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I'm Cally Crossley and this is the Cali costly show. Today President Obama signed the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act which puts four and a half million dollars in the hands of child nutrition programs. And what this means is healthier breakfast and school lunch programs. This hour we'll look at hunger and nutrition through a local lens with widespread unemployment and rising poverty that many people are cutting corners in the kitchen which means smaller portions fewer meals and sometimes going without. In the land of supersize plenty. How has it come to this and how do we reconcile the hunger epidemic in a nation where obesity rates are on the rise. We'll look at what one food bank in Rhode Island is doing to make eating both affordable and healthy. From there it's local made good with jazz trumpeter Jason Palmer on his acting debut and a forthcoming film. Up next from tromping hunger to a trumpeters triumph. First the news. From NPR News in Washington I'm Lakshmi Singh in the first major legal defeat for the country's new health care law. A federal district court judge in

Virginia ruled today that Congress overstepped its constitutional authority in requiring most people to either get health care insurance or pay a penalty. NPR's Julie Rovner brings us the latest. Two other federal district court judges have already up held the constitutionality of the so-called individual mandate which is set to begin in the year 2014. But Judge Henry Hudson in Richmond ruled the requirement would quote invite unbridled exercise of federal police powers. On the other hand Hudson did not as the plaintiffs in the lawsuit asked strike down the entire health law. He only ruled that the provisions directly related to the insurance requirement must fall. Those include a ban on insurers discriminating against people with preexisting health conditions. The entire legal issue is one that will almost certainly be settled by the Supreme Court. Julie Rovner NPR News. Three military veterans discharged under the law that bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military are suing the government. They're fighting to be reinstated.

The lawsuit filed in San Francisco today also presses Congress to repeal the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy. Both a deal to extend tax cuts and President Obama's new willingness to compromise with Republicans are on the line today in a key Senate test vote. As NPR's David Welna tells us a super majority of 60 senators will be needed to move the deal forward. A two year extension of all the expiring Bush era tax cuts and a 13 month renewal of lapsed long term unemployment benefits are at the heart of the deal President Obama cut with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and today's procedural vote is on whether to bring that deal to a final vote in the Senate as early as tomorrow. Those several senators from both parties strongly oppose the deal. A super majority is expected to limit further debate. The biggest uncertainty for the deal's prospects lies in the house which would then take up the measure. House Democrats who still wield a sizable majority in the lame duck session may try to strip out a provision they consider too much of a giveaway on the estate tax and replace it

with one that takes a bigger fiscal bite out of large inheritances. David Welna NPR News the Capitol. Police are searching for trapped motorists in northwest Indiana where heavy snow has dreaded scores of vehicles. The LaPorte County Sheriff's Office says some people may have been stuck in freezing temperatures for as long as 12 hours. Report in Porter counties which have seen snow drifts up to six feet high are ordering people to stay off the roads. At last check on Wall Street the Dow Jones industrial average up forty five points at eleven thousand four hundred fifty five and trading of about 2 billion shares. The Nasdaq composite index up to a two thousand six thirty nine with the S&P 500 up 5 at twelve forty five. This is NPR News. Northwest Pakistan side of another deadly explosion authorities in the shower say a roadside bomb blew up in a busy section in the outskirts of Pakistan's northwestern city killing a young boy who is being dropped off in a school bus and a man in the

area from Islamabad NPR's Julie McCarthy reports militants in the Northwest have frequently attacked schools but normally when children are not there Authorities say the boss that was left windowless and blackened by fire was hit near a private school. The boss driver said he was in route to drop off the last two children when the explosion struck. The U.S. embassy issued a statement saying the deliberate targeting of innocent children is reprehensible. But whether children were the target is still not determined. Investigators are reported to be examining the possibility that the bomb may have missed its intended target. The city of the shower is the gateway to Pakistan's tribal areas where insurgency has embedded along the Afghan border. The city has been the scene of frequent attacks by the Taliban most often targeting government is still ations and security forces. In the past week more than 70 people have been killed in attacks in northwest Pakistan. Julie McCarthy NPR News Islamabad. NATO's says authorities have rounded up several suspects in connection with a

suicide attack that reportedly killed six American troops yesterday in southern Afghanistan. NATO has not officially identify the victim's nationality. The military alliance says a parked minibus packed with explosives was detonated at the entrance of a joint. NATO's Afghan base the assault was carried out days before the U.S. releases its review of its strategy in Afghanistan. I'm Lakshmi Singh NPR News Washington. Support for NPR comes from CSX whose trains move a ton of freight nearly 500 miles on one gallon of fuel to help reduce fuel consumption. CSX how tomorrow moves. Good afternoon I'm Kelly Crossley and this is the Calla Crossley Show this morning President Obama signed the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 which puts four and a half million dollars in the hands of child nutrition programs.

And basically what this means is healthier breakfasts and school lunch programs. This hour we're going to look at hunger and nutrition through a local lens with my guests Andrew shift CEO of the Rhode Island Community Food Bank and nutritionist Mary Flynn. She's a researcher at the Miriam Hospital in Providence. And on the faculty at Brown University. Welcome to you Mary and welcome back Andrew. Thank you Cali. Thanks for having me back on the show. Now before we dive into the conversation listeners we're taking your calls at 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70. That's 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70. Does the economic downturn have you turning to your local food pantry or relying on food stamps to get by. Is it hard for you to eat healthy on a shoestring budget. Give us a call at 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70. That's 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70. Andrew and Mary before we start looking at the latest

reports out of Rhode Island with regard to hunger. I wanted to get both of your responses to the signing of this Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act by President Obama which for our listeners sake means that one hundred fifteen thousand new students in school meal programs will be able to get that those school meal programs and it will allow for a serving of an additional 21 million meals annually to ask at risk children in afterschool programs. Andrew what can this mean to the whole hunger landscape. It's landmark legislation. It is going to improve nutrition requirements and standards for all school meals and make it easier for parents to sign their kids up for free school lunch and school breakfast without all the hassle that now exists. So more kids are going to participate and they're going to be getting healthier meals. Mary I think a lot of people don't understand that for many of these children this may be the only meal

they have of the day. Yeah that's correct and that's one thing I think that would be great about it if you can get a child to eat breakfast and then lunch. Of course learning becomes better you have less problems with behavior. Just all the way around especially as interest said if they're improving the nutritional component that's the biggest complaint I hear back is what are they giving for the kids for breakfast these donuts. But if they're going to change that that'll make a huge difference. All right this is by the way listeners is part and parcel of Michelle Obama's push for her Let's Move campaign in general. This is something that she really was pushing for so kudos for her to getting that through and now to the question at hand Andrew. Two reports have come out recently in Rhode Island looking meant that looking at hunger in the state one of them pretty bad and the other one suggesting that maybe there's a little bit of filling in the gap that can happen for the government. Now you've been here several times talking about how bad it is and how bad it's become particularly during this

recession. So my question to you is does this report say it's even worse now. It is things have gone from bad to worse mainly because of the deep deterioration in the job market particularly for low income folks. So we've seen as you said at the beginning of the show increases in poverty and increases in the prevalence of hunger that are frightening the Polevoy are now frightening to us because we're seeing so many more people coming for help. Listeners does this. Andrew Schiff who is the CEO of the Rhode Island Community Food Bank has just described is this describe your situation. We're at 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70 and Andrew I just want to follow up with you and say I think when people think about who's in the line at food banks they have maybe an old fashioned notion of who those people are can you describe for us who who who those people are.

But what we've seen in the last two years is first of all lots of new people people who have never needed food assistance before they never they've never needed any kind of assistance before. And also we're sending you seeing many more families with children so when you look at the adults standing in line at emergency food pantry four out of 10 are there because they need food for their children. I recently met a woman. Who is a mom of two teenage boys and she was describing to me how 18 months ago she was the manager at a manufacturing plant in Providence both she and her husband were in those management jobs and the plant closed. So here was a family where both adults lost their jobs the same day they went on unemployment benefits. But after a few months they couldn't pay the bills and they ran out of money for food. And she had to turn for help she went actually due to her local church and

found out that they had a food pantry there and got help there. And so she is sort of the typical example of folks these days she's new She never thought she was going to need food assistance she's a parent trying to feed these two hungry teenage boys and struggling. Mary and by the way listeners when you call in you do not have to give your name. We're interested in your stories about how the recession is affecting your ability to get food and to provide food for your family and again our number is 877 three a one eighty nine seventy married the second report that came out in Rhode Island looks at the Government Assistance Program this now calls snap but really what we know as food stamps and Andrews just made the point that many of the people in the line are there for their children. Tell us how important this is that there appears to be more access to these funds for a lot of folks. You know the problem there is that's where you really see what's called the hunger obesity paradox.

It's more likely afflicts the fixed sorry Flix the female because her concern is feeding her children if she doesn't have food for children it makes this whole spiral situation where for whatever reason she is over eating she becomes obese now you have medical issues. But if you can't feed the kids that's what we focus on our program is families mothers with kids. If you can't feed the kids that sets up for a whole host of problems particularly if they're young I'm moving them forward but then you have teenagers. Is this also it's a spinoff that come from that. Exactly. All right we're going to take a caller and again you don't have to give your name. Go ahead please. Hi Farai. I was calling. Because I definitely support my family based off of the truth camp and I just wanted to dispel the notion that people on food stamps can't be for healthy food because I give a lot of money and by you know buying salad ingredients making a salad and things like that are just I'm kind of put off by the notion that people can't afford healthy

should and for the more I'm a little worried that we need to educate people on the program them selected healthy food because even if it becomes out there I know a lot of food gets thrown away at every single lunch because they don't want to take the apples or the apples that it's going to eat it. So you know to look at food waste and barbecued but they don't want to keep healthy options even though they need to be there anymore. Well you have raised several points and one of the reasons that Mary Flynn is with us today is because she has put together a special program in Rhode Island that teaches people how to use the food in food pantries in a healthy way. Mary talk about that program if you would assure it. The program is called Raising the Bar nutrition and Andrew and I developed it together. It was based on word originally came from is my research interest at the hospital I work for. I put together a diet that's called a plant based olive oil diet and it's based on foods that the literature supports will improve your health. I've been working on the diet for a couple years before I

became came on the board of the food bank. And what I was finding was that the women when they were eating my diet compared to a lower fat diet they were saying vegetables tasted great. And they were never they had never spent so little on food. And I thought well this is an interesting combination so I went to Andrew and said Can I try to do this type of program at a food pantries. So I developed recipes that revolve around food pantry foods mostly canned shelf stable items recipes based on olive oil but not using poultry seafood or meat. Some dairy there is some cheese in the recipes but the most expensive part of most people's. Of course the bill is their meat and we collect gross receipts for this program and we our goal is to get people to eat the recipes three days a week. There's a cooking program a six weeks cooking program. Before that we collect just gross receipts for four weeks after that we collect gross receipts for six months. And we're so we're seeing these market market decreases and what they're spending on food. We asked them are used to saving more money on food or your food stamp

dollars lasting longer and to a almost to a person they're saying yes they're lasting longer but we're also able to show it. And what how they're spending their their money as a side effect of this. We only want to show if they could spend less on groceries extend their food dollars. They're also losing weight. They're buying less soda they're buying less desserts less snacks so it's had all these ramifications that weren't originally anticipated but all headed toward a healthier way. And Mary would you agree that with the caller that a lot of people just assume for a long time that there was no way that you could use the foods that were donated to a food pantry to to provide a healthy diet to make a healthy diet. That's correct and it does depend on the food pantry food pantries will give out what they are given and we have done a lot of work on trying to when we have food drives to change what people will give to the food pantries because I think people don't understand what they're giving we I mean cake mix isn't that useful but things that could produce a meal are more useful. So sometimes it's just very minor education to get people to donate what they can. We have done things

putting up recipes in the food pantries when this things like beans available to tell them how to make a vegetarian chili. How to use the food in a way that's healthy. Andrew what has that done for a lot of the people who have to frequent food banks as our caller has to. Has that drawn more people in in an effort because this is something that they they know they can do now. Absolutely. It has drawn more people in and one of the typical things that you hear is that people will have food stamp benefits now called SNAP benefits and still need to come to a food pantry because it's not enough. In Rhode Island right now the average benefit perhaps hold for SNAP is $275 which is a modest amount for a month. But it can mean the difference between being able to feed your family and going hungry and what Mary's program does is show folks how to stretch those SNAP benefits and provide the

healthiest meals to your family that are easy to prepare and delicious so the kids love it and want more. And it's makes it so that in American talk about in long term follow up we've found that people are keeping up the diet. Oh that's very important. Well we have lots more to talk about on this subject. You've touched on some of it. Educating those of us who may be able to be donors making the point about the link between obesity and poor communities and poor nutrition. We're talking about hunger and nutrition with a focus on Rhode Island. My guests are Andrew shift CEO of the Rhode Island Community Food Bank and nutritionist Mary Flynn. She's a researcher at the Miriam Hospital in Providence. And on the faculty at Brown University. When we come back from the break we're taking your calls. Listeners we want to hear from you. Is the economy affecting how you eat and where you get your food. Are you scamping on meals so your kids don't have to. That's 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70 8 7

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Coming up at 3 o'clock on eighty nine point seven W.. Boston's NPR station for news and culture. I'm Kalee Crossley and this is the Calla Crossley Show. If you're just tuning in we're talking about the hunger crisis in America and what initiatives are afoot to help people who rely on food stamps and food banks to eat healthy. I'm joined by Andrew Schiff CEO of the Rhode Island Community Food Bank and nutritionist Mary Flynn. She's a researcher at the Miriam Hospital in Providence. And on the faculty at Brown University. Listeners we want to hear how the economy is affecting how you stock your kitchen and what you eat. Are you relying on food pantries or food stamps. Does it cost too much to eat healthy. If so give us a call. Our guests can give you some suggestions. We're at 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70. That's 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70. And if you volunteer at a food pantry What are you saying. Andrew I want to ask you that question because you've talked about the people in the line not being

maybe what people have in mind. Lots of people with children particularly numbers of people who weren't there before. What has happened because we are in something of a recovery it's not a huge one but that's a little bit going on. But yet you're not saying that we're not seeing it. And at the food pantries in Rhode Island right now we're serving 55000 people a month and I say this in the context of a state with a million residents a little bit over a million residents. That's a 45 percent increase in the number of people coming for help in just the past two years. And what really worries us is so many of the people coming for help represent families with children. And we've even seen a great increase in children at soup kitchens these are programs that were never intended for families with children these were programs that are really intended for homeless adults. And it's a terrible thing for kids to be in those

programs. I'm glad they're getting a meal but when you go to a soup kitchen and you see them these kids look scared and hungry and you just wish that instead they were getting healthy meals at school which is part of what the today's legislation is going to make possible. You know I don't know that you if you if you have enough to eat that you understand what we're talking about so I'm going to ask you on a typical day or week for people who what the experts call food insecure meaning they cannot count on having food every day. They can't depend on it. What are we talking about. So this is a household where it starts off because there isn't enough money to pay the bills. The adults are trying to figure out how to pay for the heat. They're trying to figure out how to pay for clothes for the kids. Eventually as the month goes on with not enough money coming in they're cutting back on meals they're skipping meals.

Eventually they run out of food completely and experience hunger. And the USDA does a survey and we know from that survey that in Rhode Island close to 14 percent of all households are food insecure. OK we're going to take a call now Lisa from Quincy Go ahead please. Well yeah. Calling my home I have one and I live like a can of tuna fish a day between the two of us in order to feed our daughter and I really don't know what options are available to me because I looked into this and I've looked and wreck and stuff like that and I don't qualify for any of that because we make too much money but we still don't make enough money to feed our family. And always a good question the advice yes. How are you are you have the two know that you're feeding your kids and that's pretty much it. Now I have a kind of a time feeding myself by feeding her very well.

OK very good that's what you do. That's what a lot of people are doing as as Andrew and Mary have said. Andrew Mary is there any advice. This is very painful to hear. You know we. But this is what we hear all the time. There's such a gap between the benefits that are available which are just slightly The requirement is that your household income is just slightly above the poverty level. But the cost of living is so incredibly high in the northeast and Rhode Island that folks who are earning you know say twice the poverty level still can't afford to pay all their bills and end up in the situation where the adults are not able to eat enough and this is also I think a very common story that the adults the parents are taking the hit to protect their kids now is so is their only option a food pantry.

Is that the what you can do. I think you know just the little that I've heard yes I would absolutely urge. Finding a food pantry in the community and talking to folks there about work could help. OK Mary anything you want to add to that. Oh yes I would say if she has access to the Internet all the recipes for a program are on the Rhode Island Community Food Bank Internet. The average cost per serving is a dollar 12 for these meals so it's not a costly way to eat I think if people look at their budget where they're sent putting their money things like meat and dairy products. That's where a lot of the money is going in these recipes take that out. So it becomes a more economical way to eat. And we're getting great success with kids liking the recipes eating more vegetables parents reporting that back to us. I think it's the because of the use of olive oil which people think of as being expensive relative to vegetable oil. But if you do Price Per to postpone it's actually very economical and it's certainly more economical than including chicken seafood meat in the mail. OK. Lisa I hope that helps.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Now Mary let me go to you because the olive oil is the key as you said to so many of your recipes that make a difference and it could make a difference for our last caller. But you know that's not something typically I think people will give a food pantry so how do you begin to make it clear to donors that this is what would be helpful really helpful for the people who are coming to the pantries. Well when we promote the program will say these are the foods that they use to make these recipes. I do suggest that participants have to buy it themselves so they look for sales because you can get decent sales on extra virgin olive oil. The beauty of it is it has these health components to it. That's what I study. But it makes it does make vegetables taste a lot better than when they're not cooked in olive oil which I think is where we get we're seeing more vegetable consumption by kids in particular but also older people. But if you're using that if you do as I say if you do price per tablespoon the small bottle the 17 ounce one

has thirty two tablespoons a leader has sixty four tablespoons So that's why I say if you're using one or two tablespoons a day that's six there's no comparison to what you'd be spending for meat on that meal. So it's a transfer of calories to fat. The other advantages. A fat keeps you from getting home between the meals. So if you're adding olive oil to the meal people aren't hungry after the meal so I think snacking goes down they're more satisfied they can get to the next meal easier. One of the ironies about food shortages particular about people who are trying to put it all together don't have a lot of money for this is that the access to food that's available is usually the stuff that's so not good for you. I mean it's really bad for you. So here we have a link between obesity and lack of good food nutrition can you explain that Mary. Yes what it refers to is that you look at the energy density and nutrient density of foods. And because of price supports on things like corn products you can buy have the slide that I use for these talks and I'll put it up and I'll say if you had two dollars you could buy

over 2000 calories of potato chips. But if you wanted to buy that in fresh produce or vegetables you'd have to spend $30 $40 to get those same number of calories. It's just very inexpensive if you look at the price changes over time. The cost of most of the snack foods has actually gone down and where things like produce has gone up 20 30 percent in the last and this is older data this is like from 2006 2007. But the cost of fresh produce or produce in general has risen where snack foods have actually gone down so it is really inexpensive because of high fructose corn syrup so people can with very little money in their pocket and some of my clients do have just a couple of dollars. They can go into some of the bargain stores and buy a lot of calories of a very nutrient deprived food but it has a lot of calories. And then you get then you just get bigger and then then you're at risk for something like diabetes. Exactly and that's the big that's the whole driver that you look at what happens with diabetes and obesity if that alone if that alone could be reversed the weight gain that you see that make a

huge impact on the medical costs. All right. My guests are nutritionist Mary Flynn a researcher at the Miriam Hospital in Providence. And on the faculty of Brown University and also Andrew Schiff CEO of the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. We're going to take a caller. Amy from Harrisonville New Hampshire Go ahead please. Amy. Yes hello can you hear me. Yes go ahead. Yeah I'm calling actually my question or my point is it is connected to the last caller the last point discussion regarding the nutrient value the food that we're feeding people and people in need I mean. In connection with the schools here in the Keene school district in southern New Hampshire and I probably term more of a health food nut myself but we don't we generally get a lot of our food from farms local farms. And we value the quality and so because of that we we don't feel inclined to feed our kids a lot of the school lunch lunches that are offered

just because we find they're not as high quality as they could be. We feel and part of the one the one my one biggest peeve at the moment is working in the school gym. I've also sometimes been scening helping out with the breakfast program in the mornings. And I'm still bothered by the peanut butter. Schools which currently is coming through the National. Gotcha. So you're just a national extra the extra food source is still loaded with trans fats. Yeah hydrogenated oil is one of the top it has to look thick. When the ingredients in the peanut butter and I'm appalled and I see this because I thought it's pretty common knowledge transfer is not the thing we should be feeding ourselves. Mary can you respond to Amy and her concerns. Yes she is correct I think what will happen is I told people when they switched to the natural peanut butter is that they are less salt and less sweet so they taste like a peanut which people don't realize peanut butter

should really taste like a peanut. It should be that sweet. I think they'll need some education though because where the fat is on the top a lot of people find that initially offensive when they buy it and you have to educate kids how to how to use it but I don't think it's difficult to do it's not that much more expensive. I'm not aware of what we use and we're dialing for for peanut butter but we do try to make an effort to have people give us the natural peanut butter. Andrew one of the things that you've begun to do is you know which is going to sound maybe ungrateful to some is that you're you're turning away so as a donation because you know what the what the harm is from soda. Talk about that absolutely. You know there's such a clear connection between soda consumption and obesity and diabetes that it doesn't make sense to us at the food bank to be bringing in soda and giving out to people when that may be the only food that they will have that week. So we really try

to ensure that the food that we accept donations and provide to the community is the healthiest food that we can find. You know we are at a point where families will still make that choice. If they have their own money to spend at the grocery store Sure they may buy soda. That's up to them but for us to be giving it I think really communicate something we don't want to communicate. Mary's program says what we want to say to the participants of folks who have to come to food pantries which is this isn't just about eating today. This is about your health and the rest of your life. Maybe both of you can answer this question so people are listening and they think boy it's really hard for me. I am so sympathetic to the people who may be in need at those food pantries but I'm

barely getting along. What do you say to people right now Andrew. Who's who who articulate that. I know this economy has hurt everyone. And in Rhode Island it's small state. Everyone knows somebody who's out of work and often are helping their own family members and friends. And we understand that so when we ask for help at the food bank in terms of donations of money or donations of food we do it you know with humility knowing that not everybody can contribute because they may be helping in their own ways. Mary do you have something to say for people who to tell you this I mean I want to but you're on the board of the food pantry. You have the same thing the interest is I think what some people miss is that anything counts. I mean we it can be a very small donation it can be a few cans of something. But all of it will help. Again we do try to emphasize that the foods of foods that could be used to make a meal which could be things like

beans that could be canned vegetables pasta rice. Those are things that people can make into particularly the recipes that I have. They don't need to donate things that are expensive. And I want to let our listeners know that there is a link on our Facebook page to those recipes so they can find them and be able to start implementing them because you don't have to be a person also that needs to go to a food bank that could could benefit from those recipes as well. Is this a model that can work across the country you're doing it to several food banks in Rhode Island. Mary what would it take. I don't think you'd be hard. I'm actually in the process of doing it again setting up a manual. I presented some data at the American Dietetic Association last month and I was really blown away by the interest that that came from dieticians and wanting to implement this. I think it was them looking at their thought they had to get lean cuts of meat low fat dairy. Again that's the expensive part. So I'm putting together the manual and I send out the recipes with the spreadsheets I used to cost them out to people can we point out to our participants

how cos they are. But our hope is that no hope is definitely that we can put this out nationally and that we should be in a very short period of time. Andrew Make your pitch right now what do you want to say to people who we've discussed everybody is in a bad way and we want to remember who is in the line there are people who are. As our caller earlier said you know my my children are eating very well I'm making sure of that but we can't make ends meet. What can those of us who might be a little bit more fortunate. How can we and what can we do. Well I think that there is a lot of focus this time of year on providing holiday meals to families in need and there's hope in every meal that's given to a family in need. And that's a good thing. But I think that one holiday meal does not last a lifetime and hunger is a year round problem in Rhode Island and across New England. And so raising the bar nutrition is one way

that we can through cooking demonstrations and recipes we can help families prepare healthy nutritious affordable meals all year long not just one meal but this time of year. And Mary. Yes I was saying that's what we're finding that folks we revile them out for six months after the cooking. They are continuing these foods. The vast majority 75 percent of the people we've studied There are excited about them they come in and they actually they were put feeling better that they're happy that their kids are eating vegetables that they're they're losing weight. But having is this a spinner's that make a very positive impact on families. And it's all a matter of just telling teach in a very simple way to cook. Again the links to those recipes are on our Facebook page. And we've been talking about hunger and nutrition with Andrew chef CEO of the Rhode Island Community Food Bank and nutritionist Mary Flynn She's a researcher at the Miriam Hospital in Providence. And

on the faculty at Brown University. Thank you both so much. Oh thank you for your interest. It was great being with you. Up next it's our regular Monday feature local made good. We talk to a jazz musician Jason Palmer about his acting debut. Stay with us. Support for WGBH comes from you and from safety insurance. Working with independent agents in Massachusetts and New Hampshire to provide coverage for homes autos and business and supporting PBS News Hour weekdays from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. here on eighty nine point seven WGBH. And from Boston Private Bank and Trust Company. Committed to helping successful individuals and businesses accumulate preserve and

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news in less time. Learn how you can help. I'm Michele Norris from NPR News and you're listening to. Stay with us for the bigger picture behind the day's news and all things considered. Coming up at four NPR stations for news and culture. I'm Kelly Crossley and this is the Kelly Crossley Show. It's time for our regular Monday feature local made good where we celebrate people who bring honor to New England. Today I'm joined by jazz musician Jason Palmer. We're listening to him now. This track is half nelson from his 2010 album nothing to hide but jazz isn't all that brings him here today. He's made his acting debut in the critically acclaimed

independent film Die and metal line on a park bench which makes its Boston premier this Friday. Jason Palmer welcome. Thank you it's great great to be here. Congratulations. Thank you thank you so much. I think our listeners should know that you're not just a jazz trumpeter you're one of the best known of your generation some say you've been awarded all kinds of accolades took first place in the 2009 car mine Caruso international jazz trumpet solo competition named 25 trumpeters of the future in 2007 by Downbeat magazine. And you've been a fixture right here in Boston at Wally's for decades. Yes yes this has been a great ride and I look forward to many more. Great opportunity so I've been very fortunate to be in the places that I have been so yeah I'm enjoying the ride. Well in so many ways this is a Boston story all the way around the film guy and Madeline on a park bench grew out of a Harvard these's.

If you will by the director Danielle show Shahs Elle and Damien. And then he found you. Now originally he wasn't looking for a jazz trumpeter tell me how you got the gig. Yeah actually. Damien's a great drummer I've heard him play a few times he's really shy about it but initially he was looking for a drummer to play the role and he came down to Wally's one particular night and I wasn't playing there but my band was playing there I had a cent there and he asked a drummer in my group if he was interested in. He wasn't in so Damon kept searching and he eventually came back to Wally's another week and I was there and he asked me after hearing me play a set and so usually when people come down to Wally they'll give me their car and they want to. Work was something with me and so I had strange information I never hear back from them usually. But in this case he got back to me a few days later and we started shooting scenes. Shortly thereafter so yeah I was really

surprised that he was really serious about it and he seemed like really motivated to really get a good film out there so. OK now you know you're making it sound so easy yeah so I'm playing and so then he has me said now I'm acting. I mean that's a big leap. Yeah. So did you give you any pause to think well I don't know acting that's a big deal. Yeah he approached it as a thing where the part was really improvs a Tory there wasn't a script for me to memorize lines from I think that would have been really intimidating for me because I'm not it's not my field but I. He was working with some musical If you haven't heard. And so it involved a music that I love and so I thought this would be a great opportunity to stretch out and maybe do something else but still play at the same time because there's a lot of performance in the film itself. Yes and we should make that point it very much is a film with music or a musical however you want to consider it it's got a lot of your playing in it. But you are very much playing one of the central characters in it as well and the thing that people will enjoy is that

so much of it takes place in and around Boston and gives you a real sense of what I want to let people hear a bit from the trailer from Guy and Madaline on a park bench and this is this independent film by the way and it's directed by Damian Shah as well as we've said and starring Deseret Garcia as Madaline and you as Guy. Can look for metal on. Metal and she's gone rush with the experience. She moved out you know I know you were going to trouble me to write. Like you never hear anybody blasting Coltrane. You know. Charlie Parker was really a holiday. Or some. Bach cantata. Mike Mauler seems to me. You know it's always. Something like yeah you know. I don't know. Maybe a deal come. Here. All types of music.

Laughs. Now did you come up with that and in propositional way. Yeah we were hanging out one night I think it was laid out in front of the school that I work at and he said You guys just hang out with some friends and he was like I'm just going to shoot you guys and you just hang and just forget that I'm here and so you were just hanging and he got that and I think I remember repeating that line just so he could get the audio a little more clear so yeah that was totally off the cuff. Now what do you. It's kind of a quirky feel what do you think about it if you if you've seen it all together now. You know that's very very interesting question because when we were shooting scenes you know scenes were shot out of sequence and everything so I didn't quite know what he quite had in mind but then I watched the umbrellas assure Burgon jackass about shadows and I started to really appreciate where he came from with the film in the ideas because Damon is French and he has this French sentimentality the way he puts together a film and is quite nice. What is the difference between performing as your regular role as a jazz trumpeter and

performing as an actor. I think on stage when I'm performing there is a platform for me to make mistakes and make those mistakes sound intentional and musical. But on film I think there was less of that I had to really be inside of this person in who this person would be. And so I also had this thing that told me we could do another take if this take doesn't work out but on stage when I'm playing with the band there's no second take really so yeah it's a different type of pressure for both but they're both challenging I think. Well describe your character because he patterned after you so is there a lot more of you than might have been. I don't know maybe. You know I always think about that I've been thinking about it because the character he's torn between. Whether he wants to move to New York or he wants to pursue music

seriously or if he wants to be with the first lady in the movie it's a love story and he's drifting from a fare to a fare and he doesn't know what he wants and I think when we were shooting scenes I knew what I wanted at the time because I had just gotten engaged and you know I was really looking so down so I think it was a departure for him who I am but you know I know people who are like guy was in the movie cell. I could relate to it. And I know a lot of guys like that. Let me just say I did say that for all the women listening this film has been compared to once which was the 2006 Academy Award winning film which starred some musicians. They were not actors and had a lot of music in it and it was they won the Best Original Song from the film it was an Irish rock band called the frames that were. One of the guys was the star of it have you have you seen the film and does it feel like a guy and man a line on a park bench is similar to that.

I actually haven't seen the movie but I read a quote about this film being compared to what so I think I'm going to check it out as soon as I have some time but yeah that sounds like a really interesting film actually. So now you're awfully busy traveling the world performing as a jazz trumpeter but once bitten they say by the acting bug. It's hard to leave it alone so are you going to try out for other things as this is the beginning. What do you think. I don't think I'll pursue acting persay but my phone rang I wouldn't say no. You know so but yeah I have a lot of eggs in different baskets. You know I teach a lot and perform so you know I'm staying busy. So what we know that and you know that you're very much as what you know that the fact that it's set in Boston what can Bostonians look forward to seeing it because I've enjoyed those tapdancing in various locales in Boston looking at the film it's really really charming in that way. Yeah I think there's there's some there's a great sort of talk of I think it's a grainy kind of thing but there are some scenes where you see the skyline of the

city and you don't really see that much in regular films I think. You don't really see the potential scenario where the Hancock Tower or Faneuil Hall. Well the movies that I've seen but I think in this context and in a musical sense you really get the flair of the sound of the city as well as the look of the city so. And was it more comfortable for you because it was set in Boston and you're very familiar with the locales. I think so yeah. Yeah. I think it was because he mentioned going out to New York incident some scenes and and that may have been cool but I think our schedules didn't work out to correspond to go down there but I think the scenes that we shot in Boston were great. I think the places that he chose and his producer shows were really great in the city in a great way. Well you know this is not just an independent film. It's gotten every rave review for goodness sakes. So you're not just making your acting

debut you're making your acting debut in a film that's getting quite a bit of critical attention and a lot of popular and that must be mind blowing. Yeah. You know I'm really surprised because when he mentioned it to me he said it's going to be a thesis film for degree and everything and I thought I was going to be left out I thought only his professor was going to see The Phantom I didn't know that he was going to submit it to film festivals and. And when the whole thing so now that it's out there I don't know I'm kind of in shock still I think because we shot those scenes I think maybe three years ago at least. Yeah. So so you're not an overnight success then. No no no no I stayed up all night. What was the overall experience like I mean you're with other very fine talented performers and they are actors many of them so well. What was the overall experience like for you to be interacting with those folks. I think it was it was definitely a learning experience for me because what we were doing we'd shoot scenes is Damien would say

OK this is what you're thinking this is what happened before you came into this scene what would you do what would you say. And it caused me to I don't know get outside of myself and get into somebody else and I don't really do that except when I'm playing a solo. Like what would Miles Davis Think of what would he play in this on this court or whatever so I kind of had to. To transport myself into somebody else's shoes so I think that's what most actors do naturally so for me it was a natural but I learned throughout the process of filming how to do that better so now how were you regarded when you go to the jazz clubs to play I mean you know people come to hear you play as a jazz trumpeter but are you getting a lot of feedback from people who've seen you. Yeah there is. There started to be some people now there will come oh say oh yeah I heard you in a movie you're in the movie you know you play trumpet great too though yeah you sound good too so you know I'm starting to get that but you know I just take it all in stride I guess I just have to say for my listeners you look like you're

about five years old you saw such a young face it's hard to believe that you have this rich legacy already of just in the jazz world and now you're adding to it of course with this movie role. I guess you get that a bit about yeah I get carded you know. It's all right so what's your favorite scene in the movie. I'd say the last scene in the movie I don't want to give too much I don't give it away just say yes. Why do you know from a from an acting standpoint why was it your favorite. Because I remember when we shot the scene it involves me playing the trumpet. And Damien he it was actually the most difficult scene for me to shoot because I had to display motion through my horn. In a way that I never really set down to conceive what would this sound like. And then he he actually asked me if I want to mess up for this piece you know just play play the

song but just have some some anger some frustration some some love and what would that sound like it's not going to sound perfect so don't sound perfect when you play. And so I think that scene along with the there's a huge party scene where there's some tap dance and there's a tap off and stuff I think those two scenes were the most fun for me. I love the type of thing they have to say because I love Depp dancing. Always wanted to do it. Now what you just described had to be really difficult because you know musicians are pretty much perfection is you know yes yes and no one who knows me knows it really a perfectionist. So that was tough. Yes very tough very tough. I remember just being so tight I felt like I played a four hour gig. I don't know how many takes we did that but the one that he chose with was I'm sure what he thought was ideal for the movie and it was great. Now you might not be familiar with this history but Hollywood for a time had a huge history of discovering people on the street in the coffee shop you know by the swimming pool

that was you know people just hung around those venues hoping to get found. And now here you are in the jazz club kind of adding to that the different way in the 21st century way. Yeah I hope it continues that there are so many talented people out. You know if we could go out and find somebody walking on the street and everybody has a story detailing. And so I just feel fortunate that I got toes and so. Sin and positive vibe out to who else. I did want to pick up on the fact that you're talking about trying to get that emotion through the horn because there's very little dialogue in this movie. Yeah it's really about the music and the interaction between the actors you know just to put people in the space of what's going on emotionally and that was very much intentional by the director. Yeah for sure because Damian him being a musician I think he understands it. Most musicians speak. More clearly through their instrument and through I think artists you know rock through their work. Yeah you know

he really portrayed that in the movie throughout. You know so I just think he did a great job at it and I was really surprised because there are a lot of scenes that I didn't like and I was in that the same as in the way you put it together you really get to to see and feel that. So what's next for him if you may share. You're going to you've telling us what's next for you I'm curious what's next for him after this. Yeah I know his his wife Jasmine she was one of the producers say they met. I think I don't know if they met initially during the shooting that you know but she just finished a film and I know he's helping out with that and and I'm looking forward to that but I think he lives out in L.A. now so he's doing some writing. He's I think he's on a team of writers for a show. Yeah but I think I might see him for the opening this weekend. I'm not sure but I'll tell him you said hi. Yeah please do. And let's note that I just mentioned that once the 2006 film

was nominated for Oscars So has anybody been saying that to you. No but you know I wouldn't be surprise you know all the stuff that's happened so far is really surprising so open to anything. Well you know I think we get a double hit because I would feel sure they'd ask you to play at the ceremony itself as well. Yeah. Yeah they did that would have been great. Jason Palmer It was just a delight to talk to you and what an experience. Oh thank you has been a pleasure. And we're always excited here at the Kelly Crossley Show when a film a book or movie anything is showcasing Boston in the New England area. We're going to go out on fly little bird fly. This is from Jason Palmer's to a 2010 album. Nothing to hide. Jason Palmer is adjacent has a jazz trumpeter who's made his acting debut in the critically acclaimed independent film guy and Madaline on a park bench. And you can catch guy and Madeline on a park bench this Friday at the Brattle Theater in Cambridge. It runs from the 17th through the 23rd to get there fast. For more

information visit our website or check out Brattle film dot org. You can keep on top of the Kelly Crossley Show at WGBH dot org slash Calla Crossley follow us on Twitter. Become a fan of the Calla Crossley Show on Facebook where production of WGBH radio. Thanks Jason.