BFFP PARTNERS WITH EMERGENCY FOOD SERVICE
PROVIDERS TO SHARE ‘FOOD WITH DIGNITY’
The BFFP first met with folks from the Franciscan Center back in July to talk about how
we might work together to bring healthy, fresh produce to those most in need in Baltimore. From those initial seeds, much has grown. Executive Director, Ed McNally, and
Associate Director of Development, Heather Newman, have graciously accepted to serve
on our Advisory Committee (a big thank you is in order for that!), and together we will
be working to help our area’s soup kitchens and food pantries incorporate fresh fruits and
veggies into their meals whenever possible.
Over the past three years, we have seen growing interest among congregations wishing to
supplement their donations of canned food with fresh produce—the BFFP supports religious school and faith community gardens which are growing food for just that reason—
and we aim to serve as a clearinghouse for facilities who need help to do so. As this issue’s Member Spotlight shows, prepping veggies takes more capacity, time, and planning, but it’s exciting, and staff and clients alike feel good about the food being served.
FALL 2010
Volume 3, Issue 4
BFFP’s mission:
To partner with Baltimore area
faith communities and religious
organizations of all faith traditions to promote a just, safe, and
trustworthy food system that
allows us to produce what is
needed now and for future generations in a way that protects
people, animals, air, land, and
water.
St. Francis of Assisi said, “It is not fitting, when one is in God's service, to have a gloomy
face...” Ed likes to add “that you can’t serve an unhealthy meal with a smile… there is nothing
more dignified than a nutritious meal.” Toward that end, the BFFP partnered with the Franciscan Center and another CLF initiative, Healthy Monday, to launch its very own Healthy Monday initiative on September 27th. With help from celebrity chef, Kim O’Donnel, the Center’s
two cooks, Kim and Rick, learned to incorporate fresh produce donated from area farms and Franciscan Center cooks, Kim and
gardens into delicious, healthy meals. After serving lunch to over 400 people, Ed, Kim, the
Rick, with chef, Kim O’Donnel.
Rev. Dred Scott from St. Matthew’s UMC in Turner’s Station, and CLF’s own, Bob Lawrence, headed over to WYPR to talk with Dan Rodricks about the initiative. If you have some time, check it out—these guys
are truly inspirational. And visit Heather’s wonderful blog post from that day as well—lots to get us thinking and acting!
FOOD OF THE SEASON
WELCOME ABOARD, ALLISON!
Known to the Greeks and Romans as an important food
and medicine (Cato the Elder declared, “It is the
cabbage that surpasses all other
vegetables”- perhaps we should
crown it “King Cabbage!”), this fall
season vegetable is now frequently
overlooked by those of us who are not of German descent (sauerkraut, anyone?).
Things are running much more smoothly around the BFFP office
these days. Our website is being regularly updates (a New Year’s
resolution fulfilled!), the newsletter is out on time, and we’ve entered the world of social media with our very own Facebook page.
This is thanks in very large part to our new (and first) intern, Allison Cappelaere. That’s right! The BFFP has grown enough to need
some help, and we can’t remember how we ever survived before
Allison came along.
Related to broccoli and cauliflower, people’s aversion
to cabbage is usually attributed to a notoriously strong
odor, which simply results from overcooking. When
eaten raw or cooked briefly, cabbage is delicious and
nutrient-packed. Full of Vitamin C—Dutch sailors
used to eat it fermented during long voyages to prevent
scurvy— cabbage can be enjoyed any number of ways,
so go ahead and get creative!
A native to Ellicott City, MD, Allison graduated in
May from Johns Hopkins and is currently a grad
student at the School of Public Health. Allison loves
to cook, play sports, sail, read, and spend time with
her friends and family. She is passionate about food
sustainability issues and truly believes in the power
of faith organizations to improve access to healthy
food for all. Allison has been inspired by all of your hard work and
looks forward to continuing to work with (and meet) everyone.
(From http://www.whfoods.com/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Gingered Cabbage
From The World’s Healthiest Foods
We know how busy this time of year can be with school events, holiday preparations, and visiting
friends and family. While cooking well is always one of this season’s most cherished traditions,
sometimes its nice to be able to throw together a quick side dish that helps satisfy our winter’s
cravings for comfort food. Here is just such a recipe...
6 cups thinly sliced green cabbage
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger (powdered works also)
1 Tbsp broth or water
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1 Tbsp minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
Heat broth or water in a large skillet and sauté cabbage, scallion, garlic, and ginger over medium heat for 3 to
4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add soy sauce, rice vinegar, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
BFFP MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Our Daily Bread/Catholic Charities of Baltimore
725 Fallsway, Baltimore, MD 21202
(443) 986-9031 or [email protected]
Aaron Kennedy, Volunteer Recruitment Coordinator
Angela first visited Our Daily Bread over a year ago when it graciously opened its
doors for us to host a canning and baby food making workshop. That evening, we met Delicious, healthy, fresh produce ready
to serve ODB’s clients at lunch.
Aaron Kennedy, Volunteer Recruitment Coordinator, who turned out to be a big
supporter of sustainable and just food systems. We started talking and soon Allison was spending a day a week there this past
summer, helping ODB figure out how to process and use fresh produce being donated by many good people and organizations. Aaron shares with us how ODB is working to serve “food with dignity” as well:
“A recent groundswell of local and conscientious food production has presented a unique collaboration between growers and
emergency food service providers. Historically, a strictly survivalist mentality has dominated the theory and practice of soup
kitchens and food banks. To ensure that one had sufficient food for the day was in and of itself a certain success. With the
emergence of various and committed community partners however, Catholic Charities’ Our Daily Bread has been able to improve the nutritional content of meals while simultaneously enhancing and diversifying current menu options.
The program Farm Fresh to Feeding the Hungry is a two year old initiative seeking to fully incorporate into daily meals the
fresh, perishable produce made available to Our Daily Bread as donations. Everything from collard greens and sweet corn to
apples and plums (frequently in bulk) have been received, cleaned, processed and appropriately prepared for inclusion in daily
meals. Since the start of the growing season, Our Daily Bread has been able to regularly substitute the Vegetable that has traditionally come from a supply of canned goods with a fresh, seasonal alternative.
With help from the Baltimore Food And Faith Project, this work has become a reality through staff support and voluntary involvement on numerous levels. One of the most consistent and supportive partners has been Arthur Morgan from Hamilton
Crop Circle, who has regularly collected surplus produce from the Sunday Baltimore Farmers Market under the Jones Falls
Expressway. Large amounts of fruits and vegetables have been delivered to the receiving doors at Our Daily Bread to then be
processed and prepared by kitchen volunteers who have committed to a Vegetable Preparation shift scheduled on seasonal
Sunday Afternoons. The goal being to have enough produce prepared and identified in order to be easily stored in the walk in
refrigerators ready to be cooked and served at the beginning of the week. In addition to the Hamilton Crop Circle, fresh and
perishable produce has been sourced from Rick Bernstein of First Fruits Farms in North Baltimore County as well as the
Vegetable Garden at City Hall maintained by the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners Program.
Meals that focus on dignity and respect should include the best offerings available, even if this requires additional planning
and effort. This project has certainly required both. Despite the challenges hinging upon timely preparation of perishable produce and limited refrigerator storage space, this project has revealed that exciting ideas concerning enhanced and responsible
food systems can become realities, even for emergency food service providers. While processing 400 pounds of green beans or
kale in three hours may seem tedious or overwhelming, it is becoming easier to witness humility and hope moving through the
hands of those involved in this task. At Our Daily Bread everyone is welcome at the table. Now an opportunity remains to ensure that everyone seated there has equal access to the best of what comes generously from the fields in and around this City.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
An Iroquois Prayer of Thanksgiving
We return thanks to our mother, the earth, with sustains us. We return thanks to the rivers and streams, which supply us with
water. We return thanks to all herbs, which furnish medicines for the cure of our diseases. We return thanks to the corn, and to
her sisters, the beans and squash, which give us life. We return thanks to the bushes and trees, which provide us with fruit. We
return thanks to the wind, which, moving the air, has banished diseases. We return thanks to the moon and the stars, which have
given us their light when the sun was gone. We return thanks to our grandfather He-no, .., who has given to us his rain. We return thanks to the sun, that he has looked upon the earth with a beneficent eye. Lastly, we return thanks to the Great Spirit, in
whom is embodied all goodness, and who directs all things for the good of his children.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Sunday, 11/21/10, 2:30 PM to 6:00 PM
Faith Presbyterian Church
5400 Loch Raven Boulevard
Baltimore, MD 21239
For more information, visit
www.chesapeakecovenant.org
Fulfilling Our Pledge: Chesapeake Covenant Community Fall Gathering
The Gathering will be an opportunity to consider how our individual and congregational pledges to honor God’s covenant with humankind and with Earth
can be put into practice more fully — a follow-up to the June Covenanting for
Creation event in Baltimore. The program will include elements of reflection
and rededication as well as sessions focusing on practical ways to be better
Earth Stewards. Discussion leaders will include Rev. Roderick Miller of the
Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church, Rabbi
Nina Beth Cardin of the Baltimore Jewish Environmental Network, Ashley
Trout from the Baltimore Watershed Alliance, and BFFP’s own Angela Smith.
Advanced registration is encouraged to help with planning. To register please
send an e-mail to Branch Warfield, [email protected].
Leaps and Bounds Service
Sunday, 12/5/10, 10:00 AM
Govans Presbyterian Church
5828 York Road
Baltimore, MD 21212
For more information, visit The Affording
Hope Project, or call church (410) 323-4409
Govans Presbyterian and the BFFP will host this one woman show which explores the intersection of faith, ecology, and the global economy. Developed
and performed by Tevyn East, the show is circulating among a variety of faith
communities and institutions of higher learning in 2010.Using a number of
creative tools including storytelling, song, poetry, prayer, movement, and
music, this work of theater sheds light on the driving factors of our ecological
crisis while awakening the imagination to a new way of living with and relating to Earth. Grounded in theological reflection, Leaps and Bounds embodies
an adventure, searching for the values that would support an economic system
that promotes human well-being and ecological health.
The Affording Hope Project accesses the transformative power of art to inspire the Christian church to be a prophetic witness to alternative economic
systems of sufficiency and solidarity.
Sunday, 12/10/10, Time TBA
Sunflower Café: Organic Cooking and Dining
Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center
5425 Mt Gilead Road
Reisterstown, MD 21136
For more info, www.pearlstonecenter.org/
sunflowercafe.html
Sunflower Café, Kayam Farm’s Kosher Organic Diner’s Club, will be hosting
another of its organic cooking and dining events this December. Details have
yet to be determined, but you can count on a great meal. Check back closer to
the date for more information.
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Questions or comments, please e-mail us at [email protected], or call 410-502-5069.