Temple Adat Elohim

Holiday dinner at Thousands Oaks High School

When things seem impossibly dark and sad, it's nice to be reminded that there is still good in the world. As we noted already, there are ways in Los Angeles to help feed the hungry. One example takes place Christmas day, when, for the 18th year in a row, Temple Adat Elohim will be serving several hundred people a free community holiday dinner at Thousand Oaks High School.

"If you need a place to spend December 25th with good food, music, laughter and a chance to make new friends, we have the perfect place for you. It's completely free and you're already invited," says a widely distributed flyer.

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Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum

There are so many worthy ways to give back this time of year. You can attend a fundraising event, donate food or write a check to help the less fortunate. All of which are needed and appreciated by the charities that depend on your generosity. But in case you need some inspiration, we came up with a few other ways that you can contribute. Because although the regional food pantries are always grateful for donations and help with distributing food, there are plenty of other ways to help. Turn the page for 5 Ways to Help Feed People This Holiday Season, in no particular order.

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foodday.org

Hooray! Today is National Food Day! A day that we all celebrate ... food! Right?

OK, OK, hold up. Really? National Food Day? Is this like, the all-encompassing version of National Hot Dog Day and National Ice Cream Day and all those other days that were dreamt up by some evil blonde marketing executive in some tastefully-designed office somewhere? Where anyone selling food can claim, "It's National Food Day! Come buy my ... food!!!"

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Steve Johnson

Stamp Out Hunger

Update: 5/14 3:52 p.m. Did opportunistic thieves help themselves to some of the Stamp Out Hunger donations in Los Angeles? Unfortunately, yes. There were isolated reports on Saturday of unofficial vehicles driving down streets and taking off with the food bags, which were intended to be donations for the National Association of Letter Carriers' annual food drive.

"It's sad to think that someone would even do that, but that's the world in which we live," says Richard Maher, Los Angeles spokesman for the Postal Service. "It's not that much ... but we have had some instances of theft."

There are two ways to view this kind of thievery: that the crooks were creeps trying to get some free Cheerios. Or, the nicer but sadder interpretation is that the people who took the food were poor and hungry, a reality in Los Angeles and across the United States. (Which, of course, is why Stamp Out Hunger exists.)

"That's what I like to think, that maybe somebody really needed it for their family," Maher says. "It's too bad that they don't go through the proper channels, because that food goes right to the food bank in a local community."

Original post, published 5/11: If you normally regard your mailbox as a receptacle for bills, this Saturday you can consider it a force for good, helping to feed hungry people throughout Los Angeles. May 12 marks the return of the letter carriers' Stamp Out Hunger food drive, a nationwide effort to stock the pantries of food banks, which continue to experience high demand by Americans needing help feeding their families.

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Jewish Federation

the 2011 Community Service Day

If arts and crafts with Bubbe isn't your thing, maybe you'd like to help plant a Food Forest in Studio City. Or you can dig in the dirt with the Florence Firestone Community Gardeners. Or if you want to get in on some kitchen action while making new friends, then go to Ronald McDonald House and help cook a truly happy meal. The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles has a menu of volunteer opportunities this Sunday, March 25, for its Community Service Day.

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Follow Evan on Twitter @evankleiman and read her KCRW blog Good Food.

United Nations

Children in Cité Soleil, Haiti receive meals

On Saturday, the U.S. Department of State released a fact sheet on the work they have been doing to improve food security in Haiti following the devastating earthquake in January of 2010. While there is still incredibly depressing news being released since the disaster, there are some positive elements coming out in regard to food security, thanks to the work of USAID.

Prior to the earthquake, according to the report, eighty percent of the Haitian population was already below the poverty line, and one in every four children was, "chronically undernourished." And though the majority of Haitians were working in agriculture, more than half of the food consumed in Haiti still had to be imported.

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Flickr user istorija

The equivalent of a lot of marijuana

Remember "toys for guns?" Well how about "joints for food?" The Associated Press reports that a medical marijuana dispensary in Santa Cruz County, CA has found a unique way to rake in canned food donations for the holidays -- by giving away their primary commodity. The Granny Purps dispensary in Soquel has been handing out a free marijuana cigarette for every four cans of food donated by its patients. Each patient was limited to three cigarettes per day.

The promotion took place between November and Christmas Eve, and during that time, Granny Purps acquired 11,000 pounds of canned food -- despite having a mere eight employees. They gave away 2,000 cigarettes, and all of the food was donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank.

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N. Galuten

Chili cheese dog

Yes, we are a big country with many different people -- but there is something wrong when we are both fat and hungry. CNN is citing a federal report telling us that U.S. hunger levels continue to be at a 15-year high. Why 15 years? Because that's as long as the Department of Agriculture has been tracking it.

Because of a lack of resources, around 14.7 percent of American households were referred to as "food insecure" in 2009. That means that 17.4 million households had trouble feeding at least one member of their group. Of that group, over a third were listed as having "very low food security." That's 6.8 million households.

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Taste of the Nation Los Angeles had its annual event yesterday at the Culver City Media Park, and as usual, there was a lot of good food and drink. All ticket sales, as well as money received from charitable donations and the silent auction, went directly toward fighting childhood hunger.

There were demonstrations and stage appearances from chefs like Michael Voltaggio, Ludovic Lefebvre, Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken, as well as a a huge selection of prizes available through auctions and raffle tickets. All told, it was a highly successful and well run event, with food lines never lasting longer than three or four minutes. Visit the Taste of the Nation website for more information about the cause, and take a look at our photo gallery after the jump.

N. Galuten

Bottega Louie's torchon foie gras with organic apple gastrique & marcona almond brittle

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This Sunday, February 28th, Tom Colicchio's Craft restaurant will be the location for a kickoff reception for the Hungry in America Project, a documentary from filmmakers Lori Silverbush and Kristi Jacobson that examines the issue of hunger in America. The event is hosted by Bryan Lourd and Colicchio, who is an executive producer of the Project and Silverbrush's husband. Mario Batali is also a producer of the film.

Hunger will not be a practical issue at the fundraiser, as guests will be served small plates from the Craft menu and dishes from guest chefs Nancy Silverton (Mozza), Suzanne Goin (Tavern, Lucques, AOC) and Michael Voltaggio (The Dining Room at the Langham).

Tickets to the event are $250, and VIP tickets will run you $1,000. The event is from 6 - 8 p.m., with the VIP reception starting an hour earlier. Tickets are available through the FEED Foundation website.