Sunday, October 19, 2014

Hunger In America 2014 Maine Summary Available!


We've been anxious to share the results of the Hunger in Action 2014 study that was conducted in our partners' emergency feeding programs in spring and summer 2013!  Thank you to all who contributed by taking the agency questionnaire and/or hosting our Hunger Study Coordinator and volunteers at your site to speak with and survey patrons. All that data collection resulted in the most comprehensive study of emergency food programs across the nation and across the state since 2010!
Hunger in Maine 2014 is available for you to share with volunteers, donors, congregations, whoever is a supporter of your program or who needs to better understand the work you do.
Interested in the national Hunger in America 2014 study?  You can view or download it at this link.

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Food Recall Notification

California Olive And Vine Announces The
Voluntary Recall Of Pumpkin Seed Pesto

California Olive and Vine, LLC of Sutter, CA is taking precautionary measures and voluntarily recalling Pumpkin Seed Pesto because of irregular lab results. The company found that the jarred pesto may have been improperly processed, making it susceptible to contamination with Clostridium botulinum
This food product was distributed under the Williams-Sonoma label, nationwide, since September 2014. The product labels have the following SKU numbers 6404305, 6389043 and is sold in an 8 ounce glass jar, as pictured below. The company has made the deliberate decision to recall this product to ensure the safety of their customers. The company has not been notified of any illness associated with this product.

No other products from this company are affected.

Ingestion of botulism toxin may lead to serious illness and death. To date, there have been no reports of any illnesses or contamination of the product.

Symptoms from Botulism are as follows: general weakness, dizziness, double vision and trouble with speaking or swallowing. Difficulty in breathing, weakness of other muscles, abdominal distention and constipation may also be common symptoms. People experiencing these problems should seek immediate medical attention.

Consumers are warned not to use the product even if it does not look or smell spoiled. 


It is very unlikely that any of this product came through Good Shepherd Food Bank, but you may receive it in a donation.  Please post this notification near where your program volunteers will see it.

For full details of the recall, visit the FDA website at this link.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Holiday Food is on Its Way!

Holiday side dishes have been ordered and are making their way into our inventory!

Please be watching email this week for your program's allocation.  Read the email carefully; you will need to let us know how much of the product you want to have, and it will have other instructions as well. (Yes, we had hoped to have you be able to go online and order the product directly, but our allocation module will not be available in time.  Rather than have this very important product be a guinea pig for the allocation process, we will conduct this distribution as we did last year, by email.)

We will offer 5 side dish items to Food Pantry programs at a reduced price of 50%. This year we ordered Green Beans, Baking Mix, Stuffing, Instant Potatoes, and Peaches.  We eliminated Gravy from the list, so we were able to buy more of each of these items to help supplement what you may be able to receive through donations.

More news coming this week!


GSFB Network is a blog for partner agencies of Good Shepherd Food Bank focused on feeding Maine's hungry.