A month of daily posting is finally over. What a relief. I haven’t felt that kind of daily blogging pressure since I ate school lunch every day. I don’t like how it feels knowing I *have* to put something out there, but I think that my content this month was actually half-decent.

I went a new direction and started sharing photos of Chicago. My rationale? I have been anonymous for so long that I wanted to ground myself and the blog in space and time. I’m a real person, I live here, and I enjoy it immensely. Also, I think it’s important to think beyond the main reason why I’m advocating for school lunch reform. Of course it’s because of the children, but it’s also about doing right by our communities, which we know and love.

Takeaways from a month of daily blogging:

1) Throwing together a blog post and not stressing over it. Sometimes I revise posts too much and overthink them. Moving quickly can be risky, but there’s a certain freedom to a brief post. Just do it.

2) Doing a series. Most of you know that I will often say I am going to do a series of posts on something and then I have trouble following through. Part of that is a time issue, but other times I lose momentum. I stayed the course with my Cooking up Change posts, the Chicago photos, and my posts about Feeding America.

3) Enjoying the blog. I like blogging because it’s really fun to connect with you. I read (and cherish) your comments, but I haven’t had time to respond to them as I always want to. Thanks for reading.

Going forward I want to do more blog posts in a series. I have some fun ideas, but it’s a matter of time and execution as usual. Please tell me what you like to read and what you want to see more of!

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What I’m reading in the news:

Waiting for midnight, hungry families on food stamps give Walmart “enormous spike” (MSNBC)

Lines Grow Long for Free School Meals, Thanks to Econ0my (NYT)

Rising child poverty rates could be a ‘taste’ of what’s ahead (CSMonitor)

A second chance for faulty food? The FDA calls it ‘reconditioning’ (MSNBC)

A Family’s Billions, Artfully Sheltered (NYT)

In Wisconsin, Supper Clubs Open to All (NYT) — My “hometown” (it’s where I went to high school and home to many good memories) of Rhinelander Wisconsin got a mention!! Holy cow, Rhinelander must be moving up in the world. I’d like to add something to the article though — the only thing better than going to a supper club is going there in a snowsuit in the dark via snowmobile in the freezing cold and getting a nice hot drink. Those are magical, frosty nights.