With April comes Spring, bringing to mind tulips, pastels, Easter eggs,
fragrant baked goods and chocolate bunnies, not to mention a certain generosity
of spirit. This week we share the inspiration for our Food Fairy design: The Feed The Heart And Soul Fairy Pin.
We received word that a young school girl had been asked what she wished for most in the world. She answered, a food fairy that would bring baskets of food to her door every day. Initially it was her story which brought our attention to the ongoing fight to feed the hungry in America. We decided to create a food fairy to reflect her desire.
Many individuals donate
annually to food charities or participate in food drives at their local supermarkets. We wanted our food fairy to reflect the kindness of these generous and charitable individuals as well.
After researching food drives, hunger relief and even the term “food fairy,” we discovered a wealth of information.
Food drives were once implemented around seasonal holidays, most notably Thanksgiving, but now, one can be a food fairy year round. Most supermarkets run some type of program periodically, which allow you to donate
food to those less fortunate in your community.
Whole
Foods is a member of Feeding America and often offers point of purchase coupons
that allow you to donate one, five, ten or twenty-five dollars to hunger relief
when you pay for your groceries.
Stop
and Shop was able to donate $28 million to local organizations committed to
fighting hunger in 2013 utilizing customer and vendor-associated donations.
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| Food Drive |
Last
year Shaw’s and Star Market’s “Spirit of Giving” food drive donated more than
55,500 bags of food to area hunger relief foundations, thanks to the generosity
of their customers. And their “Turkey Bucks” Thanksgiving program provided
thousands of dinners for those in need on Thanksgiving Day.
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| Nutrition + Education = Health |
Many food donation organizations provide matching funding for educational school
programs, which teach children nutritional value. Farming education programs receive
donations to teach farmers innovative ways to raise food. There are many “backbone” type food-based programs, which receive support via donations from hunger relief organizations. The network is
vast and generally starts one community or food fairy at a time.
We
also learned that the term "food fairy" has been coined to describe individuals
with a love for preparing food. From those who habitually cook and bake
scrumptious recipes for their family and friends—to those who blog quick and easy
recipes to facilitate working moms to swiftly prepare healthy meals
for their families, all are food fairies.
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| Feed the Heart and Soul Fairy Pin |
Inspired by all of the above, we created our colorful, bountiful Feed The Heart And Soul Fairy Pin. Armed with her fork, her fruits and her vegetables, she's out to feed the world.
Come Easter, share the food fairy within you!