Foundation Journal

Rhonda Perry (photo: Mo. Rural Crisis Center) One Montana newspaper described the rancher response to proposed USDA rules as a "David vs. Goliath movement on to take action for fair market prices against corporate concentration." Missouri Rural Crisis Center's own Rhonda Perry added that "Missouri lost 90 percent of hog farmers since 1985. They (corporations) came in and said this was the wave of the future...." Perry attributed the drastic decline in locally owned farms and ranches to corporate consolidation, adding that consumer prices have increased. In an unusual display of supporting the "little guy," twenty-one US senators, including Missouri's Claire McCaskill, have signed on to a letter advocating for changes to USDA livestock rules [PDF] that will be the "first step towards leveling the playing field between producers and the packers." The list of senators includes 19 Democrats, 1 Republican, and 1 independent, though ano

Last week the Interdisciplinary Center for Food Security at the University of Missouri in Columbia released its updated Missouri Hunger Atlas . The atlas provides a county-by-county statistical accounting of the levels of hunger in Missouri. The atlas reflects trends documented in news reports and national hunger studies, like the recent report in the Kansas City Star that shows food stamp use in Kansas increasing 20% in a single year from 2008 to 2009. However, given the significant drop in jobs and income in Missouri over the past few years, the report underscores a possibly chronic, long-term hunger problem. The report does not investigate how to create jobs that will pay sustaining wages; the purpose of the atlas is to show the level of food insecurity and the response to meet the need. Given the drastic decline in local property taxes, decrease in education funding, and drop in job skills training programs, it's difficult to maintain an optimistic view for working families

Big Smith performing spiritual "Study War No More" at a performance in Kansas City, Aug. 13, 2010. Joined up with some friends (and big fans) last night for a musical performance with Big Smith , a band from Springfield, Missouri, which uses acoustic instruments to showcase a solid range of traditional and original music. They performed outdoors under a lightning storm at Knucklehead's Saloon to an appreciative audience. At the conclusion of their performance they touted their participation in the hunger relief benefit " Bluegrass Battles Hunger " at Phil Welch Stadium in St. Joseph, Missouri on September 25, 2010. Proceeds from the concert benefit Second Harvest Community Food Bank in St. Joe. People in this working class city in northwest Missouri with a history of livestock trade and processing have been struggling with making ends meet. "Overall, all the agencies are overwhelmed by need. There is tremendously more need than what our individual a

Aid groups agree: climate change driving most hunger-related catastrophes Several hundred conference participants from over 20 countries listened to four panelists deliver reports about the world's largest food aid providers during the annual International Food Aid & Development Conference held in Kansas City on August 2, 2010. The panelists acknowledged the dire conditions for poor with the number of people in hunger rising to one billion people . Food Aid Symposium panelists (from left): Ann Tutwiler (not shown), Allan Jury, Jay Sjerven, David Del Conte, and Dale Skoric. Jay Sjerven with the Kansas City chapter of the UN Association introduced the four panelists and gave a sober assessment of the difficulty of reaching the Millenium Development Goal (MDG) on hunger. Allan Jury with the UN World Food Program, noted that while only one MDG is directly focused on hunger, all goals impact food security. He also pointed out that addressing food nutrition is key to overcom

Filmmaker Jamie Moffett was in Kansas City to screen and discuss the film at Screenland Crossroads on August 1. The film is a riveting retelling of death squad crimes, but leads to a hopeful outlook for present-day Salvadoran society and challenges US audiences to keep El Salvador in their sights. The film explores a first-hand recollection of the years when El Salvador was inflicted with US-trained death squads leading to the deaths of 70,000 civilians between 1980 and 1992. "Return to El Salvador" follows the lives of two families -- one where a union leader was threatened by security forces and another with a former FMLN militant. The well-organized and flawlessly-produced film steps through the history of El Salvador from the days of the 1992 peace accords, back through years describing large landowners domination of the economy, forward through 15 years of horrendous death squad crimes committed against teachers, union organizers, and peasants by US-trained military fo