giving person who shares her love with everyone,” Bledsoe says.
Recently, Erma was honored by the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance at a breakfast at the Governor’s Mansion. In her remarks, she noted the importance of “service for the Lord” -- words that have inspired an admirable life’s work.
Bledsoe adds, “That’s her mission- serving others. I don’t think she’ll ever stop. You can depend on Erma for anything.”

Erma was given her award on October 28, 2009 at a ceremony at the Arkansas Food Bank Network, attended by Arkansas Governor, Mike Beebe, and Vicki Escarra, CEO of Feeding America. In honor of Erma's being named Hunger All-Star of the Month, Tyson will donated a truckload of food (app. 30,000 pounds) to the Arkansas Foodbank Network in Little Rock.

Be kind to your in-kind friends

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:11:56 GMT

By Ed Nicholson

I know cash is king. Money talks...screams...and everything else whispers.. After all, you gotta pay the light bill. But sometimes money's not available.

And remember a couple of things:

Your in-kind donors can always--always--find other things to do with the resources they're donating. Look at what their competitors are doing as an indicator.
There's always someone in that donor organization who's advocating for the donation to you. And there's someone who's advocating for other uses. Don't give the second guy ammunition.
Times are cyclical. What goes around, comes around.

Just sayin'.

Photo HdO ~ Helene Creative Commons

Invisible People

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:34:26 GMT

By Ed Nicholson

I was at BlogWorld last week and had the opportunity to hear a presentation by Mark Horvath, advocate for the homeless and creator of invisiblepeople.tv It was humbling. Powerful. Inspiring.

Mark's one of those people who's walking the talk. He goes out into the world and documents the stories of the homeless, posting them online in a number of different channels (see below).

As the folks at the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas have done with their Hunger is Unacceptable site, Mark has not shied away from showing clients--people who are affected by the issue, and who would benefit from engagement. The stories hit you in the heart.

I'm going to try to catch up with Mark later to interview him, but meanwhile, you should check out some of the stuff he puts online.

invisiblepeople.tv
invisiblepeople.tv.twitter
invisiblepeople.tv.facebook
invisiblepeople.tv.flickr
invisiblepeople.tv.myspace
invisiblepeople.tv.youtube
invisiblepeople.tv.pressrelease

NW Arkansas Honor Flight

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:10:02 GMT

by Ed Nicholson

This video, shot and produced by Tyson's own Jeff Peak is worth the watch. It's highlights from the October 17 Honor Flight from Northwest Arkansas, that took 90 WWII vets to DC to visit the WWII Memorial and other sites of interest.

I know it digresses from the theme of the blog a bit. But a lot of people (including me) believe that were it not for the sacrifices of this generation of men and women, there would be a lot more hungry people in the world.

Food insecurity: Get in on the discussion

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:54:47 GMT

by Ed Nicholson

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned AgChat, the excellent Twitter discussion about food production that occurs every Tuesday evening from 8-10 Eastern. Once a month, the group uses the hashtag #foodchat to broaden the discussion beyond agriculture.

This week's #Foodchat topic will be Food Insecurity. If you're involved in hunger relief, your perspective is critical to this discussion.

This is a great opportunity for hunger advocates to communicate with a diversity of those interested in how our food is produced. Past participants have included farmers of all kinds (dairy, meat, vegetable, fiber, local/organic, larger farms), advocates, corporate types, and more. Most of us have a dog in the hunt. That's what makes it interesting. It's a moderated discussion, so respect of fellow participants is demanded.

The best way to join the discussion is to sign in to your Twitter account via a Webchat tool such as Tweetchat or Twubs. When you sign in, use the hashtag #foodchat. (If you've never used one of these tools, it's easy and safe; just go to the link and sign in)

Hope to see you there.

A dog in the hunt (a work in progress)

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:21:08 GMT

By Ed Nicholson

Posted only as a disclaimer. As context for what I post elsewhere.

The opinions expressed herein, are not necessarily those of my employer, Tyson Foods, Inc. Having been involved in creating social media content for a few years, I feel the need to disclose:

I'm biased.

So is everybody else. Yes, you are. We're all influenced by a multitude of dynamic forces, including what we've experienced in our lives, what we see and do each day, who pays the bills, who's waiting at home, where we live--and the list goes on.

As is fond of being said in the South, I have a dog in the hunt.

Just to take it down to a finer point (and if you even care by now) here's what influences me (subject to addendum):

I grew up in a small town in the South. Better parents than I ever deserved. On a farm. A small one. Beef cattle (polled Hereford).
Adolescent jobs (away from the farm) included: Working on a dairy farm (ocassionally), working for a hay contractor (2 summers), stocking groceries, and working for an asphalt contractor (2 days). The kind of work I did for some of these folks, OSHA and DOL would probably cite my (current) employer for with enormous fines. But I thank God I had the experience.
I was a child of the 60's, and really bought into all of that counterculture stuff. More than you'll ever know. I thought we were going to change the world. We kinda did.
I spent the very first part of my career out of college as a musician. Semi-successful. Jazz, rock and country. It was GREAT! (I still play paying gigs on the weekends). The experience taught me more about diversity than any of the several diversity classes I've taken with my current employer.
I worked in the ad industry for 7 years in creative departments.
The next 7 years were spent as an owner of a small business. It was really fun, but health insurance was a b*tch, and I always seemed to be behind with the IRS.
My Dad's a WWI I combat vet. A personal hero.
I have 3 kids and a great wife. Been married for 26 years. That'll affect your worldview.
I went to work for Tyson 14 years ago. Never, ever thought I'd work for a big company, but a friend showed me some things that changed my perspective drastically. I'm a middle-management person. I don't get the big bucks, but I've not worried about the health insurance in 14 years. I don't owe my soul to the company, but I do owe it a whole lot. It's a great company. It's made up of a bunch of really, really good people, who truly believe they're doing the right thing in making and selling food. Every once in a while I run into someone I don't like in the company, but hey--it's 104,000 people. What do you expect?
Thanks to a lot of good, passionate people--and the willingness of my employer to be complicit--I've been shown a lot of things about hunger that have truly affected my perspective of the issue.

Mark Twain published a marvelous little essay entitled Corn Pone Opinions, in which he reckoned we’re all heavily influenced by forces outside of ourselves. I reckon we are, too.

Just so you know where I'm comin' from.

photo by Meagan--Creative Commons

Knowing hunger from the neck down

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:27:30 GMT

By Ed Nicholson

A lot of people know the statistics about hunger. They sincerely believe something should be done.
They know it in their heads. A lot of people know enough to talk about it. But they're not doing anything about it.
They just need to know it from the neck down to really be motivated to do something.
The people who know the most about how hunger are those who know it in their stomachs. The people who have actually experienced it in their lifetime. I can't lay claim to this experience, but some of the most inspiring people I've ever met can.
Then there are those who know it in their hearts. They've been touched by what they've seen up close and personal. All the statistics, even well-told poignant stories don't deliver this experience.
Finally there are those who know it in their feet. They walk the talk. They get out and do. Most often they're the quiet, unsung heroes we refer to as Hunger All-Stars.
The solution to end hunger needs people who think and talk. But it more desperately needs people who feel and walk.

How can we more effectively move knowledge of hunger from peoples' heads into their hearts?

Photo: LollyKnit--Creative Commons