Menu for Hope VI - a call for participants
Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at 10:43PM 
I am proud to say that I am the Canadian host for this year's Menu for Hope, the annual campaign to raise funds in benefit of the United Nations World Food Programme and its Purchase for Progress initiative.
It's a simple idea with extraordinary results; from December 14-25, we will be holding a worldwide raffle full of amazing, wonderful, one-of-a-kind prizes related to food, travel and wine. Each $10 donated will count as a bid towards the prize of the donators choosing. The more you give, the move chances there is to win, with the proceedings going straight to the United Nations.
Easy peasy. But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, we need those prizes.
If you are a food blogger, a producer, an artisan with a food related work, a publisher or restauranteur, we are looking for your help. Please consider donating a prize to be put up for raffle, one that you believe would garner at least twenty bids at $10 each. We are relying on your help in making this year's campaign a success.
If you’d like to participate, please send your prize information (plus two images 75×75 thumbnail and 200×200px) to your local host so that they can give you a prize code (important!) and more instructions on what to do for the Menu for Hope launch.
Here are your local hosts for this year's Menu for Hope:
US: West Coast (If you are closer to SF than you are to NY then you belong here.)
Shauna of Gluten Free Girl and the Chef (glutenfreegirl[at]gmail[dot]com)
US: East Coast
Helen of Tartelette (mytartelette[at]gmail[dot]com)
Europe *and* the UK
David Lebovitz (david.lebovitz[at]yahoo[dot]com)
Canada
Tara of Seven Spoons (tara[at]sevenspoons[dot]net) - that's me!
Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand
Ed Charles of Tomato (gastrotom[at]gmail[dot]com)
Our special Wine Blog Host
Alder of Vinography (alder[at]vinography[dot]com)
Event Co-ordinator (lots more information here)
Chez Pim
For those unable to donate a prize, we still could use your help. Please consider passing on this information to anyone you might think interested, or spreading the word on our own site. Of course, you can also bid for prizes, so check back on December 10 for further details!
Help us help the World Food Programme end world hunger.
Note: Please check back often for further information on prizes, bidding and the campaign's progress. I'll also be elsewhere with updates.
announcement, campaign, charity, menu for hope 
Reader Comments (6)
It's a fabulous event and I had a great time coordinating Canadian entries three years ago. I'm hoping to put together a decent prize for this year's edition.
j
This is a fabulous event. Definitely want to hook in with Ed here in Australia to see how I can help!
I would encourage you to investigate the "preventing hunger" efforts of the WFP. What crops are these "poor farmers" growing? Most likely it is chemical-intensive GMO crops like soybeans and corn - not diversified crops that actually feed his family. This is the newest effort by multi-national agribusiness to satisfy "first world" demand and pressures for cheap commodity crops.
The solution to preventing hunger is to empower local communities to feed themselves by growing a local economy, rather than being locked into servitude.
Sorry to rain on your party, but it is really upsetting when carefully crafted marketing wins out over the inconvenient truth. Read: http://www.grist.org/article/2009-11-24-africa-farmland-resource-curse/
Anonymous: well then I think "Purchase for Porgress is the right organization:
P4P enables smallholder and low-income farmers to supply food to WFP’s global operation. P4P helps farmers improves farming practices and puts more cash directly into their pockets in return for their crops. This will also help local economy by creating jobs and income locally. More on P4P at http://www.wfp.org/purchase-progress
Thank you to Jasmine and Julia, I'll be sending out information shortly - I tell you how much your enthusiasm is appreciated.
Helen, glad to have you as a host and as a wingman. I think you've already answered the questions to the extent they require. Thanks for that.
Anonymous, Menu For Hope is a campaign to which we remain committed. Here's to another successful year.
I'm so sorry that I missed seeing this call for participants! I would definitely have come forward with a prize from our kitchen and/or sewing room. I'll have to make a point of looking for the Menu for Hope announcements next year!
-Elizabeth
P.S. Anonymous, if you have proof that the WFP's Purchase for Progress program is encouraging people to grow GMO crops, you should point to that, rather than a speculative rant.