This week, Food Bank CEO Margarette Purvis talked about our city's childhood obesity problem in the Huffington Post, census data showed a record high percentage of Americans are now living in poverty, and President Obama continues to strategize passing his jobs proposals — all while the deficit “supercommittee” in Washington attempts to resolve our nation’s budget deficit. Under the threat of federal funding cuts, local organizations like Food Bank network member Project Hospitality in Staten Island are already struggling to keep pantry shelves full for neighbors in need. One bright spot, however: nutrition education programs like the Food Bank’s CookShop are empowering low-income children and families in New York City to make healthy food choices.

Beyond the Grocery Store...Teaching Children Where Their Food Comes From, The Huffington Post, 11/1
It's no secret that New York City has a major problem with childhood obesity. On the national stage, Michelle Obama's Let's Move initiative, Rachael Ray's Yum-o! and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation are all shining a light on the nation's alarmingly high rates of childhood obesity while advocating for nutrition education as a way to empowering kids to make healthier choices. And right here in New York City, nutrition education programs like the Food Bank's CookShop and Hunger Solutions New York are taking the fight locally.

Poorest poor in US hits new record: 1 in 15 people, Associated Press, 11/3
The ranks of America's poorest poor have climbed to a record high — 1 in 15 people — spread widely across metropolitan areas as the housing bust pushed many inner-city poor into suburbs and other outlying places and shriveled jobs and income. New census data paint a stark portrait of the nation's haves and have-nots at a time when unemployment remains persistently high.

Deficit Committee Could Seek More Time, a Top Democrat Says, The New York Times, 11/2
A top House Democrat said Wednesday that a bipartisan committee seeking ways to slash the budget deficit could seek an extension if it was unable to meet its deadline, just three weeks away.
With no visible signs of progress, 6 of the 12 committee members have begun meeting privately in hopes of overcoming what appears to be the biggest obstacle to agreement: a deadlock over whether tax increases should be part of a deficit-reduction deal.

Obama, Top Democrats Meet to Plot Jobs Strategy, Reuters, 11/1
President Barack Obama will meet top Democrats from the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday to plot strategy on how to advance his jobs proposals that are stalled in Congress amid Republican resistance. The White House talks follow a series of unilateral steps by Obama over the past week aimed at seizing the initiative from his Republican foes and showing voters he is serious about tackling high unemployment and a sluggish economy.

The cupboard is bare at Staten Island's food pantries, Staten Island Live, 11/4
Indeed, there is a crisis at the Project Hospitality Food Pantry, at its main location on Bay Street and the 21 mobile food pantries in churches and other sites the not-for-profit serves in every part of the borough: Donations from food drives and private individuals that usually pour in at this time of year have virtually dried up. Add in cuts in the federal, state and city food assistance programs serving the hungry and the result is chilling insecurity for the borough's thousands of hungry families.