Food Porn for a Cause

by Rachel Nash Perlow

A little while ago, one of OTB’s friends in BBQ, Rob Wheaton, asked us to come and check out a catering gig he was doing. It was a fundraiser for his church’s mission for Habitat for Humanity.  A group from the Presbyterian Church of Chatham Township (NJ) is heading to South Dakota this summer to help make improvements at the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation. The theme for the dinner was Native American foods, and it featured buffalo and salmon, as well as “fry bread.”

The Green Village Fire Department generously donated their building to host the event. What a bucolic setting. This is the view out the kitchen door.

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

Off The Broiler Supports Partners in Caring

The ShopRite organization recognized the pervasive problem of hunger experienced by so many people right in the neighborhoods served by their stores. It’s a problem that not only exists during the holiday season, when attention is focused on charitable giving, but it also exists throughout the year.

With the help of more than 50 manufacturers, the ShopRite Partners in Caring program is committed to helping to feed and meet the nutritional needs of families and the elderly who may otherwise go without. These generous companies are a major reason why ShopRite Partners In Caring has been such a success.

Off The Broiler is proud to be part of a network of regional food blogs which supports the efforts of ShopRite and the companies which support this critical charitable cause to fight hunger.

Today, the ShopRite Partners In Caring program supports 23 regional food banks and more than 1,400 charitable agencies with food or meal components. With a $2 million annual donation, more than $20 million has been donated since 1999 in the fight against hunger.

How It Works

Companies that have joined ShopRite in the fight against hunger are marked in stores with the ShopRite Partners In Caring shelf label. By choosing these products, ShopRite customers support manufacturers who contribute to the program.

Each of the 217 ShopRite stores in the six states that ShopRite serves (New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland) selects qualified local organizations to benefit from the program. These local food charities use their designated funds to acquire supplies at a food bank.

Every time a customer purchases products with the ShopRite Partners In Caring shelf tag, they support the brands that support the fight against hunger. At ShopRite, customers are not just filling a grocery bag; they are helping to fill empty bowls for thousands of hungry families in your community.

For more information on the ShopRite Partners in Caring Program, please visit:

Web Site: http://www.shopritepartnersincaring.org/

Community Food Bank of New Jersey Needs Your Help

More than 35 million Americans, including 12 million children, either live with or are on the verge of hunger. In New Jersey alone, an estimated 250,000 new clients will be seeking sustenance this year from the state’s food banks. But recently, as requests for food assistance have risen, food donations are on the decline, leaving food bank shelves almost empty and hungry families waiting for something to eat.

The situation is dire, no more so than at the Community FoodBank of New Jersey (CFBNJ), the largest food bank in the state, where requests for food have gone up 30 percent, but donations are down by 25 percent. Warehouse shelves that are typically stocked with food are bare and supplies have gotten so low that, for the first time in its 25 year history, the food bank is developing a rationing mechanism.

The situation at CFBNJ is dire. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.