Hannah Krause: Joining the Fight Against Food Insecurity
BY STEVE DINNEN
One in seven Iowans face food insecurity, according to Feeding America. As the demand for adequate, nutritious food continues to grow, food banks and pantries across the state are doing what they can to erase the deficit. A major player here is the Food Bank of Iowa, which serves as a sort of wholesaler of food, buying or collecting it from a variety of sources and then shipping it to 700 partners in 55 counties in Iowa. Two hundred partners are in Polk County alone, and all told the Food Bank handles 1.5 million pounds of meat and potatoes, and fruit and vegetables, each month. “It’s a sizable operation,” said Hannah Krause (pictured), chair of the Des Moines-based organization. And it’s about to get bigger, as the Food Bank has launched an $11 million capital campaign that will fund an expansion of its warehouse and distribution facility. The first expansion since the 1990s will add 30,000 square feet of food-gathering space, including freezers. The Food Bank intends to go public with the capital campaign within weeks to coincide with their 40th anniversary. Already they have raised about half of their needed money, and Hannah Krause, owner of Eden, and her husband, Tanner Krause, CEO of Kum &Go, are lead donors. “I’m happy to do this,” Hannah Krause said of the time, talent and money she has invested into the Food Bank. She has long had an affinity for food—her sister is a chef, and she is a former media buyer for Food and Wine magazine. Now she sees it from a slightly different perspective—as a way to support people with one of the basics of life. Krause’s involvement with the Food Bank began with a chance encounter at a gym with Michelle Book, the organization's president and CEO. She joined the board, rose through the ranks to board chair, and now is leading the capital campaign. In an act of leading by doing, Krause said her gift is meant to inspire others, to let them know they are privileged to have access to food and that paybacks are welcomed. “That is a tremendous responsibility,” she said, “to help these people who go without.”
European Countries Ease or Eliminate COVID Restrictions
BY STEVE DINNEN After a scorching summer roasted much of Europe, the onset of fall and cooler weather might make for a more comfortable travel time to Europe. From a public health perspective, travel and accommodation restrictions brought about because of COVID have largely fallen by the wayside. Restaurant and bar hours appear to have returned to normal. Perhaps the seating is a little more spaced, though I didn’t see any uniform adherence to it in a just-concluded swing through France, Greece, Poland and Spain. Mandatory mask requirements were few, limited to public transit in Paris and Barcelona and one regional airline flight into Spain. Make sure you take masks with you, as European businesses don’t seem to hand them out readily. I also brought along my COVID vaccination card, ready to show off to anyone who cared to inquire. None did. Nor did anyone want to see proof of a negative test, which you previously needed to hop on a plane. The U.S. government dropped its requirement for returning passengers as summer travel heated up. (In two years I have had eight such tests. Results have always been presented using a QR Code; not a single person bothered to actually scan that code to view the test results.) As COVID testing died, the plastic shield industry rose on its ashes. Barriers between you and a hotel or restaurant or retail worker are now universal reminders of the pandemic.
How to Reduce the Sting If You've Lost Big in Crypto
BY JEANNE SAHADI FOR CNN It’s been a tough year for crypto investors as they’ve watched the price of their digital assets plummet. Bitcoin, for example, is trading about 65% off its all-time high, which it hit only nine months ago.
If you bought a cryptocurrency when it was on the rise and sold your holding this year—or are considering doing so—there are at least a couple of ways you may be able to reduce the sting of your loss. READ MORE.
Popular Finance Books vs. Academic Economists
BY GREG ROSALSKY FOR NPR
Managing your money is obviously an important part of being a responsible adult. But how should you do that? It turns out that there's a large gulf between the advice given by the authors of popular finance books and academic economists.
In a new study titled "Popular Personal Financial Advice versus the Professors," the Yale financial economist James Choi rummages through 50 of the most popular books on personal finance to see how their tips square with traditional economic thinking. It's like a cage match: Finance thinkfluencers vs economists dueling over what you should do with your money.
And, yes, Choi is an economist, but he may be a more impartial referee of this smackdown than you'd think. That's because he's a behavioral economist who doesn't swallow the canon of old-school economics hook, line and sinker. Traditional economic models portray humans as hyper-rational, disciplined creatures, who always make optimal financial choices for themselves. Behavioral economics, which has pretty much taken over the field, emphasizes that people are quirky, often irrational and prone to errors. READ MORE.
