"Hunger Through My Lens" is a project working to promote awareness about the changing face of hunger in Colorado. Sponsored by Hunger Free Colorado, the non-profit gives digital cameras to SNAP participants and asks them to take pictures of how hunger manifests itself throughout their daily lives. The traveling exhibit features a diverse collection of photographs from fifteen women. Contrary to what founder of Hunger Free Colorado, Kathy Underhill, phrases the "American archetype of hunger" (Brooks 2014), none of the images depict a homeless man on the side of the road and none are particularly reminiscent of the starving children depicted on the sides of UNICEF donation cans. Rather ,the still frames are pictures of broken forks, a grocery bill, license pictures, a waiting sign. They communicate, among other things, something that is often muted in discussions about food stamp recipients: the human element. SNAP recipient and family practitioner Robin Dickinson captures this human element, telling Mary Jo Brooks, “It has nothing to do with your education. It has nothing to do with how good a person you are or how hard you work. It has everything to do with your financial situation. And our financial situation was really bad." (Brooks2014)
On Thursday March 13th I traveled to Peabody Memorial High School to present information about the Child Nutrition Outreach Program and the School Breakfast Video Contest to the TV Production class.
This was my first Project Bread presentation so I was a little nervous as I walked through the doors of the enormous high school. After I entered the classroom my nerves disappeared. I was greeted by a large group of welcoming students eager to learn about the School Breakfast Video Contest. The teachers and students were very engaged and seemed eager to learn more about Project Bread’s initiatives as well as the specifics of the School Breakfast Video. It was interesting to hear from the students as they expressed concern about how unhealthy the food is in their school cafeteria. One of the requirements of the video contest is that the students must present an example of a healthy breakfast. They were concerned that they did not have any healthy food available in the cafeteria to feature in the video. The faculty and staff also expressed concern about the nutritional value of the food available to students at the high school. Hopefully, Project Bread can help provide more nutritious meals for Peabody Memorial High. After seeing the winning videos from the previous years the students were excited about the prospect of competing in the contest. They were very enthusiastic and looked forward to making multiple videos. It was a pleasure meeting the students from Peabody. I look forward to viewing their productions. Katie McGuiggan The School Breakfast program provides free and reduced meals to students in need. I am a strong advocate for School Breakfast because naturally, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. Who doesn’t love a piled high stack of pancakes and some sizzling bacon? But on a serious note, breakfast provides the first meal of the day, a meal that offers stability and focus for the remainder of the day. This is especially important among our younger minds, a balanced breakfast helps sustain focus and energy up until lunch. When I was in high school, I was terrible at eating breakfast, maybe I would just grab a banana on my way out the door. Now, in college, I have really noticed that eating a full breakfast is the best thing anybody can do to start off their day.
-Spencer Hardy This STARS program was responsible for last year's third place rap music video, "Eat School Breakfast". When Ms. Ijaz and I arrived around 3:30 pm we were given a brief tour of the buzzing facility by a freshman student named John. Since we had time to kill before the presentation John showed us a magic trick with a deck of cards. John had Ms. Ijaz pick her card and not show it to him. He then performed a lengthy combination of shuffling and rearranging of cards that culminated with the entire deck narrowed down to Ms. Ijaz's card. We, as the knee jerk reaction goes with all magic tricks, immediately and excitedly asked, "HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!?" Of course, before John could tell us his secrets, one of the mentors, Dorian, told him not to reveal his tricks. This past Monday I gave my first Summer Breakfast Video Contest Presentation at STARS of Randolph High School.
The School Breakfast program played a large part of my childhood during elementary school. As a member of the Before School Program, I was fortunate enough to be a part of the many children whose parents worked early in the morning, unable to properly feed and prepare their children for school. To many children, breakfast means grabbing a quick piece of toast or a Pop Tart on the way out the door to catch the bus. The Before School Program that I was involved in began 2-3 hours before school started and was offered from kindergarten through fifth grade. Not only was breakfast availability important in ensuring proper nutrition of children, it provided extra socializing between children outside of normal school hours.
Proper nutrition is paramount to a successful education. Without a nutritious breakfast, people of all ages are ill equipped for the day to come; be it filled with physical activity, learning, or working. I am working to increase awareness and participation in the School Breakfast program not only because a healthy breakfast is essential to start the day, but, without such nutrients attention, energy, and overall ability to perform is greatly diminished. - Yamiley Cayemitte When my alarm went off at 4:30 am on Tuesday morning all that was on my mind was getting dressed, getting coffee, and not missing my 5:15 am train into Boston. As I sleepily sat on the train to meet CNOP Community Partnership Coordinator, Deeana Ijaz, to drive together to Fort Devens, MA for the 2014 Summer Food Service Program Kickoff Breakfast, I couldn't imagine anything but copious amounts of caffeine energizing me for the day ahead. However, upon meeting Ms. Ijaz and the rest of the CNOP team, I found myself immediately energized by their passion for their work and own excitement for the breakfast.
School breakfast for me growing up meant either scrambled eggs and toast sitting down at home or peanut butter spread on toast, wrapped up in tinfoil and thrown into my book bag on the way out the door. My parents always stressed the importance of eating before school to fuel myself for the long day ahead. While their constant reminders worked for the most part, there were days when I skipped breakfast. On the days I skipped breakfast, whether it was at age 15, 19, or 23, I became what is commonly referred to amongst my peers as, "hangry" by 11:30 am. Generally speaking, I become a less productive version of myself without breakfast. That is why I am working to increase awareness and participation in School Breakfast Programs. If students begin their day at 7:30am and aren't eating until 12:15pm, by the time 11:30 am rolls around, they-just like me-are less productive versions of themselves. The School Breakfast program is a largely untapped and underutilized resource that functions twofold: it helps students be more engaged and productive in the classroom and serves as a reminder that eating nutritious and balanced meals should be a part of one's daily routine. While providing a nutritious breakfast won't directly make students pass their pre-Algebra or Biology courses, it offers them a chance to reach their respective potentials. When framed as such the significance of increasing awareness and participation in School Breakfast Program is second to none.
-Samantha Bennett |