Food First

Can we talk? We are the solution and no one else is coming behind us - it's up to us to solve food security in this state. 'The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.' - William James Tune to in tonight at 9 p.m. on WJR Radio or 760 AM to hear about how Joe Wald, executive director of the Greater Lansing Food Bank has lead a life legacy of helping the community. Phil...

'A good plan violently executed today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.' Hear from Susan Hawkins, Senior VP of Population Health at Henry Ford Health System. No leader has emerged quite like Susan as she is helping create a sustainable difference in the lives of people and that is powerful! Gleaners Community Food Bank and Henry Ford Health System recognized an opportunity to improve the hea...

Hear a fresh new perspective from Food Bank of South Central Michigan's new CEO, Peter Vogel. Peter is focusing on expanding and strengthening relationships with partnerships throughout the network. Phil and Gerry also discuss Feeding America's newest release of the Map the Meal Gap study - https://map.feedingamerica.org/. Although the overall food insecurity rate improved from 16% to 14%, 1 in 6...

Some problems are too important to ignore or pretend they don't exist and hunger at ALL ages is one of them. It takes courage to define reality and Dr. Keith Whitfield, provost at Wayne State University, is doing just that by changing the conversation about food insecurity across college campuses. Dr. Whitfield is using his one handful of life to provide the students on his campus the tools to suc...

"We cannot solve the problems with the same thinking we used to create them." - Albert Einstein Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Phil and Gerry address hunger and poverty as food insecurity has a cause and effect relationship with poverty. Did you know that 21% of ALL U.S. children are living at the poverty level? You have some people living in 3rd world living conditions in a first worl...

Leading an enterprise, organization, movement, team or group doesn't necessarily mean the leader has to have all of the best right answers to every challenge, problem, and circumstance. A leader must possess the ability to have the right answers. Hear Phil and Gerry delve into the WHAT questions. Most importantly - WHAT is food insecurity? Everyone suffers from hunger, but it can be fixed; food in...

Vision is simply an idea of a better tomorrow. Over the last 10 years, we've learned a lot and gotten more efficient at what and how we do this work. Phil and Gerry discuss the framework surrounding the Blueprint to Solve Hunger. Phil and Gerry take a look back at the shows that helped make them the recipients of the 2018 MAB - Michigan Association of Broadcasters Broadcast Excellence Awards. Did...

People are a community's most valuable asset - this kind of changes the view of our neighborhood. From our donors to our drivers, to our volunteers to our warehouse workers, from our board members to the farmers that support our work, from the client who needs our help for a little while, or to the individual who needs us for a while longer. They are ALL worthy of investment! Hear Phil and Gerry d...

Tested leaders LEAD and don't shrink in the midst of crisis, who are steady influencers for good and work to create positive change. Phil and Gerry take a look back at the shows that helped make them the recipients of the 2018 MAB - Michigan Association of Broadcasters Broadcast Excellence Awards. During the 2018 Mackinac Policy Conference, Phil and Gerry had the pleasure of interviewing Congressm...

"Anyone can count the number of seeds in an apple, but who among us can count the number of apples in a seed?" Food for Thought engages leaders from as many sectors as we can because all leaders will benefit from helping solve this problem. Because of all of the influential guests and our wonderful listeners who continue to move us onward and upward have made Food for Thought an award-winning show...

When something works well, it's the easiest thing to take for granted. The partial government shutdown was a $1.1 trillion appropriation, yet they were arguing (and, still are) about $5.7 billion. Hear from Geoff Plague, Director of Tax and Public Policy of Feeding America. Geoff puts the shutdown into perspective on how it effects people's lives, the economy and the treacherous ripple effect it h...

'We cannot solve the problems with the same thinking we used to create them.' - Albert Einstein Phil, Gerry and Kirk Mayes discuss the impact of food waste and the transformation Forgotten Harvest is making. Kirk Mayes is a leader, influencer and CEO and President of Forgotten Harvest. Forgotten Harvest is a unique member of our 7 food bank network - they are a food rescue. Some 30 years ago, Forg...

Food waste is an often overlooked issue that has implications for food access and security - it takes months to produce, but we can waste it an instant. Hear from the influential and knowledgeable, Sheril Kirshenbaum, Host of Food at MSU. Sheril, Phil and Gerry discuss the newest findings of the MSU Food Literacy and Engagement Poll: Wave IV (https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/msu-food-literacy-and-eng...

'A small group of people can change the world - indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.' - Margaret Mead Tune in to hear from Sharon Toth, CEO of Milk Means More and Kara Ross, President and CEO of Food Bank of Eastern Michigan on how they are choosing to use their one handful of life. Kara and Sharon discuss the large impact that milk played during the Flint Water Crisis by being a significant...

Have you noticed that doing nothing worth doing is easy? The more meaningful the dream/vision, the longer and harder it takes. We often get asked 'why do you think food security is solvable and/or why isn't it fixed yet?' We understand that maximizing one's potential outside of a food secure environment is at best challenging and in many instances - impossible! Tune in to hear from Phil and Gerry...

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." - Albert Einstein We believe that food security can be solved by knowing who's hungry and where they're living. The mad reality that a zip code is a predictor of success is the driving force behind the Opportunity Index. The Opportunity Index is a web-based annual composite measurement of economic, education...

"I do not waste any time. If you're not working on important things, then you are wasting your time." - Dean Kamen Hear how newly elect State Representative Angela Witwer and Rob Collier, Consultant and Senior Advisor to the President of Council of Michigan Foundations are combating the senselessness of hunger fueled by waste. House Bill 4038 is Representative Witwer's first bill to co-sign - it e...

As the famous saying goes - teamwork makes the dream work. As the partial government shutdown challenge escalates, the need for teamwork elevates. Hear from Phil, Gerry and Kate Leone, Chief Government Relations Officer with Feeding America. Kate is standing in the gap for all of the people we serve and provides an eye-opening perspective as to how this shutdown affects EVERYONE. With this being t...

Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future. - JFK The government shutdowns are a clear result of poor leadership on both sides - with this being the 3rd time during this presidency, who’s to say it won't happen again? Hear from Phil, Gerry and Diane Golzynsk...

"Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible and before you know it, you will be doing the impossible." St. Francis Hear from Dawn Opel, Assistant Professor at Michigan State University. Dawn is one of those people that makes you feel passionate about whatever she is talking about - she is beyond brilliant and we are so thankful she is walking alongside us! Dawn, Phil and Gerry delve c...

Opportunity knocks once, but temptation bangs on your door for years. Tune in to hear Phil and Gerry discuss federal and state programs (Farm Bill, Trade Mitigation and evidence-based process) and how they affect the food bank network. We as leaders must see before, beyond and better than anyone else.

In 2050, there are going to be 9-10 billion people living on this planet - there will be less land available and climate change will become even more pronounced. How are we going to feed everyone? Hear from Sheril Kirshenbaum, Academic Specialist and Host of Our Table with Food at MSU as well as host of Serving of Science on NPR Podcast. Sheril, Phil and Gerry discuss how policy-making should be S...

The condition in which people live, learn, work and play effect a wide-range of health risks and outcomes. Did you know that healthcare is 1/5 of the economy? DHHS spends over $1trillion/year on healthcare for seniors and low income people through Medicare and Medicaid. Let's put FOOD FIRST and try to spend better. Hear from Michelle Marshall, VP of Social Determinants of Health at Solera Network....

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. We have two strong links that are standing in the gap for others on this week's show - Governor Elect Gretchen Whitmer and Duane Berger, Director of Business and Innovation at Kinexus. Gretchen's segment was recorded before the primary's and she was already determined get behind the mission of creating a food secure state. Recently she released her He...

It takes courage to define reality and Dr. Fritz Erikson, president of Northern Michigan University, and Nicole Edmonds, Director of MSU Student Food Bank, do just that by changing the conversation around food insecurity across college campuses.