News
MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: March 9, 2012
Contact: Jocelyn Lantrip
(775) 331-3663 ext. 127 – Office, (775) 343-5255- Cell, jlantrip@fbnn.org
www.fbnn.org
CANSTRUCTION TEAMS PREPARE FOR 9TH YEAR EVENT
What: For the 9th year, CANstruction is back with sculptures made of edibles, competing as well as feeding. The event will be Wednesday, March 28 through Sunday, April 1 at Meadowood Mall. There will be a total of 11 professional and student teams creating large art structures out of canned and packaged food. The event is organized by the American Institute of Architects of Northern Nevada (AIANN) and sponsored by Meadowood Mall, Pacific Radomes, AIANN, Pat Pusich, Peter Duffy, Fred and Janice Graham, Save Mart Supermarkets, KTVN Channel 2, Freeman Decorating, Bob Cook, Nevada Blue and Digiprint. All of the food at the end of the competition is donated to the Food Bank of Northern Nevada.
Where: The 9th Annual CANstruction event will be held at Meadowood Mall at 5000 Meadowood Mall Circle in Reno. The “People’s Choice” voting will take place at the Information Booth in the Mall while the structures will be placed throughout the mall.
When: Wednesday, March 28: Construction and design build out will take place for all teams from 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Thursday, March 29: Press preview and judging from 4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. with and award ceremony following from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 30 – Sunday, April 1: The displays will be open to the public for “People’s choice” voting. Attendees can vote for their favorites with $1 per vote.
Mall Hours: 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. Friday & Saturday and 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Sunday.
Why: CANstruction is a visually stimulating and educational food drive that combines architecture, design, learning and planning. It brings professionals in the architecture, design and construction fields together with students for a great experience that feeds people at the same time.
UNPRECEDENTED NEW STUDY PAINTS A DETAILED PORTRAIT OF FOOD INSECURITY IN NORTHERN NEVADA
McCarran, NV, --- March 24, 2011 --- Food Bank of Northern Nevada and Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, today released a landmark study, “Map the Meal Gap,” providing the first detailed look at the food budget needed by families struggling with hunger here in Northern Nevada and the eastern slope of the Sierra in California each year – an estimated $51,228,840 in 2009.
“This research details food insecurity by county, which emphasizes the tremendous case for connecting those who need them with federal food supplement benefits,” said Food Bank of Northern Nevada President and CEO, Cherie Jamason. “We also learned that services offered by the Food Bank of Northern Nevada are the only safety net available to many in need.”
The study takes a look at ‘meals’ in a whole new way, using county-level data on food costs from The Nielsen Company to break down the food budget shortfall of our residents into an approximation of the meals missing from the tables of people at risk of hunger in northern Nevada and California each year.
The ‘“Map the Meal Gap” was also able to compare food costs across counties, showing that 13 counties served by the Food Bank of Northern Nevada have higher food costs than the national average.
According to Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey data analyzed as part of “Map the Meal Gap”, people struggling with hunger estimate they would need about $56 more each month on average during the months that they are food insecure to address the shortages in their food budget. On a county by county level, “Map the Meal Gap” shows that this shortfall represents an estimated 21,973,988 meals in the Food Bank of Northern Nevada service area on an annual basis.
Together, the emergency food system and critical federal nutrition programs weave a comprehensive nutrition safety net reaching at-risk Americans at different income bands and in different settings, with special focus on vulnerable child and senior populations.
Map the Meal Gap provides the following data for northern Nevada and the eastern slope of the Sierra in California in the United States in an interactive map format:
The percentage of the population in the region served by the Food Bank of Northern Nevada who are food insecure is 15%.
The percentage of the food insecure population in the Food Bank of Northern Nevada’s service area who have incomes that might qualify them for SNAP (Foods Stamps) and other federal nutrition programs 59%.
The percentage of the food insecure population in the Food Bank of Northern Nevada’s Service Area who do NOT qualify for federal nutrition programs and often must rely on charitable food assistance programs is 41%
The average price per meal in northern Nevada is $2.53, based on new research by The Nielsen Company.
“The interactive map will, for the first time, allow policy makers, state agencies, corporate partners and individual advocates to develop integrated strategies to fight hunger on a community by community level,” said Cherie Jamason.
“Map the Meal Gap” also provides critical information that has never been previously available -- food insecurity rates for Congressional Districts. Previously, food insecurity data was only available at the state level in the USDA’s annual report. The study further analyzes each district’s food insecure population to determine their income eligibility for federal nutrition assistance. This data has the potential to redefine the way service providers and policy makers address areas of need.
The findings of “Map the Meal Gap” are based on statistics collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Census Bureau, and food price data from The Nielsen Company. The study was supported by The Howard G. Buffett Foundation and Nielsen.
“Map the Meal Gap” was conducted using well-established, transparent methods. Data were analyzed by Feeding America in partnership with Dr. Craig Gundersen, Associate Professor of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois, Executive Director of the National Soybean Research Laboratory and member of Feeding America’s Technical Advisory Group.
A summary of the findings, an interactive map of the United States, and the full report are available on Feeding America's web site at www.feedingamerica.org
Tweet about Map the Meal Gap using #MealGap.
Join the national conversation on hunger and learn more about Feeding America:
http://blog.feedingamerica.org/
About the Food Bank of Northern Nevada
The Food Bank of Northern Nevada is a regional food distribution and support system serving over 125 partner agencies in Northern Nevada and the Eastern Sierra. The Food Bank of Northern Nevada provides and supports programs including food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, after-school programs and Kids Cafe (dinner program), Kids Cafe Summer Meals program, Food Stamp Outreach and much more. Among clients who visit emergency food program sites, children are the most vulnerable to hunger; 46% of emergency food recipients are children under the age of 18. Last year the Food Bank of Northern Nevada provided over 6 million meals to low income seniors, children and families. The Food Bank of Northern Nevada is a member of Feeding America ~ The Nation’s Food Bank Network (formerly America's Second Harvest).
About Feeding America
Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity, our network members supply food to 37 million Americans each year, including nearly 14 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks support 61,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms. For more information on how you can fight hunger in your community and across the country, visit http://www.feedingamerica.org. Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/FeedingAmerica or follow our news on Twitter at twitter.com/FeedingAmerica.
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For further information or to arrange interviews, please contact:
Jocelyn Lantrip
Marketing & Communications Manager
Food Bank of Northern Nevada
phone (775) 785-1427
cell (775) 343-5255
fax (775) 331-3765