Gifts that give back: three do-good gift ideas

Three last-minute gift ideas that help others in need with every gift you give.

The idea behind FEED is simple: fight hunger and malnutrition around the world by providing free lunches at school. Through the UN World Food Programme and UNICEF, FEED does just that—and more. School feeding is one of the most effective solutions to stopping hunger and helping children break out of the poverty cycle they were born into. When boys and girls are given a free, nutritious meal in school, research has shown that attendance and performance greatly increase.

To raise funds, FEED sells a wide array of stylish gifts, from tote bags to toys, apparel, accessories and more. And each gift tells you exactly how many meals you’ll be providing and where. You’ll find great gift ideas for everyone on your list at the FEED website. Continue reading “Gifts that give back: three do-good gift ideas” →

Small bites: Professional foragers for the home cook and great food for a good cause

A new USA Character Approved Blog post and women chefs raise money for the Greater Chicago Food Depository at the 15th annual Girl Food Dinner.

We occasionally pick up mushrooms at our local farmers market. Often when we do, we learn that they had been growing somewhere in the woods until earlier that very morning. Welcome to the world of professional foraging. As chefs and restaurants get more locavore and more adventurous, ingredients gathered from forests and meadows are turning up on more and more menus. And a whole new job title is springing up on resumes—professional forager.

Well, not so new for some. Connie Green (pictured above), founder of Wine Forest Wild Foods, started gathering wild chanterelles for leading San Francisco Bay Area restaurants back in 1979. And recently, she’s started offering home cooks access to some of her wild bounty. Continue reading “Small bites: Professional foragers for the home cook and great food for a good cause” →

Women chefs raise $19,200 for Greater Chicago Food Depository at 14th annual Girl Food Dinner

We’re big fans of the Greater Chicago Food Depository and all they do to help fight hunger. So I was delighted to hear the results of the 14th annual Girl Food Dinner, held this past Sunday night at West Town Tavern. The sold out event brought in an amazing $19,200 to the organization; 100% of the $150 ticket price paid by 85 lucky attendees went to the Food Depository, as did the proceeds of a raffle held at the event.

The annual event is called the Girl Food Dinner because the meal is prepared exclusively by Chicago women chefs. Continue reading “Women chefs raise $19,200 for Greater Chicago Food Depository at 14th annual Girl Food Dinner” →

Hunger in America 2010: A major hunger-relief charity delivers a troubling report

In its first comprehensive report since 2006, Feeding America shows how the economic downturn is increasing risk of hunger for a growing number of families and creating pressure on relief organizations.

The French have a saying: Jamais deux sans trois—never two (catastrophes) without three. There is certainly no shortage of catastrophes, disasters and ongoing problems in the world today. The latest to capture world attention is the devastation created by the earthquake in Haiti.

And just this month, Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity organization, issued Hunger in America 2010, “the largest study of domestic hunger,” according to their website. The report shows that hunger is increasing at an alarming rate in the United States. Continue reading “Hunger in America 2010: A major hunger-relief charity delivers a troubling report” →