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Page 4
December 22, 2010
Food Security is Top Priority
High joblessness
puts strain on
local services
Oregon’s unemployment rate has
remained at roughly 10.5 percent—
a percentage point above the na­
tional average — for the last year,
and shows no sign of improving.
The state Employment Depart­
ment reported T uesday that 209,601
Oregonians were unemployed in
November. With that many Orego­
nians out of work, food security has
become a top priority statewide.
The latest USDA hunger report
shows that about 13.9 percent of
households — more than 500,000
O regonians, suffer from food inse­
curity, and another 225,000 experi­
ence very low security, meaning
they are forced to cut or skip meals
on a regular basis because they
cannot afford food.
Enter the Oregon Food Bank, a
nonprofit charitable organization
that acts as a hub connecting a
network of 20 regional food banks,
agencies, and programs, to distrib­
ute emergency food to approxi­
mately 240,000 hungry people each
month in Oregon and southwest
W ashington.
The OFB has been operating out
of its 108,000-square-foot northeast
photo by M ark
W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Volunteers Camille Kyle (from left) Ron Emig and Antonia Maurer sort through boxes of donated
foods at the Oregon Food Bank in northeast Portland.
Portland building and warehouse
for nearly 9 years. The warehouse
stores 4 million pounds of food at
any time, and moves 38 million
pounds of food each year in just
that one facility.
Jean Kempe-Ware, public rela-
tions manager for the nonprofit, says
that OFB operates different from
any other food bank in the nation.
“Here in Oregon, we have a won­
derful, equitable, collaborative net­
work to pull resources together,”
she said. “If one regional food bank
has a ton of onions, we can pick
them up and distribute them. Some­
one in Coos Bay will have a similar
mix of product as someone in Ontario
or Portland due the sharing through­
out the network.”
Kempe-Ware stresses the impor­
tance of volunteers, workers, busi­
nesses and individuals who donate
time, money, and goods to the food
bank, especially in this economy.
“I mean this is a horrendous num­
ber of emergency food boxes dis­
tributed through the OFB network
— 917,000 from July 2009 to June
2010,” she said. “W e’re extremely
thankful to our community for the
support.”
The network includes 20 regional
food banks — four that are operated
by the OFB and 16 independent
nonprofit organizations — and 947
local partner agencies, including
pantries, soup kitchens, shelters,
low-income senior and day care
centers, and other programs. All
together, 72 million pounds of food
is distributed through this network
each year, with the total value of
$41,012,314 in the last fiscal year.
“Our warehouse operates day
and night — during the day w e’re
receiving food donations and agen­
cies are picking up food. At night,
we’re loading semis and preparing
food for agencies to pick up,” said
Kempe-Ware.
The OFB network receives 55
percent of its food from food indus­
try donations — from stores like
continued
on page 15
Grocers Support ‘Fresh Alliance’
Dr. Billy R. Flowers (above center) and his skilled staff are ready to help those in need
THE
SPINACOLUMN
An ongoing series of questions and answers about America’s natural healing profession
Part 34. Osteoperosis and Bone Loss Reversal
Q
: C o u ld m y g o lf s w in g
hurt m y back?
: P eople w ho exercise regu
la rly an d p e rfo rm s tre tc h ­
in g an d stre n g th e n in g e x e rc ise
are less lik e ly to in ju re th e ir
backs.
T h e ir
s u p p o rtin g
m u sc le s, su ch as th e ir sto m a ch ,
h a m s trin g s , a n d g lu te a ls a re
s tro n g e r an d m o re fle x ib le fro m
re g u la r c o n d itio n in g .
A
t « > »
H o w ev e r, p eo p le w h o p lay g o lf
o r ra c q u e t sp o rts are m o re p ro n e
to in ju rie s b e c a u se o f th e freq u e n t
tw is tin g a n d b e n d in g m o tio n s.
A n d c asu a l a th le te s c o u ld be m o re
at risk fo r in ju rie s as w e ll; d e ­
p e n d in g o n th e ir lev el o f fitn e ss.
M o st in ju rie s o f th e se ty p e s re ­
sp o n d w ell to c o n s e rv a tiv e c h i­
ro p ra c tic tre a tm e n ts. A c h iro ­
p ra c to r c an sh o w y o u h o w to
p r e v e n t th e s e i n j u r i e s w ith
p ro p e r c o n d itio n in g an d te c h ­
n iq u e .
Flowers' Chiropractic Office
2124N.E. Hancock Street, Portland Oregon97212
Phone: (5 0 3 ) 2 8 7 *5 5 0 4
T he O regon Food B ank handles
m uch m ore than individual d o n a ­
tions from food drives. Since 2002,
the org an izatio n has been o p erat­
ing Fresh A lliance, a program
w hich co llects p erish ab le food
from grocery m arkets.
E very grocery store has p ro d ­
ucts w ith a “u se-by” date, required
by the health code. W hen the dates
expire, the pro d u cts are usually
pu lled from shelves and throw n
aw ay, bu t som e item s like m eat
and dairy pro d u cts can still be
safe to eat, as the date is a p re c au ­
tion.
“W e w o u ld n ’t w ant to give the
F o o d B ank food w e w o u ld n ’t eat
o u rselv es,” said M elin d a M errill,
sp o k e s p e rso n fo r F re d M e y e r
sto re s.
T he O reg o n F ood B an k c o l­
lects the pro d u cts — m aking sure
ev ery th in g stays refrig erated o r
frozen — and sends th em out the
sam e day to its netw ork, w hich
includes soup k itchens, fo o d pan-
tries, shelters, an d o th er c o m m u ­
nity service program s.
Q F C and W hole Foods stores
p artn ered w ith the p ro g ram in i­
tially, and A lbertsons and Free
M eyer jo in e d the next year. B)
2004, the Food B ank w as receiving
985,772 pounds o f food from 2£
sto res.
Since then, the F resh A lliance
program has ex p an d ed to c o lle ct­
ing 7 m illion p ounds o f donations
o r 3 ,500 tons o f fo o d that w ould
have otherw ise been throw n aw ay.
O n co m p ariso n , a new food re ­
c y c lin g c e n te r a p p ro v e d th is
m onth by the M etro council w ill be
capable o f processing a b o u t90,000
tons o f solid food w aste and 104,000
tons o f liq u id food w aste from per
year.
T h ere is still to o m uch being
discard ed in the overall p ro d u c­
tion and storage o f food, but the
O regon F o o d B an k n etw o rk is
do in g its part to red u ce u n n eces­
sary w aste.
Since jo in in g th e F o o d B ank
program , M errill said, F red M eyer
em p lo y ee m o rale has im proved.
“T h ey k n ew they w ere throw ing
aw ay p erfectly g o o d food. N ow ,
they no t o n ly feel g o o d fo r the
d o n atio n p art, b u t b y red u cin g
landfill w aste to o .”