Presenting the 2014 Childhood Hunger Forum

With Portland situated at the center of a thriving local food movement, it is easy to celebrate our agricultural wealth and booming culture of farmer’s markets and innovative restaurants. With this abundance at the forefront, the darker side of our food economy is often overlooked. Many Oregonians are shocked to learn that we rank among the highest in childhood hunger, with 1 in 5 children unsure of where their next meal will come from. According to the Oregon Food Bank, of the 270,000 Oregonians who receive emergency food per month, 92,000 are children. Additionally, emergency food distribution has increased 41% since the 2008 recession. Here at Urban Gleaners, we redistribute surplus food through our local school system to students and their families suffering from chronic hunger. We find it hard to ignore the stark contrast of abundance and food insecurity in our state, and want to redirect our community’s attention to issues of childhood hunger.

With this in mind, we are excited to announce our upcoming Childhood Hunger Forum, which will feature conversations with Anna Lappe, LaDonna Redmond, and Partners for a Hunger Free Oregon. Together we will hear perspectives on childhood hunger and explore solutions for a more food secure future. Urban Gleaners will provide coffee and gleaned bites prepared by our friends at the Art Institute of Portland. We hope this will be the first of many community events to come, and are excited to facilitate this space for collaborative learning and problem solving. We hope you will join us!

When:
Friday May 30th, 9:30 am to 1pm
Doors open at 9

Where:
Mercycorps Action Center
45 SW Ankeny, Portland OR

Purchase tickets here

Want to learn more about our speakers?

“Anna Lappé is a widely respected author and educator, known for her work as an expert on food systems and as a sustainable food advocate. The co-author or author of three books and the contributing author to ten others, Anna’s work has been widely translated internationally and featured in The New York Times,Gourmet,Oprah Magazine, among many other outlets. Named one of Time magazine’s “eco” Who’s-Who, Anna is a founding principal of the Small Planet Institute and the Small Planet Fund. She is currently the head of the Real Food Media Project, a new initiative to spread the story of the power of sustainable food using creative movies, an online action center, and grassroots events.” Taken from the Small Planet Institute website.

“When LaDonna Redmond couldn’t find an organic tomato within 10 minutes of her home in her Chicago neighborhood, she decided to become an urban farmer. Her urban garden led to a grass-roots movement of citywide-and then national-conversations about food justice. It is her quest to see that every citizen has a right to food. She now lives in Minneapolis and is the founder of a new organization (Campaign for Food Justice Now) to be a one-stop shop for individuals and organizations working on issues of food justice. [She] became interested and concerned about food justice issues when her son developed food allergies to shellfish, dairy products and peanuts at an early age. She realized that the right kinds of food for him were not readily available to in nearby neighborhoods-non-GMO [genetically modified organism], foods that were fresh and free from his allergens.
[She and her husband] started urban farming in their backyard” a project that grew from planting in vacant lots to developing urban farm sites that produced food to sell at local farmers markets. The backyard farming projects have turned into a personal movement that addresses the systemic issues plaguing local and national food systems. Taken from “The Daily Planet”.

This event made possible by our generous co-sponsors: