BLACKSBURG – How can we ensure food security in the New River Valley?
The Common Ingredient NRV (TCI-NRV), a digital recipe-sharing website (thecommoningredientnrv.com) and advocate for food security, will propose some ideas on Tuesday, April 11, 7 p.m. at the Blacksburg Library.
TCI-NRV is new to the area and a chapter of The Common Ingredient of Columbia, Missouri. TCI-NRV and its partner, the Blacksburg Library, will launch its inaugural community-action program with a panel discussion about hunger in the NRV. How do we tackle this insidious problem?
Anne Deaton, a founding member of NRV-TCI, offers this answer.
“I’m sure people wonder what a digital recipe-sharing website and a program about ending hunger may have in common,” she said. “What is the common ingredient? Love. Love for the centrality of food in our lives and love for our neighbors.”
“According to Feeding Southwest Virginia, 1 in 8 people who live in Southwest Virginia suffer from hunger,” she continued. “TCI-NRV and the Blacksburg Library have invited professionals with expertise in this area to discuss hunger in the NRV and what we can do about it.”
Four professionals with four recipes to foster food security in our valley.
Nina Mukerjee Furstenau, renowned food journalist, cookbook and culinary textbook author, is a founding member of The Common Ingredient (TCI) Columbia, Missouri. Nina will share how a group of women concerned about COVID’s effect on food security created a unique recipe to raise awareness of hunger in their community through a digital recipe exchange.
John Galbraith, Virginia Tech professor and founding member of The Glean Team, has a special recipe for fostering food security in the NRV. He will discuss The Glean Team, the bi-annual Potato Drop, and the many organizations that feed our neighbors in need.
Isabelle Largen, Assistant Director for Food Access Initiatives, Virginia Tech, will share VT’s recipe to ensure that university students are food secure.
Meredith Miear, a local high school librarian, has several innovative recipes for engaging young people in the fight to end hunger.
How can the public help?
- Attend the panel discussion and learn how you can be a part of ensuring food security in our hometowns.
- Bring your favorite recipes for our database. The more delicious recipes we have, the more people we attract to our website who will see how they can fight hunger in the NRV.
- Bring canned goods for the food pantries we highlight on our website: Beans and Rice (Radford), Interfaith Food Pantry (Blacksburg), and Agape (Christiansburg).
Submitted by the Montgomery County Regional Library