Purpose of this Blog and How it can be used

This blog is meant to be used as an exchange of ideas on how we as a community can brainstorm and network to bring an end to hunger in Forsyth County.

The ideas come from Adriana Aranha of Brazil and the members of the Zero Hunger Project who have worked for years to reduce hunger in Belo Horizonte by about 80%. In her city, the food production was sufficient enough to feed every person, but many people did not earn enough money to be able to afford a healthy diet. The beauty of this program is that it enables the majority of the people to be able to afford a healthy diet without handouts.

The Fome Zero project of Belo Horizonte is a comprehensive program involving food programs in all schools and child care centers, subsidized "popular restaurants," "popular basket" buses that bring inexpensive staples into Belo's poorest neighborhoods, farmers' markets with controlled prices in areas where the hungry live, nutrition education classes, organic markets and support for sustainable, local food production, gardens in schools and a host of other ideas. The plan is comprehensive, yet costs only a small fraction of the city's budget.
Her website is: http://www.silentkillerfilm.org/interview_aranha.html

Here is a link to an objective overview and analysis of the program, with its advantages and shortcomings listed.
http://www.foodshare.net/newsletter_chutney_current02.htm

It is my hope that Knollwood Baptist Church members, Second Harvest Food Bank, local organizations and neighborhood associations and any other individuals unaffiliated with any particular group or religion will come together here to begin the journey of ending hunger in Forsyth County.

I have posted each of the ideas used in Brazil and have posed ideas and questions for how we might do the same sort of thing here in Forsyth County. My thoughts are only the beginning. With your thoughts, comments, questions and ideas, we can begin to envision how Brazil's zero hunger plan can be set in motion here in Forsyth County.