Thinking spring without forgetting the holidays

It's been nearly six months since I wrapped up a 30-day challenge of cooking and eating exclusively on a food stamp budget. I've admitted it was a much different type of challenge than I thought it'd be - being put in a place where healthy decisions weren't out of my reach, just amazingly inconvenient. Choosing to put my focus and energy many other places than what was going on my table was easy. After the challenge was over I decided I would dedicate a portion of this blog to teaching people how cook healthy meals inexpensively, should they choose that's a valuable use of time for them. Honestly? I've done an awful job of giving much on this blog the attention it's deserved since the calendar turned to 12, let alone on the issues of nutritious, budget-friendly eating or hunger. The unfortunate truth is the issue often feels out of sight and out of mind. When I sit down at the end of a long day, fatigued from an array of sources (none of which are unavoidable hunger) it's easier to flip on a movie or run a load of laundry, or even open up the stack of mail piling up on my entryway table than to sit down, research, plan, and provide pointers for eating healthy with limited resources.

While there have been several reasons this blog has acquired some cobwebs in the past month (all of which are topics for another post), I am making commitment to improve the resources available to those wanting to provide healthy meals to their families with limited means. More than that is making a commitment to the awareness of hunger.

A couple weeks ago I received a message from Feeding America about a campaign they are taking on the entire month of March to bring a renewed focus to the issue of hunger in America. One of the biggest reasons? Because hunger is not a problem that starts after our Thanksgiving feasts and ends once we've untied the ribbons of Christmas morning. Bellies rumble all over the country every hour of every day, regardless of the season. There are plenty of us in this modern-day-food-networked-reality-cooking-show-food-blogger-saturated world that are passionate about food, cooking or just sharing a meal. I encourage you to watch this video and pass it along to someone else, especially someone who loves food. I'm pledging my contribution to the fight against hunger to be education, resources, research and awareness. What can you do to help fill bellies and make sure no one goes hungry?

If you're on facebook, check out Feeding America and "like" their page.
If twitter is more your thing, you can find them tweeting here.
If you love good old fashioned web surfing, Feeding America has an awesome blog full of resources and information.

No matter how you choose to communicate, please make sure you share this message.