Caring Causes: Investing in Women and Girls through Food and Agriculture

Women, particularly in developing countries, face numerous challenges, including sexual violence, limited access to health resources, barriers to education, and inadequate economic opportunities. Gender-based violence continues to threaten hundreds of millions of women in industrialized and developing countries alike - one in three women has been the victim of sexual abuse or violence at some point in her life. Furthermore, women’s economic opportunities are still more limited than those of men: the most recent United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Gender Chart indicates that women are still more likely than men to work for themselves or their families. In March, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Olivier de Schutter released “Gender and the Right to Food,” a special report on the state of gender equity and food security. De Schutter’s report demanded that more work be done to eliminate discrimination against women at household and state levels alike. While the situation of women throughout the world is improving, there is still much progress to be made - progress that could finally help to achieve global food security.
“Overcoming hunger is a game changer for a girl living in a developing country. Fifty-three percent of children who drop out of primary school are female – mainly because they need to work to help feed their families. Girls who stay in school are empowered to make positive decisions that affect their entire lives, such as waiting to have children and acquiring the skills they need to support to them,” says Ellen Gustafson, co-founder of Food Tank.
Food Tank is sharing five recommendations of ways to invest in women and girls through food and agriculture:
Supporting girls’ access to education and success in school
The World Food Programme is currently collaborating with Groupon to provide school meals to girls in schools in 14 South Asian countries. Ensuring food security during the school day not only makes sure that girls are able to concentrate in class, but also takes pressure off of girls to work to be able to feed themselves and their families, instead of attending school.
Teaching women sustainable farming practices
Women Going Green, founded by Rose Karimi, is a five-year project in Kenya enabling women coffee farmers to adopt low-cost climate change adaptation strategies, such as using fruit trees to shade their coffee crops. These practices can help women not only feed their families, but also increase their incomes. Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) is working to implement solar technology in developing countries to reduce poverty. A recent SELF initiative is the Solar Market Gardens project in the West African nation of Benin, which will enable groups of women farmers’ cooperatives to grow more crops through solar-powered drip irrigation.
Giving women control of their health choices
The Jane Goodall Institute is helping to address some of the most serious health issues that women in sub-Saharan Africa face, such as HIV/AIDS and mother and infant mortality. It provides essential health services and equipment, along with educational programs to better inform women and their families on family planning methods and HIV/AIDs prevention education.
Addressing violence against women
Using data from the World Health Organization (WHO), FAO’s report on “Rural Women and the Millennium Goals” showed that rural women - who make up the vast majority of women in agriculture - were more likely to suffer incidences of abuse. Líderes Campesinas, a coalition of women farmers in California, is working to improve the public support system for female agricultural workers who have been victims of sexual assault and/or domestic abuse.
Providing credit to women in agriculture
The One Acre Fund is an organization devoted to helping smallholder farmers become self-reliant by providing families with high-quality seeds, soil nutrients, advice, and financing. They place a special focus on helping women, such as Lorna from Kenya, a single mother who through the fund’s investments is now able to provide for her five children by growing maize. Additionally, Kuapa Kokoo, a cocoa farmers’ cooperative in Ghana, established a Gender Programme to give women access to credit without requirement of any collateral.
By directing research and funding where it’s most needed, more progress can be made toward achieving true equality for women in all aspects of their lives. 

About Food Tank: Food Tank: The Food Think Tank, founded by Danielle Nierenberg and Ellen Gustafson, is a think tank focused on feeding the world better. We research and highlight environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable ways of alleviating hunger, obesity and poverty and create networks of people, organizations, and content to push for food system change.

Caring Causes: Mentoring

Note: although this data and language is Minnesota-specific, mentoring is available (and needed) in all states.

Caring Causes: Bringing Water and Sanitation to Kids and Schools

Caring Causes: Bringing Water and Sanitation to Kids and Schools

When you send your child to school in the United States, you assume that your son or daughter will have access to clean water and a toilet, but this isn't the case for many children around the world.

More than half of all primary schools in developing countries have inadequate water facilities and nearly two-thirds lack adequate sanitation. Lack of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) puts everyone’s health and chances of survival at risk – particularly children, who are the most vulnerable.

• Each year, children lose 443 million school days because of water related illnesses,¹ of which 272 million are lost due to diarrhea alone.²
• More than 40 percent of diarrhea cases in schoolchildren result from transmission in schools rather than homes.³
• Malnutrition and repeated episodes of diarrhea during childhood caused by WASH-related diseases can impair physical growth and cognitive function throughout life.⁴ Children that live long enough to attend school often start off at a disadvantage.

But there are steps that you can take to help tackle the global WASH crisis and improve WASH in schools.

• Become more informed about the issue. Check out WASH Advocates, Water for People, Water.org, and Drop in the Bucket for more information.
• Have your local school become involved with H20 For Life. Through a service learning project, students are partnered with a school abroad. They become aware of the WASH crisis and help raise money to implement solutions at their partner school.
• Participate in a walk for water to help raise awareness. Walks happen frequently across the country – be on the lookout for one in your community!
• Need an idea for an exciting birthday celebration? Pledge your child’s birthday for clean water through charity:water.
• Reach out to your representatives urging them to support funding for WASH.
• Use social media to share your WASH knowledge and raise awareness!
• Pledge to drink only tap water to raise awareness about water and improve sustainability.

Healthy Habits: World Health Day Tips

This year, World Health Day focuses on high blood pressure, one of the many chronic diseases that are increasingly common around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that one third of adults worldwide have high blood pressure. In the United States, high blood pressure affects 31 percent of American adults, but it's even higher in African countries, where more than 40 percent of adults are affected, but where the money and infrastructure needed for treatment are most lacking.

While there are multiple causes of high blood pressure and other chronic diseases, poor diets are among the most significant. The world today is facing a food paradox. There are nearly one billion people hungry and one billion people overweight, and in many countries (such as the US) these problems now exist simultaneously. Although they may seem to be opposite problems, reports from groups such as the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition (BFCN) have linked both hunger and obesity with diets lacking in nutrients.

In honor of World Health Day, Food Tank: The Food Think Tank is highlighting the importance of nutritious, environmentally sustainable food in combating hypertension, obesity, malnutrition, and other diseases.

Over the past fifty years, the modern agriculture system has had great success boosting crop yields around the world; however, The Organic Center, reports that the amount and variety of essential nutrients in many crops has declined. The result is that the same amount of sweet corn, potatoes, or bread now has far less zinc, calcium, and iron than it did fifty years ago. At the same time, global emphasis on calorie content has increased access to high calorie, processed foods around the world, even as access to nutrient rich fruits and vegetables has declined. For example, a new study from the Union of Concerned Scientists found that, as a result of the food industry’s demand for refined grains and sugars, only 2 percent of U.S. farmland is used to grow fruits and vegetables.

The following are Food Tank’s 9 Recommended Strategies for Creating Healthier Food and Agriculture Systems:

1. Eat more vegetables and fruits
Less than one in three Americans meets the minimum goal of eating two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables each day, as recommended by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA reports that failing to meet these guidelines increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, obesity, and some cancers. The Organic Center recommends choosing items that are high in nutrients but low in calories. Strawberries and romaine lettuce are two nutrient dense fruits and vegetables. Oranges, green bell peppers, and boiled cabbage and carrots are also great options.

2. Strengthen soil with intercropping, agroforestry, and cover crops
Many essential nutrients come from the soil, making soil health critical to producing nutritious food. Intercropping with legumes, including alfalfa or peas, helps return nitrogen to the soil and support healthy plant growth. Using cover crops, which can be ploughed into fields after harvest and return nutrients to the soil, is another strategy that helps increase the amount of nutrients in food. Planting trees on farms--or agroforestry--can also help keep nutrients and water in the soil. Ashoka research fellow Adam Tuller is helping farmers in Kenya plant fast-growing trees that regenerate soil and fertilize crops naturally, rather than requiring expensive fertilizer out of a bag.

3. Know your nutrients
Many don’t know that kale, sesame seeds, dried figs, salmon, and broccoli are excellent sources of calcium. Dark green, leafy vegetables are also rich in vitamin K, which is similar to vitamin D in the way it helps the human body make the most of the calcium in food. The Harvard School of Public Health website features a section called The Nutrition Source, which offers an easy to browse list of topics on specific nutrients in foods and the benefits of different products, such as coffee or fish oil.

4. Support family farmers
Small and medium scale family farm are more likely than big farms to produce nutrient rich crops, using practices that help keep nutrients in the soil. Family farmers also produce more more nutrient dense foods, including fruits and vegetables. The United Nations declared 2014 the International Year of the Family Farmer to honor and support these individuals. Buying food at farmers markets and joining a CSA can be good ways to support family farms and help build the local economy.

5. Choose whole grains
Whole grains are increasingly popular, but they still make up less than the recommended half of total grain use in the U.S. Whole grains are also valuable, low-cost sources of protein and fiber, and can  help reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, type-2 diabetes, and other diseases. Unfortunately, buying real whole grains can be confusing. When shopping, look for 100 percent whole wheat.

6. Eat out less
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) reports that some American restaurants serve portions up to eight times those recommended by the USDA and U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Not only does this encourage overeating, but restaurant and take-away food is generally less healthy than food prepared at home. Eating home cooked meals is an easy way to manage portion sizes and calories.

7. Buy and grow organic
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that organic fruits and vegetables repeatedly had equal or greater nutrient content than the same conventional produce. The Environmental Working Group publishes an annual Shopper’s Guide assessing which fruits and vegetables have the most pesticides. In 2012, apples, celery, and sweet bell peppers were in the top three.

8. Choose grass-fed meat
Lean meat can contain many valuable nutrients that support a healthy diet. Grass-fed meat usually has less fat than conventional corn- and grain-fed meat products. The U.S. Mayo Clinic also reports that grass-fed meat has higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, linoleic acid, and antioxidant vitamins, such as vitamin E. When choosing animal products, two of the best labels to look for are “organic” and “pasture-raised.”

9. Support indigenous, heritage, and heirloom
A study from the University of Texas, Austin found that the amount of nutrients in forty-three different food crops have significantly decreased since 1950. The researchers concluded that the most likely causes were changes in the plants themselves. Since 1950, agriculture has focused on crop yields, but as crops grow bigger and faster it is unrealistic to expect they will absorb and create nutrients at an equally faster rate. Heritage breeds of farm animals and heirloom plant varieties, which have not been bred for increased yields, have the potential to be much more nutritious. Many indigenous vegetables, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, are also highly nutritious and well suited to local growing conditions. The Christensen Fund, Slow Food International, and other organizations are working in biologically diverse regions around the world to reignite an interest in--and a taste for--indigenous vegetables.

There’s much that can be done to increase the nutritional quality of food, both at home and around the world. Food Tank will feature articles daily focused on the role of food and agriculture systems in improving global nutrition every day as a countdown to April 7th.

About Food Tank
Food Tank: The Food Think Tank, founded by Danielle Nierenberg and Ellen Gustafson, is a think tank focused on feeding the world better. We research and highlight environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable ways of alleviating hunger, obesity and poverty and create networks of people, organizations, and content to push for food system change.

Caring Causes: World Water Day

March 22nd is World Water Day, a time to remind ourselves that there are many areas of the world where people don't have access to clean water. If you want to find out ways that you can help out, watch the video below, or:

• Follow WaterAid America on Twitter and Facebook and share their posts on the #20ways that water is just the beginning of the road out of poverty.
• Join the World Water Day Google+ Hangout at 1.30pm EST on March 22 – WaterAid and other water organizations will be discussing the world water crisis and solutions in a celebration moderated by YouTube star Justine Ezarik.
• Make a donation: as experts in practical, hands-on water solutions WaterAid has brought clean water to 17.5 million people. But they need your help to achieve their aim of helping 1.4 million more people this year.

Caring Causes: Child Labor and Chocolate

Based on data revealed this week at the Department of Labor's Child Labor Cocoa Coordinating Group (CLCCG), the non-profit groups behind the Raise The Bar, Hershey campaign (Global Exchange, Green America, the International Labor Rights Forum, and Oasis USA) concluded that while many companies have increased their commitments to reducing child labor in the communities they source from, others lag behind, notably Hershey and Barry Callebaut.

 

Hershey's commitment to initiatives supported by the CLCCG was only 17 percent of Mars' (its largest competitor in the US) and Barry Callebaut's was only 11 percent of Mars' commitment. Hershey, the largest chocolate maker in the United States, brings in over $5 billion in revenue every year. Barry Callebaut is one of the largest suppliers of chocolate in the world. As two of the biggest chocolate companies in the world, Barry Callebaut and Hershey are just as responsible as their counterparts for the atrocious labor conditions of the cocoa sector. And yet, both have been miserly when it comes to the fight to remove children from the cocoa fields of West Africa.

In addition, the NGO's critiqued the quality of Barry Callebaut's and Hershey's programs. Hershey's only initiative to fall under the CLCCG program requirements is the CocoaLink, program, which sends text and voice messages to farmers to discourage the use of child labor and encourage more efficient farming techniques. This program was launched in March of 2011 and to date has 3,720 subscribers registered in Ghana, where there are an estimated 700,000+ cocoa farmers. CocoaLink has reached less than 1% of cocoa farmers in Ghana, and no farmers in Cote D'Ivoire.

By Hershey's own testimony, only about one third of the text messages address social issues, a portion of which mention child labor. As there is still no evaluation report on this program, it remains unclear whether these messages have had any substantial impact on farmers' lives. In fact, Hershey's own anecdotal reporting suggests the program is slow to progress "due to low literacy levels and the general unfamiliarity with mobile phone usage."

Barry Callebaut's program aims to build two schools in two cocoa growing communities; a number that appears irrelevant compared to the estimated 36,000+ schoolrooms needed in these regions. No matter how many schools are built or how many health centers are staffed, the balance of power in the cocoa supply chain will remain in the hands of cocoa exporters and chocolate brands unless cocoa farmers can be empowered to negotiate a decent price for their crop. Until then, farmers will continue to live in poverty. 

Additional information on this topic is available on ILRF's Blog and Green America's Blog.
 

GREEN AMERICA is the nation's leading green economy organization. Founded in 1982, Green America (formerly Co-op America) provides the economic strategies, organizing power and practical tools for businesses and individuals to solve today's social and environmental problems. 

GLOBAL EXCHANGE is a membership-based international human rights organization dedicated to promoting social, economic and environmental justice around the world.

INTERNATIONAL LABOR RIGHTS FORUM is an advocacy organization dedicated to achieving just and humane treatment for workers worldwide.

OASIS USA is a non-profit organization committed to developing communities where everyone is included, making a contribution, and reaching their God-given potential.

 

Caring Causes: Be Here Now

Have you ever imagined what it was like to stare down a tank in Tiananmen Square? To tear down a wall in Berlin?

Made In A Free World has produced a new advocacy campaign which aims to raise awareness and support the work of partner organizations, International Justice Mission and Polaris Project, as well as their own. Be Here Now is a video campaign that allows anyone to feel what it would have been like to participate in these historic battles for human rights. The videos are a unique way to say "I couldn't be there then, but I can Be Here Now." It's a pledge. It's a promise. It's a public commitment to a movement that is just beginning.

For more information, Like Made in a Free World, find Made in a Free World on Google+, or follow @madeinafreewrld.

Caring Causes: Keep America Beautiful

Keep America Beautiful is the nation’s leading nonprofit that brings people together to build vibrant communities. For years, KAB has been engaging people around the country to take greater responsibility for improving their community’s environment. In 2013, they’re taking an even greater stand to generate a more positive impact on our environment. 

This year’s goals include:

•       Clean and restore public places for safer, cleaner communities

–      200,000 public acres and sites

–      100,000 miles of roads and highways

–      10,000 miles of rivers, lakes and shorelines

•       Place 5,000 recycling bins in public spaces to increase on-the-go recycling

•       Plant trees and gardens to enhance communities’ green infrastructure

–      Plant and/or sustain 150,000 trees

–      Plant and/or sustain 750 community edible gardens

–      Plant and/or sustain 3,000 gardens and green spaces

•       Construct and restore 5,000 playgrounds to encourage physical activity

•       Educate 250,000 children to become the next generation of environmental stewards

You can help. Through May, visit www.KABCleanup.org to find a Great American Cleanup event in your hometown and view the Social Hub to check out what’s happening with other volunteer events around the country. You could also be featured. Tag your Tweets, Instagram photos, and Foursquare check-ins with #KeepAmericaBeautiful or Like Keep America Beautiful and share your posts there. Follow @KABtweet for more information. 

Caring Causes: Allie Smiles/2nd Chance 4 Pets

The Allie Smiles Foundation's newest partner in our Focused Giving Campaign is 2nd Chance 4 Pets, a wonderful grass-roots NFP who rescues pets who have outlived their owners. 500 thousand + pets are are euthanized every year, because their human caregivers did not make arrangements for the continuous care of their beloved pets.

 

The shelter in Florida said that Lou Lou could not be adopted to the public because she was 'old and scared'. 2nd Chancd 4 Pets thought she deserved a second chance. One week in boarding, good food, 1600 miles, visits with veterinarians, meds for her ears and tummy, "LouLou" is now on her way to experiencing what love is. She will not have to sleep outside on a hard surface as she has her entire life (apparent from pressure sores on her hips).

 

They are raising $1000 for the cost of Lou-Lou's medication and fence for her new dog run in her forever home. Please consider a donation to this worthy campaign.  100% of your donation dollars go to Lou-Lou's campaign. The Allie Smiles Foundation and 2nd Chance 4 Pets DO NOT take salaries, so ALL of your donation goes to the cause and that's a great thing!

 

Donate $20 or more to Allie Smiles and they will send you a $50 Gift Card good at thousands of restaurants nationwide. Your donation is 100% tax deductible. ASF tax ID number is 27-3904262Click HERE to donate. Once they receive your donation, they will mail your gift card the same day!
Visit http://www.restaurant.com/to find participating restaurants in your area. Terms and conditions

Caring Causes: The Nobelity Project

Through challenges and triumphs, the documentary Building Hope chronicles The Nobelity Project’s construction of the first high school for a remote African community and shows the connections between Americans and Kenyans who believe that education should not end after the 8th grade. As a teacher, I love to support education here and around the world. High school education has been correlated with a variety of positive measures of standard of living, but can be hard to reach in certain areas.

I had a chance to interview the creator, Turk Pipkin, about the project.

1) What inspired you to start The Nobelity Project?

My wife and I had both worked in film and television for many years but felt there were a lot of pressing challenges in the world that were being discussed in mainstream media. Our film Nobelity was based on interviews with nine Nobel laureates and looked at some of the most pressing problems we face in the world. The time and trust we were given by Desmond Tutu and others quickly inspired us to form The Nobelity Project as a global education nonprofit.

 2) What is the biggest difference between your previous work with The Sopranos and your current work?

"Have you heard the good news?" I was fairly certain that the opinions of that crazy narcoleptic guy on The Sopranos was not going to get the reception we needed - hence the solution of relying on distinguished Nobel laureates. But my role as Aaron Arkaway in The Sopranos did make it a lot easier to find the funding to make the first couple of movies, and that enabled us to use the profits from those movies to begin partner projects in Ethiopia, Kenya, India and elsewhere.

3) Why the focus on Mahiga Hope High School?

Nobel Peace laureate Wangari Maathai invited me to come to Kenya to plant trees with the women of The Green Belt Movement. I wanted to plant trees and ended up at Mahiga Primary School - a rural school with mud floors and slat walls and no water for the kids to drink. We partnered with the school to build a purified rainwater system. The power for the purification allowed us to build a computer lab, and the next thing I knew, the community was dreaming big about having a high school. At that point, I didn't realize that education for those kids ended at the 8th grade. Once we decided to build Mahiga Hope High School, our goal was to do it quickly (didn't want to lose one more class of 8th graders) and we wanted to build a beautiful and fully functional school on a tight budget that would show that it is practical for every community to have a high school. I think we were 100% successful.

4) What other initiatives are you currently working on?

Proceeds and attention to Building Hope have already allowed us to expand our work in Kenya. Our Kenya Schools Fund has built water systems, classrooms, libraries and science labs at 17 schools across rural Kenya.

Last year we partnered with the Seva Foundation on a remote surgical camp in Nepa to provide eye surgeries that restored the sight of many blind people, and are following up with a permanent eyecare clinic.

We have tree-planting and conservation partnerships in Kenya, Uganda, Mexico and Texas, where we are working with local high school kids to replant Bastrop State Park, site of the most devastating forest fire in modern Texas history.

And we have a Nobelity In Schools program that works with middle and high school students across the U.S. to engage them with the issues that will shape their futures.  

5) What are some ways for people to get involved?

Students and teachers can enroll in Nobelity in Schools at www.nobelityinschools.rog

We have a very big video channel at youtube.com/nobelityproject

And we encourage everyone to watch Building Hope (or read the book) and see where your passion is to reach out and lend a hand to others - whether in East Africa or East Austin - we're all neighbors, and we all benefit from the help we give and the help we receive. The Building Hope book on the iBookstore is gorgeous. First 7 chapters are a free download.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary DVD as a thank-you for this post.

Caring Causes: 30-Hour Famine

From now until April, some 200,000 teens will go hungry as part of World Vision’s 30 Hour Famine (30HF) to raise funds and hunger awareness. Since 1992, 30HF has raised more than $150 million to fight world hunger. This is the first time 30HF funds are being designated to fight hunger here in the U.S. While many will do 30HF in February, others participate April 26-27. Teens go without food for 30 hours to get a taste of what the world’s poorest children face. Prior to the event, teens raise funds by explaining that $1 can help feed and care for a child a day. Teens consume only water and juice as they participate in local community service projects at food banks and homeless shelters. Last year 30HF raised $9.8 million to fight hunger. This year’s goal: $10.5 million.
 

Tonight, 870 million people worldwide will go to bed hungry. Nearly 19,000 children die each day from hunger and preventable diseases. Chronic poverty, affecting half the people on earth, is the cause. Nearly 3 billion people live on less than $2 a day. Funds raised this year for 30HF will be sent to 10 countries including Haiti, Burundi and the U.S. 

I participated in 30 Hour Famine when I was in high school, and many teens in my area are participating at the local Lutheran high school (as well as area churches). It is a worthwhile cause - and harder to do than it seems! The hardest part for me was doing a food drive towards the end of the famine, when we were really hungry. I've known other churches that volunteer in a soup kitchen towards the end, just to hit home the point of how hard hunger is to deal with when food is around but not available.

World Vision is a Christian relief and development organization dedicated to helping children and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty. World Vision serves the world’s poor regardless of a person’s religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. World Vision works in 100 countries, helping approximately 100 million people every year. For more information, visit www.worldvision.org.

Caring Causes: WaterAid Shop

If you're looking for some gifts with a mission, check out the WaterAid Shop. It's never too late to show someone you care! And getting a life-saving gift of water in their honor is a great way to help save lives around the world.

Caring Causes: Charity Miles

The United Nations Foundation is partnering with social good fitness app Charity Miles to encourage people to help raise 10k just by downloading the app and participating in its virtual #VDay10k by talking a walk, run or bike ride.

 

Charity Miles is a free iPhone/Android app that enables people to earn money for charity when they walk, run or bike.  

 

The #Vday10k challenge will run through the month of February when you’ll be able to donate your distance to a variety of United Nations Foundation campaigns. The participating campaigns include Girl Up, where your miles will help a teen girl in a developing country safely attend school, Nothing but Nets where you will help protect a family from malaria, and Shot@Life where your miles will help to provide life-saving vaccines to children around the world that need it most.

Caring Causes: Shanti Uganda

Shanti Uganda, has new ways to give in 2013 as they help mothers in Uganda deliver babies. In 2012 Shanti Uganda has assisted in bringing 113 new lives into the world safely and peacefully, tested over 400 mothers and partners for HIV and other STIs, provided 1000 antenatal care appointments and run a weekly infant immunization and family planning program. Now they need to expand their services to meet the increasing needs of the community. You can help by donating towards supplies, power, and more.

Caring Causes: The Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary

One of the victims of the Newtown shooting was six-year-old Catherine Violet Hubbard, a beautiful child who will be remembered for her love of all animals and her constant smile. To honor their child, the Hubbard family requested that donations in memory of their daughter go directly to The Animal Center in Newtown, an all-volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to animal rescue and welfare.

Today, the Hubbard family and The Animal Center are pleased to announce plans to build The Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary, a place where all creatures, great and small, can know the touch of a kind hand and be safe from harm.

 The Animal Center’s longtime vision of creating a sanctuary resonated deeply with Catherine’s parents, Jenny and Matt Hubbard. “Catherine loved all animals,” say the Hubbards. “She would chase down strangers just to pet their dogs, squeal with delight as butterflies landed on her arm and sit for hours watching baby birds in a nest. We would overhear her whispering to insects and animals…her words: tell all your friends that I’m kind.”

 The Animal Center can think of no greater tribute to this young child than creating an animal sanctuary in her name. “For all of us who love animals, Catherine is a kindred spirit and we will do whatever it takes to make her dream a reality,” says Harmony Verna, Vice President of The Animal Center. “This sanctuary will be a place where neglected, abused or homeless animals can get a second chance at life, a place for children and adults to connect with animals and the natural world. Animals have an amazing capacity to love and heal the human spirit. We hope Catherine will think it is the most beautiful place on Earth.”

While The Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary will not happen overnight, it will happen, promises Ms. Verna. “We are just at the planning stage of this project but hope that within five years, we will be welcoming the first school children to the sanctuary.”

The Hubbards fully embrace the hope and goodness this sanctuary symbolizes. “Whenever a kitten purrs from a loving touch, whenever a dog nuzzles into a child’s hand, whenever a butterfly dances between flowers, Catherine’s smile will be there.”

 

The Animal Center of Newtown is an all-volunteer, non-profit rescue organization dedicated to helping animals through compassionate, no-kill programs. Created in 2004, The Animal Center runs its rescue programs entirely through a volunteer foster network. All adoptable animals are in the safety and comfort of private homes. The Animal Center DOES NOT have a shelter.

Caring Causes: GMO Inside

GMO Inside, a coalition dedicated to advancing the right of consumers to know whether or not foods are genetically engineered, today announced that it is shining the light on the nation’s largest breakfast cereal companies: Kellogg’s and General Mills.  GMO Inside is calling on these companies, who claim to be wholesome and healthy, to make a Fresh Start and label or remove the ingredients in their products that have been genetically engineered. In cereals, this could apply to major ingredients such as corn, soy, and added sugars.

Throughout January, and available at, GMO Inside is calling on consumers to sign petitions, phone the companies to request non-GMO products, and take action on the Facebook profiles of each company and their many brands. General Mills is the maker of iconic cereals such as Cheerios, Chex, Kix, and Lucky Charms, as well as the owner of Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, and Hamburger Helper. Kellogg’s manufactures Corn Flakes, POPS, Froot Loops, Frosted Flakes, and Special K, and owns MorningStar Farms, Pop Tarts, and Keebler, to name just a few.

GMO Inside is also urging Kellogg’s and General Mills to pledge not to fund any opposition to I-522, the Washington State ballot initiative for GMO labeling, which will be up for a vote in November 2013—or any other initiatives and legislation emerging in states around the country. 

To date, more than 5,000 consumers have taken action with GMO Inside signing a petition to General Mills to remove GMOs from its bestselling Cheerios line of products, and more than 17,000 Facebook fans helped to shut down the company’s Cheerios Facebook app in December 2012.

“We have been completely blown away by the amount of consumer support the GMO issue has created.” said Alisa Gravitz, President of Green America.  “Since Prop 37 was defeated in California in November last year, consumer action has only increased. I am completely inspired by the parents who are standing up against major corporations for the right to know what they are feeding their kids. Kellogg’s and General Mills represent just the beginning of what this coalition is prepared to take on.”

“We're calling on consumers to get a fresh start this year by beginning every day with a healthy breakfast, free of GMO ingredients," said Elizabeth O'Connell, GMO Inside Campaign Director. "Putting Kellogg's and General Mills under our January spotlight is part of GMO Inside's commitment to educate consumers about which products are likely to have GMO ingredients. We'll call attention to new products every month."

GMO Inside believes that everyone has a right to know what’s in their food and to choose foods that are proven safe for themselves, their families, and the environment. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have never been proven safe for consumption, and a growing body of studies is raising concerns around the health effects of eating them. Numerous US physicians now instruct all their patients to avoid genetically modified foods in their diets. GMOs are also increasing the use of toxic herbicides and causing harm to farmers in the US and abroad.

With the Fresh Start action, GMO Inside joins with the work of GMO Free USA, which is calling on Kellogg's to commit to making all of its products with non-GMO ingredients. Both Kellogg's and General Mills sell their iconic products in Europe without GMO ingredients.

Caring Causes: FoodTank.

There are major issues with the global food system. More than 1 billion people are obese; nearly 1 billion people go to bed hungry every night; at least 2 billion people suffer from nutrient deficiencies; and food price speculation and massive consolidation of farms and companies has led to price spikes and poverty in the developing world. The impacts of climate change and decades of disregard for soil and water health are becoming increasingly evident, leading to drought and disease worldwide.

 

We need solutions - not just temporary measures implemented in one sector. We need changes from schools and hospitals to fields and forests and from boardrooms to parliaments. Food Tank: The Food Think Tank, founded by food and agriculture experts Ellen Gustafson and Danielle Nierenberg, is a new voice in bringing attention to these important issues. Food Tank will attempt to help propel change by fostering the growing community of voices on food issues. In 2013, Food Tank will be planning a "Change the Food System" summit, conducting on-the-ground research both domestically and internationally, preparing research reports and books, highlighting road maps for sustainable agricultural systems, and building an innovations database. And the Food Tank website will be posting new research and insights daily.

The goal of Food Tank: The Food Think Tank is to find ways to connect domestic and global food issues, highlighting the need for changing the metrics regarding how food security and nutrition are measured. While yields and calories are important, they are not the only measurements of a healthy food system — we also need to consider environmental sustainability, the nutritional quality of food, gender equity, and involvement of youth, when measuring whether a food system is ‘successful.’ 

“We’re trying to bridge the major disconnect between organizations that are fighting hunger and organizations that are fighting obesity. The two groups have more in common than they think. The truth is we’re all fighting to get people access to nutritious food, no matter where they are in the world,” says Ellen Gustafson, co-founder of Food Tank. 

 

“Agriculture can be the solution to some the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges," according to Danielle Nierenberg, co-founder of Food Tank. "We can create state-of-the-art sustainable farming systems by using a combination of traditional practices that have worked for hundreds years all over the world with modern eco-friendly technologies.”
 

A large share of the human family is still chronically without food, reliable income, and access to education. Over the last 30 years, the western food system has been built to promote over-consumption of a few consolidated commodities and has failed to be the harbinger of health as it spreads around the world. The epidemic of obesity in industrialized and developing countries alike is increasing the risks of diabetes, cardio-vascular disease, and other maladies. Ironically, the 'solution' to hunger—increasing production of starchy staple crops—has also created the problem of obesity. 

 

In addition, we waste vast amounts of food—more than one third of all food worldwide is wasted, or 1.3 billion tons annually. In the developing world, roughly 40 percent of all food goes to waste as a result of pests, disease, and improper storage. 

 

We need to find a different way to feed the world.

Fixing the system requires changing the conversation and finding ways to make food production—and consumption—more economically and environmentally sustainable and socially just.

 

The solutions, both big and small, are out there—in market garden projects in rural Niger, on rooftop gardens in Vietnam, at research institutes in Taiwan, in European healthy school food systems, in the explosion of farmers markets across the U.S., in global food retailing initiatives that prevent food waste, and in individual communities, regions, and countries all over the world. Unfortunately, these projects are not getting the attention and the investment they need. The science is out there, too, yet it is not getting the funding to change the metrics we use to measure agricultural success. This needs to change.

 

About the founders:

Ellen Gustafson is a sustainable food system activist, innovator, and social entrepreneur.  Ellen was the Founder and Executive Director of the 30 Project, a think + do tank changing the conversation about the global food system by connecting hunger and obesity. The 30 Project brought together key organizations and activists working around the world on addressing hunger, obesity, and agriculture issues to talk about their visions for the food system over the next 30-years She also co-Founded FEED Projects, LLC, and is currently working on a book with Rodale tentatively entitled We the Eaters.

 

Danielle Nierenberg is co-founder of FoodTank: The Food Think Tank. She is an expert on sustainable agriculture and food issues. She recently spent two years traveling to more than 35 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America looking at environmentally sustainable ways of alleviating hunger and poverty. Her knowledge of global agriculture issues has been cited and published in more than 3,000 major publications including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the International Herald Tribune, The Washington Post, BBC, the Guardian(UK), the Mail and Guardian (South Africa), the East African (Kenya), TIME magazine, Reuters, Agence France Presse, Voice of America, the Times of India, and other major publications. Danielle worked for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic. She holds an M.S. in Agriculture, Food, and Environment from Tufts University and a B.A. in Environmental Policy from Monmouth College.

 

Caring Causes: End Human Trafficking

UNICEF's newest Ambassador is Angie Harmon. As their Ambassador, Harmon is lending her support for the fight against child trafficking during Human Trafficking Awareness Month in January. Harmon is appearing in Public Service Announcements to raise awareness about the issue of child trafficking, an inhumane and exploitative practice, and urge Americans to help end it.

 

An estimated 5.5 million children are victims of trafficking, an illegal enterprise that generates an estimated $32 billion in yearly profits. Human trafficking cases have been reported in every state in the United States. Rates are particularly high in California, Texas, Florida, and New York.

 

The U.S. Fund for UNICEF has launched The End Trafficking project to raise awareness about child trafficking and mobilize communities within the United States to take meaningful action to help protect children. In partnership with concerned individuals and groups, the initiative aims to bring us all closer to a day when ZERO children are exploited.

For more information, follow @EndTraffick or @UNICEFUSA or search #EndTrafficking.

Caring Causes: FoodCorps

This year, FoodCorps has reached more 30,000 kids, bringing them hands-on learning, healthier choices in the cafeteria, and the chance to grow up with a brighter future. Next year, we aspire to grow into 3 additional states, and grow well past 100 service members. But we can't do this without you. Give the gift of health. Give a child and a community the gift of FoodCorps.

Hear from people involved to find out why:

"A small investment in FoodCorps buys something big: a program that is starting to roll back the $147 billion it costs us each year to deal with the health consequences of obesity."
-Mark Bittman, New York Times columnist and Cookbook Author

"The garden has allowed the students to have a hands-on approach to learning. It has brought 'real world' experiences into the classroom, by allowing my students to get their hands dirty. As a teacher it is exciting to see my students so engaged in learning."
-Kaily Mione, 3rd Grade Teacher, Gloucester, MA 

Caring Causes: SHE Enterprises

Every 28 days, million of girls and women in developing countries miss school or work – up to 50 days per year – because they lack access to affordable maxi-pads. Their current options are with too expensive or ineffective:

• Premium priced imported brands cost more than a day’s wages – a pack of imported pads cost $2.25 vs. $1 in Rwanda, SHE’s pilot country.
• Sub-optimal alternatives such as cloth rags, tree bark, and even mud, fail to prevent leakage and put girls and women at risk for severe reproductive health consequences, mostly as a result of the lack of a clean and accessible water supply.

Sustainable Health Enterprises or SHE is a social venture that is on a mission to invest in people and ideas that are typically overlooked (and often taboo) as vehicles of social and economic change. The SHE28 campaign is its initiative to address this pressing and silent problem through innovative product design and sustainable economic opportunities for women and their communities.

SHE has developed an patent-pending, low-cost, and eco-friendly menstrual pad, the SHE LaunchPad, that makes an absorbent core (the highest material cost driver) for pads from agro-waste (i.e, banana fibers) without using any chemicals or super absorbent polymers. The SHE28 campaign launched in Rwanda in 2009, and girls and women, will now have access to a menstrual product that will be priced at 5 cents/pad.

SHE is coupling its LaunchPad with a sustainable business model that will create economic opportunities all across the value chain – from the banana farmers who will sell their banana fiber to SHE to the women entrepreneurs that will be equipped with business skills training and education to sell the LaunchPads in their communities. For every women-led and operated business that SHE invests in, approximately 100 jobs are created and approximately 100,000 girls and women have access to affordable menstrual pads.

In addition to creating economic opportunities for marginalized women, SHE is dedicated to instigating change at a national and global level with its education and advocacy programs. SHE is currently in talks with Rwandan Ministry officials to ensure menstrual hygiene education is widely available across all government primary schools.

On the advocacy front, SHE has been successful in busting taboos about menstruation. The SHE team hit the streets of Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, in 2010 with its “Breaking the Silence on Menstruation” event. SHE, along with 10 other leading Rwandan organizations, marched down the streets in Kigali and held a public discussion with girls, women & men about how to break down menstrual taboos that serve as a barrier to girls’ education. As a result, the Rwandan government placed a new line item in the national budget for a $35,000 procurement of menstrual pads for the poorest girls.

SHE is not done with shaking up the status quo – SHE is moving from small-scale to industrial-scale production to manufacture and distribute 300,000 of its SHE LaunchPads to 3,000 Rwandan schoolgirls attending 10 schools in the Kayonza district of Rwanda.

There are some great ways you can involved - Give $28. Support SHE. You can also follow SHE on its website and blog or find them on Twitter and Facebook.