America’s Sunday Supper

Reblogged from :

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by Katie Grills, Community Relations VISTA Theatre Action Project got to play a small part in planning the first local America’s Sunday Supper event in Austin to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Sunday, January 15, 2012. Sunday Supper is a national night of conversation that was started two years ago to honor the spirit of Dr. King. It’s a night to come together as a community and really get to the crux of what our world needs to be a better place. The goal of this first Sunday …

I wrote this blog about participating in America’s Sunday Supper through my job. Enjoy!

Food Gift Ideas for the Hopelessly Broke

Black Friday sales might have hit a record this year, but let’s face it. We’re all cutting back and looking for ways to save.

No matter how broke we might all be, never forget: saving money on gifts doesn’t have to mean a decrease in quality! Spending less means a higher investment in creativity.

One of the most precious things that we have to give in our lives is our time. Making a gift for your friends and family is one of the best ways to show true interest in what they love. When you cook or bake from the heart, they’ll be able to appreciate your gift holistically. A homemade jam or a tin of cookies is like an extended hug–the receiver uses every sense when using the gift, and they’ll feel wrapped up in love every time they spread a smear of pesto on their sandwich or sprinkle vanilla sugar on their oatmeal.

I’m going to throw some links at y’all with great ideas for what to make for your loved ones in the weeks to come after the break.

Tags: Christmas, Creativity, favorites, Food, Gift, Holidays, Innovation, learning, recipies

Of Pork, Honey, and Ragazzi

Chances are that you or a friend have been in this situation before.

A mutual friend brings friends in from their home town, and the resident creeper of the group takes a liking to his victim from afar. The person leers. They stand uncomfortably close to you without your knowing, and have an uncanny ability to be undetected until you hear them breathing down your newly purchased cowl neck sweater. The suspect wanders back to their hole of a home, but they have a persistent ability to resurface in your life. Think of this person as a Daddy Long Legs of sorts–nagging, scary, yet their relationship with humanity is benevolent and symbiotic for the most port.

Drop this pleasant surprise of life down in Italy, throw in a dash of language barrier, and we have my relationship with a man who we will now refer to as Mr. Creeper.

Tags: Appreciation, Campo dei Fiori, Embarrassment, Gift, Holidays, Honey, Italy, life lessons, Memories, Pork, Rome, sickness, Stories, tea, travel

December’s Theme: Food as a Gift

Food as a Gift will be the theme for December here at Victual Sense.

What will that mean?

I’ll be plunging into the meaning of food being something more than just sustenance: something that facilitates celebration, a material that creates a teachable moment, a sensory experience that ties to joy.

Be ready for anything and everything–prose, ideas on how to gift a food item for the holiday season, articles about hunger, and musings on the tradition of gastronomy.

Cheers!

Have suggestions for a post? A question to answer for a post? Leave them in the comment section. I will happily oblige.

Where’d All the Peanut Butter Go?

I got to sit in on a planning meeting for Austin’s version of America’s Sunday Supper tonight. Trinity United Methodist Church is partnering with Hands on Central Texas and several local non-profits to host the second annual event in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The Sunday Supper was started to drive open dialogue about a concern that our community is facing, and we came to the consensus that we will be addressing hunger at our event, among other issues.

“There’s a lot of food anxiety out there right now.”

Jif Extra Crunchy--My Favorite.

No kidding.

Trinity’s food pantry serves around 60 needy families a week in one of the wealthier neighborhoods of Austin alone. According to a community partner that I got to talk with at El Buen Samaritano during their Hands for Hope Thanksgiving Basket event, nearly 20% of Austinites live in poverty situations, and a large portion of those are children.

Now, according to this AP article, one of the most nutritious and economical sources of protein, peanut butter, is becoming too expensive for food pantries to stock for all of their patrons. A wave of oppressive heat over Texas and Georgia this summer caused peanut output to be low this year, driving prices up. Many families are struggling just to get by, and higher prices mean tough decisions at the grocery store. More families are relying on pantries to make it through the month.

Non-profits that provide this food “band-aid” are also stretched for resources as the demand for their services increases.

What can we do about this?

I urge you to donate foods to your local food bank–especially protein based items that food banks receive less of. Volunteer your time at a local community garden. Lend a hand at a soup kitchen. Give $10 a month to a non-profit or charitable organization.

It’ll all help ease that anxiety, and you can feel as good about it as eating a spoon full of peanut butter does.

 

Tags: Austin, community organizing, do something, Hands On Network, hunger, MLK Day of Service, non-profits, Peanut Butter