Food Security and Hunger

Artful Posters Aim at Getting SNAP Participants to Spend Their Benefits on Vegetables

Until last summer, low-income people who received federal assistance to purchase nutritious food could use their benefits to buy a Pepsi from the local corner store. A fresh bell pepper at the Dallas Farmers Market, however, was off limits. The Dallas Farmers Market administration couldn't be bother ... More >>

Taste of the NFL Helps Feed the Hungry: By the Numbers, with Photos

Last weekend's Taste of the NFL: The Ultimate Cowboys Tailgate Party offered up celebrity, entertainment and gourmet eats in a surprisingly badass setting at the Glass Cactus. And while my focus tends to be on cuisine at these sort of events, I'd like to tell you about the stuff that really matters: ... More >>

Bowled Over

The North Texas Food Bank is Hosting 14th Annual Empty Bowls Luncheon; Needs Extra Help to Reach June Goal

Just before Christmas, I chatted with Jan Pruitt, the chief executive officer of the North Texas Food Bank. We had an interesting conversation about the misconceptions of hunger and how food distribution has grown 300 percent over the past 15 years. Pruitt also talked about the food bank's goal of r ... More >>

Become A Holiday Hamster

Jan Pruitt, CEO of the NTFB, on The Greatest Misconceptions of the NTFB, 49 Million Meals

In the 16 years Jan Pruitt has been the CEO of the North Texas Food Bank, food distribution has grown 300% and the "ReThink Hunger" program has succeeded in providing more nutritious meals. We spoke recently about their $7 million goal, leadership and what it takes to provide 130,000 nutritious meal ... More >>

Feeding Is Believing

Restaurant Week is Growing in Popularity, Especially at Pappas Bros. and Al Biernat's

Organizers for KRLD Restaurant Week have announced the haul associated with last year's event: $695,000, raised for the North Texas Food Bank and the Lena Pope Home. The previous year brought in $605,000, as reported on City of Ate. Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, Al Biernat's and III Forks topped the li ... More >>

$1.7 Million in State Grant Available for Your Snazzy Squash Marketing Campaign Idea

The USDA has awarded the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) $1.7 million in federal funds for a Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP). Through February 23 of this year, the TDA is accepting proposals for the funding of projects designed to raise awareness and consumption of state specialty c ... More >>

At the Tomato Fight, Someone Should Have Chucked One at the Organizers

UPDATE: On November 29, the North Texas Food Bank received an $800 check from the organizers of Tomato Battle. More updated details are in Gubbins' article. Back in October we told you about the Tomato Battle, a new event that featured people throwing old tomatoes at each other. Seemed like the so ... More >>

Third Annual Taste of West Village Benefiting the North Texas Food Bank

​The West Village may seem more crowded than usual tonight, but before getting too upset about the traffic and cursing the fact that you have to park on the roof of the parking garage, rest assured that all the commotion is for a good cause. The neighborhood is hosting its third annual Taste of We ... More >>

Mayoral Candidates Address Issues of Hunger

Forthcoming in moments, Sam's recap of this morning's ballot-place-picking procedure at Dallas City Hall. But two days ago we listened in as the four candidates for Dallas mayor -- Mike Rawlings and David Kunkle especially -- debated the root cause of domestic violence at the North Texas Food Bank's ... More >>

Rawlings, Kunkle Dispute Cause of Domestic Violence During Food Bank Debate

Okpa, Kunkle, Natinsky and Rawlings at North Texas Food Bank debate this morning​There was a rather interesting exchange between mayoral candidates Mike Rawlings and David Kunkle at this morning's mayoral debate at the North Texas Food Bank. And it began with a question posed to all four candidate ... More >>

Dallas-FW, Briefly a Top-Five Contender in $1.5-Mil Food Bank Challenge, Is Falling Fast

​Two weeks ago today, Mayors Tom Leppert, Mike Moncrief and Robert Cluck asked locals to "like" Walmart's Fighting Hunger Together campaign, which is doling out $1.5 million to food banks nationwide -- $1 million to the top Facebook vote-getter, and $100,000 each to the next five highest-ranking c ... More >>

Tonight: Rock Out for the North Texas Food Bank

​Instead of watching 30 Rock in your pajamas tonight, go rock out for a good cause. Rock 'n' Taco is hosting Rock'n Out Hunger, a night of food, fashion, and music that benefits the North Texas Food Bank. There will be drink and food specials all night, plus music from Hair Ballad All-Stars and ... More >>

Dallas, FW and Arlington Mayors Ask Locals to "Like" Food Bank Campaign, Lest Area Lose Out

​Meant to get to this a few days ago, when a Friend of Unfair Park directed our attention to Walmart's Fighting Hunger Together website. Long story short: Walmart, in conjunction with the Food Research and Action Center, is doling out $1.5 million to food banks nationwide. But it's handing out the ... More >>

This Holiday Be Good, Be Full, Be Timely

​Lest we forget our fellow man in the flurry of cookie baking and online shopping, here are a few goings-on in Dallas to tickle your good-will lobe. The Thing: Deep Ellum Outdoor Market The Cause: Local artists, crafters and businesses The Deep Ellum Outdoor Market is setting up shop this Sat ... More >>

Walmart Needs Friends. Hungry Need Food. So...

​With 22 days left for online voting, Dallas is trailing the leader in a Walmart-sponsored contest for food bank funding by more than 11,000 votes. Walmart's "Fighting Hunger Together" program pits the nation's 100 metropolitan areas with the highest rates of food hardship against one another ... More >>

Sadler's Smokhouse Donates 6.5 Tons of Meat
To North Texas Food Bank

​Sadler's Smokehouse this week donated 13,000 pounds of pit-smoked brisket, ribs, pork and chicken to the North Texas Food Bank, a gift that poses a holiday cooking quandary for recipients: Just how do you build a Thanksgiving celebration around a nontraditional protein? According to Katherin ... More >>

North Texas Food Bank's Text Donation Program Falters

​Mobile giving, which was touted in the wake of the Haiti earthquake earlier this year as a high-tech way of invigorating philanthropy, hasn't panned out for the North Texas Food Bank. The hunger relief organization rolled out its text-to-give program this month, and has thus far collected on ... More >>

Charitable Eating: Enjoy a Guilt-Free Thanksgiving

​If you're feeling a little guilty that your Thanksgiving is going to feature three turkeys, 27 different sides and the Mississippi River's worth of wine while others go without, relax. Dallas has plenty of charitable eating options coming up this month. The place: Smashburger The cause: Salv ... More >>

High Turkey Prices Won't Keep North Texas Food Bank from Giving Away Birds

​The North Texas Food Bank won't face the same turkey shortages plaguing food pantries in West Texas. As KOSA-TV reported this morning, the West Texas Food Bank is scrapping turkey distribution for the first time in a decade, citing the high cost of turkey meat. Inflation and a poor harvest o ... More >>

North Texas Food Bank Sets State Fair Record

Tallies of how much food was consumed at the State Fair of Texas this year aren't yet available, but the amount of food donated was record-setting. ​The North Texas Food Bank this morning announced its haul over a series of collection Wednesdays came to 177,558 pounds, breaking the previous r ... More >>

North Texas Food Bank Looks to Set Can Collection Record

The North Texas Food Bank is on track to set a record for most cans collected during the State Fair of Texas. Canstruction 2010​Today's the third "It's a Fair Deal" Wednesday, on which three canned food items are redeemable for $2 admission. The food bank's haul last week was a record-breaking 64 ... More >>

There Is Strength In Flavors

Food Bank CEO Says Hunger Report Reveals Chasm Between "The Two Dallases"

​Food-relief agencies across the country spent the better part of today poring over documents that tell them what they already know and have known for months, if not longer: There are more people going hungry in this country than there were in 2006, the last time Feeding America commissioned a Hun ... More >>

Bowl Game

One Wise Week

Another Unfair Park Auction for the North Texas Food Bank: A Very Special Rockers vs Mods Hardcover Coffee-Table Book!

Danny Hurley made three hardcover books featuring Rockers vs. Mods photos. One of them can be yours.​Good Friend of Unfair Park Bill Holston just returned from a tour of the North Texas Food Bank's operations in advance of a KERA-FM (90.1) commentary he's writing for broadcast next week. He sends ... More >>

Happy Turkey Day

Pints And Cans

The New Faces of Hunger in North Texas

​When the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a report earlier this week that placed Texas second only to Mississippi when it comes to the swelling ranks of hungry residents, Jan Pruitt wasn't surprised. After all, the president and CEO of the North Texas Food Bank had just released her own da ... More >>

Can It

Saturday, In Nokia

Not Taking The Cake

Patrick MichelsThe 33 KDAF's Rebecca Miller dresses up her cake.In a scandal very much like the one where French and Russian figure skating judges fixed Olympics results, I was robbed this morning of a cake decorating crown that was--by at least one account--rightfully mine.But first, the important ... More >>

In Dallas, a Rise in Homelessness and Hunger Due to "Bleak" Economy

This morning, outside a rescue mission in Miami, the U.S. Conference of Mayors released a study concerning homelessness and hunger in 25 major cities, with Dallas among those participating in the survey. The section dealing specifically with the city can be found on Page 30 of the 85-page report, bu ... More >>

Are You Still Celebrating the Willenium? Then Are You Ever in Luck, Dallas!

After the jump, the complete details on how to meetlook at Will Smith on Tuesday, when the formerly Fresh Prince comes to Dallas to not only sneak his latest feelgood redemption story, Seven Pounds, but to help fill the North Texas Food Bank's pantry before Thanksgiving. The trailer's also after ... More >>

One Out of Four Texas Children Goes Hungry At Some Point During the Year

Charity Spaghetti

Donate pasta at Ferré

Soup's On

Empty Bowls takes an artful approach

A Feel-Good Follow to a Feel-Good Story

From the Ground Up

Central Dallas Ministries helps the poor find their own bootstraps

Got Henna?

Southwest: They Do PR Wright

Dang, some good news

Generosity warms Buzz's cold heart

Feed the Need

What is soup kitchen food like?

Best Depressing Scene

Park Avenue

Green Giant

Nobel laureate Norman Borlaug is credited with saving the lives of 1 billion people. So why is a small cadre of activists bent on tarnishing his legacy?

Hunger Strike

Can a non-9/11 benefit album make any noise?

Best Late-night Restaurant

Cuba Libre